• Regency Centers Corp. announced Thursday that Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Bruce Johnson will retire at the end of 2012 after more than 30 years with the Jacksonville-based shopping center developer. Johnson has been CFO since Regency’s initial public offering in 1993.
Johnson will be succeeded by Lisa Palmer, currently Regency’s senior vice president of capital markets, who has been with the company since 1996.
• Jacksonville Community Council Inc. Forward announces that it’s time to study “The Slow Food Movement, What’s for Dinner?” The study takes place from 5:30-7 p.m. Tuesdays. The social kickoff is Tuesday at Season 52 restaurant at St. Johns Town Center. The first meeting at JCCI is Feb. 7 and the study continues Feb. 14-March 6, with March 13 the action planning meeting. Information: www.jcci.org.
• JCCI Forward also plans “Brand You! Presenting Your Best Self” at 5:30 p.m. Feb. 1 at the JCCI conference room, 2434 Atlantic Blvd.
• Mary Ellen Ludeking retired as an expert witness on Dec. 31 and delivered her first sermon on Jan. 1 at First Presbyterian Church. Ludeking has been attending seminary part time and has completed 45 of 90 credits. She will be attending Gordon Conwell Seminary full time in Jacksonville and Charlotte, N.C. Her first sermon was titled “A Resolution You Can Keep.”
• Gov. Rick Scott reappointed Jacksonville lawyer Ava Parker to the board of governors of the State University System. Parker has been a partner at Lawrence & Parker since 2000 and also has been president of Linking Solutions Inc. since 2003. She was an assistant public defender from 1988-91 and assistant general counsel for the Florida Department of Transportation from 1991-95. She currently serves on the Jacksonville Transportation Authority. She was reappointed for a term that began Thursday and ends Jan. 6, 2013.
• The Jacksonville Transportation Authority will suspend fares on the Skyway for 90 days, starting Jan. 30. It is installing new fare box equipment and expects an increase in readership from its ongoing system redesign, which includes ending bus routes at the Skyway stations. JTA said it is more convenient for riders to use the new STAR Card throughout the system rather than paying cash once they reach the Skyway.