Seniors vs. Crime is now looking into taxes on gas and water surcharges collected by Gainesville Regional Utilities. The group was previously only investigating a complaint about a tax on electric customer charges collected by GRU.

A program of the state attorney general's office is investigating whether GRU, the city and the county may be inappropriately taxing a portion of utility bills each month, upwards of $2.7 million in taxes over the last three years.

Over the last two years the Alachua County branch of Seniors vs. Crime, a program of the Florida attorney general’s office, has settled nine cases on behalf of car buyers against Gatorland Toyota, a dealership on Main Street in Gainesville. The group has helped seniors recover more than $92,000.

A referendum on the November ballot in Alachua County will ask voters to approve a three-fourths of a cent sales tax increase to pay for increased repairs to local roads. The tax, expected to collect $300 million, would expire after 15 years.

You may recall a number of hazing incidents that arose this past spring at the University of Florida. Since then, most of the students who faced hazing charges have avoided criminal convictions as long as they complete a year’s probation and sanctions that include 75 hours of community service. Dr. …

Tens of thousands of young students across North Central Florida headed back to school today. Florida’s 89.1, WUFT-FM’s Steven Gallo checked in with Alachua County Schools spokeswoman Jackie Johnson who says overall, the first day of school ran pretty smoothly across the county except for a few somewhat expected tie-ups. [audio:http://www.wuft.org/media/audio/FPFirstdayofschoolwrap.mp3]

For some students in Alachua County, the school day will be a little longer this year. Seven elementary schools will have their days extended by an hour after they ranked in the 100 lowest performing schools in the state. [audio:http://www.wuft.org/news/files/2012/08/Extended-School-Hours-WRAP.mp3|titles=Extended School Hours WRAP]  

The swine flu is on the radar of health officials with reported cases on the rise nationwide. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 145 confirmed human cases of the virus since July of last year.  As Florida’s 89.1, WUFT-FM’s Steven Gallo reports, the number is five times more than an estimate …

Over the weekend, presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney announced his running mate: Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan. Florida’s 89.1, WUFT-FM’s Steven Gallo spoke with University of South Florida political science professor, Susan McManus, about the new candidate for vice president and what it means for the race to the White House. [audio:http://www.wuft.org/media/audio/McManusQAStevenGallo.mp3]

Earth Day, as most people know it, falls on April 22nd each year. But as WUFT-FM’s Steven Gallo reports, the University of Florida is getting a jump start on promoting sustainability with its Campus Earth Day. [audio:http://www.wuft.org/media/audio/farmersmarketChrisGilmoreStevenGallo.mp3] [jwplayer config=”News-video” file=”wuftnews/20120406-Earth-day.mp4″] UF’s all-male acapella group, “The Staff,” performs during the Campus …