• When the UF baseball team was in town a few weeks ago to take on UNF at the Baseball Grounds, the Gators may have left with a 6-5 loss to the Ospreys, but head coach Pat McMahon left with a key to the city courtesy of Mayor John Peyton. The have long-time ties, also. McMahon’s brother John works for Gate Petroleum, which is owned by Peyton’s father Herb.
• Speaking of Peyton, he’s off this week. Much-needed vacation.
• School Board member Nancy Broner has filed for re-election and she’s being backed by some big names. Baptist Health President and CEO Hugh Greene, Haskell Chair Preston Haskell and St. Joe Co. Chair and CEO Peter Rummell have all thrown their support behind Broner. The race could be a good one, too. Social Security Judge John Meisburg has filed to run against Broner.
• JTA will hold a public meeting Monday to talk about the new Beach Boulevard bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway. The bridge will replace the four-lane drawbridge. It’s from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. at Pablo Creek branch library.
• The next Gator Bowl Association Committee meeting is May 4 at 5 p.m. at the Hyatt. At the last meeting, members were assigned to ticket-selling teams, which are all named after potential Toyota Gator Bowl participants. Due to the new alliance with the Big 12, this year’s teams include schools from three conferences: the Big East, the ACC and the Big 12.
• Three new exhibits coming to the Jacksonville Museum of Modern Art and they’ll all debut at a private showing May 5. “Nature of Elegy” by Timothy McDowell, “Pilgrimages” by Clive King and “flow” by Radcliffe Bailey will be unveiled during a reception from 6-9 p.m. All three exhibits will run through Aug. 27.
• The Humanitarian Awards Dinner May 9 will honor City Council member Gwen Yates, Rabbi Michael Matuson and Ted P. Pappas, chancellor of the Florida Association of Insurance Agents. The event at the Osborn Center will also award Bishop John J. Snyder of St. Augustine the Gold Medallion Honor. And who better to sponsor the event for these city and religious leaders than Anheuser-Busch Inc. and The Poker Room at St. John’s Greyhound Park.
• The Navy will commission the USS Farragut during a June 10 ceremony at Mayport. Gets underway at 11 a.m.
• Jacksonville will be inhabited by a mass amount of butterflies April 29 at the Tree Hill Nature Center’s fifth annual Butterfly Festival. Jaguar Jimmy Smith will host the event beginning at noon. Admission is $5 for up to 10 family members and proceeds will go to the non-profit Center.
• The Jacksonville Sheriffs Office received more than $114,000 in the last six months by auctioning off cars that were confiscated during narcotics busts and traffic felony arrests. One lucky bidder won a 1998 BMW, estimated at $10,000. The vehicle was seized during a drug bust. The proceeds and forfeited cash are well below the $363,203 JSO received in the previous fiscal year.
• The Springfield Preservation & Revitalization Council is protesting the City of Jacksonville’s proposal to rename 3rd Street. The area from Haines Street to Main Street would be renamed Edward Holt Boulevard, as proposed by Council member Pat Lockett-Felder. Louise DeSpain, Council president of SPAR, sent a letter to Lockett-Felder after the board unanimously voted against the ordinance April 10. “You above all others, have had the kind of interaction with us that would make you aware of the importance of a change of this magnitude,” said DeSpain in the letter. “We trust that you will understand and will help to work out a solution that is acceptable and that will make everyone feel that you are concerned for all of your constituents.”
• Councilman Warren Alvarez complained during Monday’s Finance Committee meeting to Supervisor of Elections Jerry Holland that Alvarez’s district lacks an early-voting site. “There’s no early voting in my district, and no library either,” said Alvarez. Since early voting is only allowed in libraries and other public buildings, Holland told Alvarez that one thing will take care of the other. “As soon as you get a library, you’ll get early voting,” said Holland.