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Northeast Florida In the News - Feb. 2005
ATLANTIC BEACH -- Commissioners voted 3 to 2 to change the land-use designation for 7.5-acre Johnston Island from conservation to commercial/residential. A coalition of residents and environmentalists has vowed to fight the zoning change for the island, which is located along the Intracoastal Waterway.RETAIL:
Winn-Dixie Shake-up
JACKSONVILLE -- Following months of disappointing financial results, Winn-Dixie Stores fired President and CEO Frank Lazaran and replaced him with Peter L. Lynch, former CEO of the Boise, Idaho-based Albertson's supermarket chain.GAINESVILLE -- Emmer Development President Lori McGriff was elected president of the Builders Association of North Central Florida, becoming just the second woman to lead the 49-year-old association.
Orlando businessman John W. Holloway, son of ABC Fine Wine & Spirits founder John D. "Jack" Holloway, has donated $1 million to the University of Florida to fund AIDS research. Holloway made the gift in the name of his sister, Stephany, who died of complications from the disease in 1990. The donation triggered an additional $3 million in funding, allowing the Department of Pathology to create an endowed research
"superchair."
GREEN COVE SPRINGS -- Gustafson's Dairy will pay the city $72,000 to resolve a billing dispute involving one of the dairy's electric accounts. Last spring, the city's electric department discovered that Gustafson's had been undercharged $238,600 after officials underestimated the size of an electric transformer.
JACKSONVILLE -- Kohl's department store chain plans to open a third, 96,000-sq.-ft. outlet at Kernan and Atlantic boulevards.
JEA gave its employees $11.4 million in end-of-year bonuses just weeks after the city-owned utility announced its second rate increase in less than a year. JEA had not raised rates the previous 14 years.
Edward Waters College lost its accreditation after it was discovered that parts of the school's application to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools had been plagiarized. The school's board reprimanded EWC President Jimmy Jenkins but said his job is safe.
CSX Corp. (NYSE-CSX) sold its international marine terminal business to Dubai Ports International for $1.2 billion. CSX World Terminals operated nine terminals in Asia, Australia, Europe and Latin America.
The Florida Supreme Court will reprimand Circuit Judge David Gooding for improper financial conduct during his 2002 campaign. Gooding admitted depositing $20,000 into his campaign account after a deadline for deposits had passed and spending money without sufficient funds in his account to cover the expenses.
Seven months in the making and $91,000 later, officials unveiled the city's new slogan: "Jacksonville, Where Florida Begins."
JACKSONVILLE BEACH -- Former City Council member Fland Sharp defeated Bland Cologne in a mayoral runoff.
NASSAU COUNTY -- The county may soon levy impact fees on new residential development to pay for new schools. Commissioners scheduled public hearings on the measure after a study predicted the district could face a $25-million shortfall by 2013.
NEWBERRY -- Florida Rock Industries is seeking state approval to double the size of its cement plant on County Road 235. The company hopes to increase its annual output to 1.6 million tons of cement.
PALATKA -- State transportation planners will spend $550,000 to study whether a second bridge over the St. Johns River is needed. Local officials have been pushing for a new bridge north of the city to help spur development.
ST. JOHNS COUNTY -- County Commission Chairman Bruce Maguire has proposed a far-reaching public works initiative similar to the neighboring Better Jacksonville Plan. Maguire's "Better St. Johns Plan" would include a 10-year land acquisition schedule, expansion of water and sewer utilities, and the creation of an economic development committee.
