• The World Affairs Council of Jacksonville announced that Frank Trotter, president of EverBank Direct, and author Michael Mandelbaum will speak at March events. Trotter will speak at noon March 6 at The River Club about “Geopolitical Events & Sovereign Debt: Ideas to Cover the Risk.” Mandelbaum, the Christian A. Herter Professor and director of American Foreign Policy at The Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, will speak at 7 p.m. March 13 at the University of North Florida University Center about “That Used to Be Us: How America Fell Behind in the World We Invented and How We Can Come Back.” For information, visit www.worldaffairscounciljax.org.
• The JEA nominating committee announced a new slate of executive officers for the board of directors. Ashton Hudson will serve as chairman, Mike Hightower as vice chairman and Cynthia Austin as secretary, beginning March 1.
• One of Hudson’s first actions was to appoint former board Chairman Ron Townsend to the board’s Finance and Audit Committee along with Hightower and Charlie Appleby, the newest member of the board.
• Correction: A figure in Wednesday’s Daily Record about the Asian-American and Pacific Islander population was incorrect. Presidential assistant Chris Lu said that one quarter of a million Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders have been out of work.
• Richard Hammett was elected as vice president of Jacksonville-based RS&H. He joined the company in 1996 and has served as project and program manager for defense and aerospace clients.
• The deadline is March 2 for applications to join the 2012 class of the Jacksonville Regional Political Leadership Institute. Visit www.jaxleader.org. The program is free and nonpartisan and there is no requirement that participants run for office – only that they consider the possibility in the future. It starts with a two-day “Leaders School” May 18-19 at the Jacksonville University Davis College of Business. Monthly sessions follow.
• Volunteers are needed for the 17th Annual St. Johns River Celebration cleanup event from 8-11 a.m. March 17. Participants will spend the morning collecting litter and debris from more than 20 pre-selected riverfront and inland sites around the city. A volunteer appreciation event is planned noon-2 p.m. at the Riverside Arts Market. For more information or to register, call 630-2489 or visit www.coj.net, keywords St. Johns River Celebration or KJB.
• CPA Brett Kurtz joined the Jacksonville office of Dixon Hughes Goodman LLP as audit senior associate. He has more than 12 years of experience in accounting in Central and South Florida.
•The BestBet Jacksonville poker room is scheduled to open March 1 along Monument Road, near Regency Square. With about 200 jobs at an average salary of more than $50,000, it will have 70 tables, a simul-cast facility and full food and beverage service. Jacksonville Greyhound Racing also operates BestBet St. Johns and the Orange Park Kennel Club. All locations offer poker at all limits and simulcast wagering on greyhounds and thoroughbreds. The Orange Park Kennel Club will continue to present a full schedule of live greyhound racing.
• The Northeast Florida Association of Realtors reported that housing and condo sales fell 6.2 percent in January from January 2011, dropping from 1,042 last year to 977 this year. Closed sales were split with 489 traditional sales and 488 lender-mediated sales. The median sales price fell 5.7 percent to $115,000 from $122,000. The median price for traditional sales was $160,000 while the lender-mediated price was $74,250.