• State Rep. Lake Ray was hired today as president of the First Coast Manufacturers Association, effective Oct. 1. The association board voted this morning for Ray to succeed Lad Daniels, who has been president since 1992. Ray is the third president of the 22-year-old organization, which has 300 member companies. Daniels will remain until the end of the year for the transition. The group received 14 applications, interviewed four candidates and decided on Ray.
• Fall began at 5:05 a.m. today. It’s the autumnal equinox, when day and night are each about 12 hours long. The Old Farmer’s Almanac shares that the sun crosses the celestial equator going southward. It rises exactly due east and sets exactly due west.
• Daylight saving time ends Nov. 6. Turn the clocks back an hour.
• Winter starts at 12:30 a.m. Dec. 22.
• First Watch, the Bradenton-based breakfast, brunch and lunch restaurant, will open a third restaurant in Jacksonville next year. The 3,500-square-foot restaurant will be at Hodges Pointe Plaza, at Beach and Hodges boulevards. First Watch has opened in Jacksonville Beach and Mandarin.
• Departing Jacksonville Economic Development Commission Executive Director Ron Barton and the JEDC staff met at the Olio restaurant Downtown Thursday for a going-away lunch. Barton’s last date of employment with the City is a week from today.
• Kelley Murray joined the Clockwork Marketing Services marketing and public relations firm as marketing coordinator. She previously worked as an account executive and marketing coordinator and also as assistant property manager and senior marketing manager for a real estate sales and marketing company. She earned a marketing degree from the University of Alabama.