• The Jacksonville Zoo received approval from the City Council Finance Committee Monday for funding to maintain its botanical gardens for another 10 years. The zoo also needs state approval and funding. The Jacksonville zoo ranked third in an assessment of all Florida’s botanical gardens, two spots behind the top-ranked Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens. Zoo Director Dennis Pate said, “I always like it when people in Miami pay for gardens in Jacksonville.”
• Speaking of Council, legislation has been drafted that would honor the University of Florida for winning this year’s college football national championship. UF President Bernard Machen has been informed of the resolution, and he’s responded with an e-mail. “Thanks very much for thinking of UF,” he wrote. “We consider Jacksonville our ‘second home.’ ”
• An opening and closing at the beach. The newest branch of Atlantic Coast Federal Bank has opened on Atlantic Boulevard in Neptune Beach. Meanwhile, Hibernia — an Irish-themed store in Towncenter in Neptune Beach, next to Mezza Luna — is closing after 17 years.
• The Bank of North Florida on Bay Street will hold its official grand opening Tuesday from 5-7 p.m.
• Plaza III is celebrating its one-year anniversary this month by introducing a happy hour from 5-7 p.m. Monday-Friday. Happy hour includes half-priced Plaza III wines, well drinks and domestic beer. Look for more announcements soon about the bar and restaurant’s wine tastings and cigar events, which will be held on the outside patio this spring.
• Remember the Lee Adams mural that used to be in the restaurant at Sears when the department store was Downtown? The mural has been on the wall in the cafeteria at LaVilla School of the Arts, but will soon be displayed at the Main Library. It’s part of the Jacksonville Historical Society’s collection and depicts Jean Ribault’s encounter with the Timucuan Indians at Fort Caroline.
• Downtown Vision, Inc. currently has two staff openings: marketing director and promotions/events manager. According to DVI’s latest update, the nonprofit staffers who remain are “revisiting our overall marketing strategy and working on an improved plan to create even more excitement about Downtown.”
• This year marks the 60th anniversary of the Jacksonville Urban League. The service group will recognize the milestone during a reception next Wednesday at its headquarters on West Union Street. Derek Smith of CSX is the 2007 chairman of the Urban League’s board of directors. For more information on the reception, call 356-8336.
• The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens is adding another piece to its current exhibit, “Temples and Tombs,” on Friday: The Mummy of Tanet-Paheku (656 B.C.-343 B.C.). The mummy is a young child covered in linen inside a mummy case. The mummy will be installed in the Millner Gallery and is on loan from the College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, Mass.