• The Cowford Traders gift shop in Avondale won’t sell you a gift certificate, but you can get wooden dollars. Owner Debbie Fewell says there’s something impersonal about paper gift certificates, so she’s made wooden “dollars” about the size of a fifty-cent piece. On one side is her shop’s name and on the other is big $1.
• Caffe Athena, the Bay Street eatery, plans to expand its menu and hours to serve dinner in March, according to co-owner Jayvee Viger. He and partner Jack Ricketts also hope to open three stores of the Bean and Bagel Factory, a chain of coffee shops. They’re looking for locations in Avondale, Five Points, Jacksonville Beach and Tinseltown.
• Edward Waters College has had a run of bad publicity, but here’s a bright spot: the Florida Association of Broadcasters has awarded the $1,500 LeRoy Collins Memorial Scholarship to senior Sophia Elaine Hogan. Hogan is majoring in Mass Communications.
• New at the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville: Sandra Spradling. For three months, the retired Naval electrician will help out with the Art in Public Places program, scheduling meetings and taking phone calls.
• Coming on the heels of a recent presentation that outlined the City’s ongoing work to secure health coverage for many of its employees, Council member Art Shad said he plans to introduce legislation that would bolster those efforts. “... it will direct the administration to immediately take all steps necessary in order to provide health coverage to all employees of the City and all City agencies, that work 30 hours or more a week and that have completed a six-month probationary period,” he said. “We will work out any other details in committee.”
• The Jaguars’ victory in Green Bay Sunday kept the team’s playoff hopes alive and delivered the season’s largest local television audience. More than 200,000 Jacksonville homes tuned in, making the game the most watched regular season game ever. Only playoff games in 1999 and 2000 drew more viewers. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like that enthusiasm is carrying over into ticket sales for this week’s home game against Houston. That game looks like another blackout.
• Hoping to ship your Christmas packages at lunchtime? You’re not the only one. The lunch rush at downtown shipping locations has been gathering size as Christmas draws closer. The Hogan Street UPS Store is even offering coupons for $2 discounts to customers who ship after 2 p.m.
• The Jessie Ball duPont Fund has declined a City proposal to support a community rehabilitation center for individuals suffering from mental illness, substance abuse and HIV/AIDS. Fund President Sherry Magill invited the City to submit a new proposal for future consideration.