The Ritz Theatre and Museum and SMG are partnering with Jacksonville PorchFest to provide the headline act for music festival’s second annual event in November.
Flow Tribe, a New Orleans American funk rock band, will be the top act.
The free festival has local musicians on the porches of historic Springfield homes. It was organized by the Springfield Preservation and Revitalization Council Inc.
Last year’s inaugural event had more than 4,000 attendees throughout the streets of Springfield.
“The partnership is a natural fit, as both SPAR and the Ritz share a mission of preserving arts and culture in historic districts,” said Liz McDonald, Ritz director.
For information, visit jacksonvilleporchfest.org.
Mayo receives $13.3M grant to test breast cancer vaccine
Researchers at Mayor Clinic’s Florida campus received a five-year grant of $13.3 million to test a vaccine to prevent the recurrence of triple-negative breast cancer.
The clinical trial will enroll 280 patients at multiple sites and is expected to begin in early 2016.
The grant is the Breakthrough Award from the U.S. Department of Defense’s Breast Cancer Research Program. It will fund the national phase II clinical trial in an attempt to prevent recurrence of the aggressive cancer following initial treatment.
Dr. Keith Knutson, at Mayo Clinic’s Florida department of immunology, designed the vaccine, which initially was tested at Mayo’s Rochester, Minn., campus.
Edward Waters College kicks off ’Black Minds Matter’
A movement to fight social injustice through promoting education is underway at Edward Waters College. The school is rallying behind the Black Minds Matter movement with a couple of activities this week. The movement seeks to help develop young African-Americans through the use of arts, education and political activism.
The movement kicks off with a voter registration drive from noon-3 p.m. Friday at the George N. Collins Student Union Building on the college’s campus.
Later, gospel vocalists Le’Andria Johnson, Laval Belle and Karen Briggs will begin the Black Minds Matter Heritage Concert series with a performance.
It begins at 7 p.m. at Abyssinia Missionary Baptist Church, 10325 Interstate Center Drive. Tickets are available at bmmjacksonville.eventbrite.com.
FSCJ North Campus has literacy fair for 50th anniversary
As part of its 50th anniversary, Florida State College at Jacksonville is hosting its 2015 edition of the Family Literacy Fair from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday at its North Campus, 4501 Capper Road.
It’s the campus’ signature event to commemorate the milestone.
The fair promotes literacy with a combination of educational events, featuring storytelling, book characters, “Ready to Read” workshops and games.
Two special presentations will be given at 11:30 a.m. and 12:15 p.m. by local motivational speaker Vincent Taylor and his sidekick, Cornbread. Taylor is an FSCJ alumnus and nationally acclaimed educational consultant and author.
For more information, call (904) 766-6553.
Free entrepreneurship program from EWC and SBA
Edward Waters College and the U.S. Small Business Administration are partnering this semester to help boost local business and develop entrepreneurs.
They’re doing so through a free certificate program starting today and offered through EWC’s business administration program. The seven-week course goes over basic concepts of starting a venture, such as developing business and marketing plans, attracting funding, securing state certification and licenses and hiring.
The program is open to the public, EWC students and alumni, with certificates being awarded to those who successfully complete all seven sessions.
For information, contact professor Francis Ikeokwu at (904) 470-8133 or [email protected].
Peoples-Waters receives first award named for Aikens
The Florida Coastal School of Law Foundation has named attorney Rhonda Peoples-Waters as the inaugural recipient of the Chester A. Aikens Renaissance Award.
Aikens was one of the law school’s charter students and an influential voice. He died two years ago, shortly after taking part in a pension reform meeting at City Hall.
The selection committee comprised Aikens’ family and friends, community leaders and Florida Coastal alumni to select a person whose high standard of service in their personal lives and careers mirrored Aikens’.
Peoples-Water will receive the award during a gala in Aikens’ name. Additionally, Florida Coastal will have a scholarship in his name.
Funds raised during the gala will benefit the school’s pro bono clinics. It will be Oct. 17 at The Atrium on the school’s campus off Baymeadows Road.
Tickets are available by calling (904) 256-1144.
Florida State College at Jacksonville offering dental services to students
Florida State College at Jacksonville’s dental programs are hosting their seventh annual Mighty Teeth Day from 9 a.m.- 2 p.m. Saturday at the school’s North Campus.
The programs are open to children ages 5-12 who attend elementary schools in Duval and Nassau counties. The service is a free application of fluoride varnish, which helps strengthen teeth to prevent dental decay.
The painless procedure will be performed by FSCJ dental hygiene students under supervision. All children must be accompanied by an adult and will be examined by a dentist before the application.
Additionally, oral hygiene instructions will be provided and there will be games and activities. The campus is at 4501 Capper Road.
For more information, call (904) 766-6573.
JCCI’s ‘Re-Think Aging’ study to be released next month
Jacksonville Community Council Inc. will release its multi-month study, “Re-Think Aging” at 8:45 a.m. Oct. 2 at WJCT Studios.
The keynote speaker is Jeff Johnson, AARP Florida state director and a Jacksonville native, on topics that include health, long-term care and Social Security. The organization has 176,000 members in Northeast Florida.
Riverside Fine Arts Association starting 22nd concert series
The Riverside Fine Arts Association’s 22nd annual concert series begins next month with a performance at City Hall’s front porch.
Red Baraat will play at Hemming Park from 8-10:30 p.m. Oct. 3. Tickets for the New Orleans-style brass band are $25, with beer, wine and food by Monroe’s BBQ food truck available.
Riverside Fine Arts’ series continues through the rest of the year and into next, with Florence K finishing the year in April.
The organization annually provides a concert series presented in historic venues.
For more information visit, riversidefinearts.org.
Bank of America to host housing workshop
Homeowners with questions on how much home they can afford, what’s needed to get a mortgage and how credit scores affect borrowing and more can hear answers during a workshop being hosted by Bank of America.
The bank is conducting the workshop from 9:30 a.m.-8 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the Jacksonville Marriott, 4670 Salisbury Road.
Registration and information, including a list of what documents to bring, can be found at http://bit.ly/1AsxeKp.
Freshest beer for fearless feat at Sunday’s Jaguars game
When Jacksonville Jaguars fans are drinking the freshest beer ever Sunday at EverBank Field, they can know it came from here in town — with the help of a little challenge from team owner Shad Khan.
Khan visited the Budweiser brewery Friday to speak with senior brewmaster Bryan Derr and employees, according to a news release from the team.
It was then that Khan asked the employees if they were “Up For Whatever” — a marketing slogan the beer company has been using. He then issued a challenge to provide fans for the fans at the Jaguars-Dolphins game to have the “freshest beer ever.” That is, beer with “born on” dates of this Sunday.
There also was a catch. Khan said Derr had to deliver the first one to fans by jumping off EverBank’s light tower with Jaguars mascot Jaxson de Ville.
Derr said he and his crew were “stunned but willingly accepted.”
Beer-stand signage at Sunday’s game will promote the “Freshest Beer Ever” while fans can look up to see Derr complete the challenge.
Kickoff is at 4:05 p.m.