• Some interesting cars are on the VyStar Credit Union auction block March 14, including a 1967 Pontiac GTO going for the “no haggle price” of just more than $17,000 – well below the NADA retail price of more than $45,000. The most expensive item on the block? A Monaco Monarch RV going for just less than $40,000. As for the most expensive car/truck, a 2004 Ford F350 is being sold, no haggle, for just under $35,000.
• Gator Bowl Association members received some good news recently. Tickets for the annual New Year’s Day football game will not be increased this year.
• The University of Florida basketball team may not be providing fans with a lot to cheer about lately, but a former UF athlete did make history this weekend. Steve Mesler was a decathlete for the UF track team, but is now a member of the USA-1 four-man bobsled team. The team’s gold medal performance at the Lake Placid, N.Y., track on Sunday was the country’s first at the world bobsled championship since 1959.
• Recommended: LaPizzaria on Mayport Road. The American owner spent 35 years working in hotels and restaurants in Naples, Italy. Very authentic Italian food.
• The Northeast Florida Chapter of the ACLU will honor past president Ken Hurley Friday night at the River Front Cafe in the Haskell Building. Civil rights activist Rodney Hurst Sr. is the keynote speaker at the 6 p.m. event.
• BBVA Compass will launch its new brand to customers and the business community with a celebration at its Gate Parkway location Thursday for banking team members and local partners. Bank officials will also present a contribution to Boys & Girls Clubs of Northeast Florida, the bank’s new community partner.
• The Jacksonville Port Authority has hired Clements Publishing to produce the JAXPORT Directory and JAXPORT Magazine. The directory will be available in May 2009 and will feature listings of maritime businesses and related industry companies serving Jacksonville. The magazine will follow in July, September and December. Jacksonville-based Clements Publishing was founded in 1998.
• The Riverside Arts Market, underneath the canopy of the Fuller Warren Bridge on the Northbank Riverwalk, will be open every Saturday beginning April 4. Space is available for 150 vendors including farmers of locally-grown fruits and vegetables and artists of all disciplines. To apply online, visit www.riversideartsmarket.com. Musicians and other performers should contact Village Idiots Productions at www.villageidiotsproductions.com.
• The Office of Vital Statistics, a division of the Duval County Health Department, has moved. Its new offices are at 900 University Blvd. Suite 101. The office maintains birth records and death certificates in Duval County dating back to 1893.