• Paul Eckert, the general manager of the Omni Amelia Island Plantation, was appointed president of the 2012 executive board of the North Florida Hotel & Lodging Association. He previously was GM of the Omni Jacksonville Hotel. Additional new board members include Chris Unwin of EcoLab, Scott Burgess of Enterprise Holdings, Stacy Manthos of Fairfield Inn & Suites Airport, Barry Sondern of the Omni Jacksonville Hotel, Jeffrey Oliasami of Renaissance Resort at World Golf Village, Mike Wentworth of Sysco Jacksonville, Brittany Lagassee of The Inn at Mayo Clinic and 2007-08 association past President Donald Harris of Wyndham Jacksonville Riverwalk.
• The University of North Florida reports The Princeton Review ranks UNF among the nation’s top 75 “Best Value” public colleges and universities. UNF was also named a “Best Value” public college by the Princeton Review last year as well as in 2009 and in 2007.
• Fredrik Eliasson, CSX Corp. executive vice president and CFO, will address the Stifel Nicolaus Transportation & Logistics Conference at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday in Key Biscayne. Access to the audio webcast will be available on CSX’s website at investors.csx.com. A replay and accompanying audio will be available following the conclusion of the event.
• Speaking of UNF, the Employ Florida Banner Center for Creative Industries in the university’s Division of Continuing Education will offer “Guerilla Social Media Marketing” from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Feb. 16 at the University Center. The cost is $129. The instructor will be Sheila Green, president of Green Productivity Solutions. Email [email protected].
• The Florida Department of Transportation will install a new traffic control feature known as the “sharrow,” or “shared lane pavement marking,” to Riverside Avenue in the travel lanes between the Fuller Warren Bridge and Post Street, in front of the Cummer Museum. The pavement markings will connect the Northbank Riverwalk, a popular bicycling route, with the Riverside area. It’s part of an effort to connect bicycle lanes, paths and other facilities to build an interconnected bicycle network. “Sharrows” are used on narrow roadways where a full bike lane will not fit.
• The Associated General Contractors of America reports that from December 2010 to December 2011, the Jacksonville area added 800 construction jobs, rising from 27,300 to 28,100, for a 3 percent gain. It ranks No. 96 among the 337 metro areas measured for growth in combined construction, mining and logging jobs.
• SMG Jacksonville made Pollstar’s “2011 Year End Worldwide Ticket Sales” ranking. The Arena came in No. 66 among the top 100 arenas in the world and the Times-Union Center Moran Theater is listed among the top theaters in the world. The arena’s ranking was based on 194,000 tickets sold during 2011 and the T-U Center Moran Theater ranked No. 55 with 100,287 ticket sales.
• Speaking of the Arena, Van Halen performs there April 16 and tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday. Kool & The Gang performs as the special guest.
• The Florida State College at Jacksonville Board of Trustees approved a recommendation Tuesday to authorize the college administration to negotiate and enter into a construction contract up to about $1.41 million with Kidde Fire Trainers Inc. for a proposed “Aircraft Rescue Firefighting Simulator” on the college’s South Campus. The FAA invited the college to submit a proposal for a matching Airport Improvement Program Grant to build the facility as a regional training center. If the college does not receive the FAA grant, the project will not proceed.
• A Boone County, Mo., grand jury handed down 136-count indictments against DocX LLC and its former president, Lorraine Brown, for forgery and making a false declaration related to mortgage documents processed by DocX, the Missouri attorney general’s office announced Tuesday. DocX was a subsidiary of Jacksonville-based Lender Processing Services Inc. that has been under investigation by numerous federal and state authorities around the country for the past two years for allegedly falsifying documents used in foreclosure proceedings. LPS has said it took steps to correct the procedures in the foreclosure process once the company discovered the problems.