The Point

The Point, May 9, 2019: Gainesville's Rent Burden Is One Of The Highest Of Any Florida City

WUFT | By Jasmine Dahlby

Published May 9, 2019 at 10:37 AM EDT

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• According to American Community Survey data, Gainesville has one of the highest rent-cost burden rates of any metro area in the state of Florida, and some Gainesville residents feel this as they struggle to overcome the challenges these high rent costs bring. (WUFT News)

• A Gainesville developer is partnering with the University of Florida to give away a national journalism award in 2020 at the White House Correspondent's Association Dinner. (Gainesville Sun)

• Starting Oct. 1, the minimum pay for all assistant public defenders and assistant state attorneys will be raised over $10,000, from $39,084 to $50,000, in the state of Florida. (Gainesville Sun)

• Coming soon, the TV channel Oxygen will feature a new true crime series based on Florida's most extreme and outrageous Florida Man stories. (GateHouse)

• Two University of Florida nurses have been awarded a $2.57 million grant from the National Institute of Aging to focus on developing a way to prevent older hospitalized patients from falling. (UF News)

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Around the state today

• About 1 in 10 Florida state inmates are held in solitary confinement, and these inmates now say solitary confinement falls under the category of cruel and unusual punishment and demand that Florida stops this practice. (News Service of Florida)

• Amid customer service failures, millions of dollars in fines and the loss of contracts, Conduent CEO, Ashok Vemuri announced his resignation. Conduent has not collected a paycheck from its SunPass contract in over a year and its quarterly revenue was down 18.5%. (Florida Politics)

• While the second-ranking commander in the National Guard announced he is stepping down from his position due to sexual misconduct allegations and his efforts to conceal them, he maintains that he is innocent. (Florida Times-Union)

• In an effort to increase school safety, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed one of the most controversial bills of 2019, which allows teachers to be armed in public schools as of Oct. 1. (Miami Herald)

• The Palm Beach Post released its six-episode podcast, "The Dancing Oligarchs," which details President Trump's connection with Russian businessmen. Not to be mistaken for a debriefing of the Mueller Report, the podcast is a simple collection of six 20-minutes stories.

• President Donald Trump announced the federal government will pay 90% of Hurricane Michael debris removal and recovery expenses. The state of Florida is expected to pay for 5% and local governments would be responsible for the last 5%. (Panama City News Herald)

• A bill that calls for the increase of needle exchanges, a proven way to reduce the spread of blood-borne infections among drug users, passed unanimously in the Florida Senate and almost unanimously in the Florida House. Now it is up to DeSantis to decide on the bill. (WLRN)

• Following the 2018 shutdown of the Florida Times-Union's printing press in Jacksonville, the Daytona Beach News-Journal announced it will be closing as well. This closure will result in the elimination of 50 job positions and will affect nearly 80 employees. (WJCT)

• While some seem to like Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried’s gas pump sticker, whose goal is to raise awareness about skimmers and fraud, the new design is unpopular among some officials. (WFSU)