• The Shelby’s Coffee Shoppe planned for the Main Library just received approval for its floor plan from the Department of Hotels & Restaurants – the cafe’s last requirement in the city government permitting process. Owner Steve Hicks says the cafe will likely get its permit today, so work on the first-floor library space should begin soon.
• The Jacksonville Zoo and Garden’s two Queensland koalas are heading back to the San Diego zoo. The move will allow the Jacksonville Zoo to convert the koala exhibit in the Australian Adventure area into an amphibian conservation center. According to zoo officials, 122 species of amphibians have become extinct since the 1980s.
• The Northeast Florida Builders Association’s Sales and Marketing Council will install new officers at an awards breakfast Jan. 5. The breakfast is at 7:45 a.m. at the University Center of the University of North Florida. For more information, call Portland Stuart at 724-4355.
• Downtown Vision, Inc. Marketing Director Angela Mack has resigned effective Dec. 29. Word is she’ll do some freelance work while developing a business plan to become a full-time dance instructor, an activity she’s been doing part-time at Cathedral Foundation.
• Friends of the Jacksonville Public Library has launched an online bookstore, the first one in the country operated by a library support group. Merchandise is available at discounts competitive with other online bookstores and shipping options include regular and next-day. The group receives a share of each sale, up to 16 percent, and the proceeds are donated to the library. Visit http://jpl.coj.net and click on the Booktique online bookstore icon to check it out.
• Florida Times-Union outdoors writer Joe Julavatis may have retired from the daily newspaper, but he’s still writing. These days, you’ll find his byline in T-U publication Water’s Edge, where he’s the magazine’s boating writer.
• There are only a few days left this month to get a discount on your ad valorem property taxes. Florida law allows for a 4 percent discount if the taxes are paid in November, 3 percent if paid in December, 2 percent in Janaury and 1 percent in February. After that, it’s full price.
• Speaking of property taxes, which city within Jacksonville City limits has the lowest property taxes? Based on owning a home worth $154,500, it’s Neptune Beach where, after a $25,000 homestead exemption, the tax would be $2,211.88. The highest on the same house? Baldwin, where the tax would be $2,443.77.
• The first meeting of the new year for the Jacksonville Waterways Commission is set for Jan. 4 in City Council Chambers at 9 a.m.
• Jan. 19 will be a big day for the folks at the I.M. Sulzbacher Center for the Homeless. They’ll dedicate Sulbacher’s new Health Center at 11 a.m. Following the ceremony, tours will be available.