Students of Eastside High School's Institute of Culinary Arts competed in the National Prostart Invitational in Anaheim, California, hosted by the National Restaurant Association. The team came in sixth place.

Alachua County Fire Rescue Station 25 will be the first county building in Hawthorne to be outfitted with solar panels. The station is one of 24 buildings determined viable for the county's solar panel initiative, which seeks to cut energy consumption.

Hawthorne residents say they once again feel part of a community with the reopening of Alachua County Fire Rescue Station #25. After closing in 2009 for economic reasons, the redesigned station will bring security and potentially lower insurance rates to the surrounding area.

Excessive standardized tests have driven parents and school board members across the state to speak out. Opposition groups are pressuring legislators to change the testing policies.

Brtr connects customers and vendors through Facebook. Services offered on the site range from lacrosse lessons to hair styling, and the website's founder and CEO has plans to launch brtr in Miami next month.