• Dawn Emerick, president and CEO of the Health Planning Council, said the council has added three full-time employees the past 18 months because of a “dramatic” increase in its fee-for-service business contracts. It’s been doing business in the area for 40 years. The past year, it launched Northeast Florida Counts, a health-related quality of life indicator. It conducts health needs assessments and studies.
• Dan Macdonald, formerly with the City Public Information Office, is City Council assistant to Council member Denise Lee.
• Existing single-family home sales rose 13 percent over the year in Jacksonville, reports the Florida Relators. Sales increased from 1,177 in August 2010 to 1,326 the past month. The median sales price stayed just about even, $142,400 last year and $141,900 this year.
• Existing condo sales by Realtors were the same over the year in Jacksonville — 233 in August 2010 and the same number the past month. The median sales price fell 5 percent from $81,600 to $77,700.
• State Senate District 1 write-in candidate Andrew Felicia Austin has withdrawn from the race. That leaves primary election winner Audrey Gibson as the newly elected state senator.
• The Duval County Medical Society will honor Dr. Zbigniew Wszolek, a neuroscientist at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, for his work on understanding Perry syndrome, a genetic disorder that results in profound depression and parkinsonism. Wszolek will be given the Beals Award for Medical Research in the “Original Investigations category, 1st Place” today at Naval Air Station Jacksonville.