• Blue Bell Creameries will honor late Jacksonville Suns owner Peter Bragan Sr. by giving out samples of his favorite flavor — Pistachio Almond ice cream — before the Suns game Saturday evening. Blue Bell Branch Manager Doug Lipscomb said it was the company’s way of thanking the Bragan family for including the ice cream maker as part of the Suns. Lipscomb said he used to leave some of the pistachio ice cream with Peter Bragan Jr. to take home to his father, who died July 7. As part of National Ice Cream Month, Blue Bell also will be providing samples of other flavors, including Summer Strawberry Pie.
• Duval County Tax Collector Michael Corrigan announced that because of cuts in the 2012-13 City budget, he will reduce operating hours for all nine Tax Collector branch locations effective Aug. 6. The new hours will be 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday-Friday. Current operating hours are 7:30 a.m. -5:30 p.m. The operating hours for the Ed Ball Building Satellite Office at 214 N. Hogan St. will remain 7 a.m.-4 p.m., Monday-Friday. Corrigan said the Tax Collector’s Office is eliminating 5 percent of its workforce. For more information and for online services, visit www.coj.net/tc or call 630-1916.
• Stellar Commercial Vice President Dwyn Taylor has been elected president of the Society of American Military Engineers Jacksonville Post. Taylor oversees federal project development for Stellar, an architecture, engineering, construction and mechanical services firm. Taylor joined Stellar in 2011 following a 27-year career in the U.S. Navy. His one-year term as SAME Jacksonville Post president began July 10. The post has more than 800 members.
• The Bridge of Northeast Florida, Inc., a 30-year-old agency that serves inner-city and impoverished youth, announced six new board members: Michael Brost, William Magevney, Jennifer Maveety, Ann McAfee, Ciara Walton and Wanda Willis.
• The City announced Thursday that membership of the local American Federation of State and County Municipal Employees ratified a three-year contract that, if approved by City Council, will save taxpayers about $1.3 million annually, or nearly $4 million total. About 2,000 City employees are AFSCME members who serve in clerical, technical and administrative positions. In its current agreement with the City, AFSCME had agreed to a 2 percent pay reduction and a 5 percent health care contribution. The current contract would have restored the 2 percent pay reduction before its expiration Sept. 30. Under the terms of the tentative agreement, AFSCME employees will maintain their current pay and health care contribution from Oct. 1 this year to Sept. 30, 2015, rather than see the pay reduction restored. Jacksonville taxpayers are estimated to save about $1.3 million annually over the life of the contract. The contract will take effect at the start of the new fiscal year Oct. 1, pending formal approval from Council.
• The Main Street America Group has been named to the Ward’s 50 group of top-performing property/casualty insurance companies in the United States for the second consecutive year, ranking Jacksonville-based Main Street America among the top 2 percent of all U.S.-based property/casualty carriers.