Both sides of the struggle over the downtown statue of the Confederate soldier protested feet away from each other Thursday night. Over 100 people crowded at the foot of the statue with chants, talks and conversation over the statue's symbolism.

Erica Rodriguez Merrell is a co-owner of Wild Iris, the last feminist bookstore in Florida. She has shaped Wild Iris over the last few years into a radically inclusive community, providing everything from safe spaces to emotional support.

Protesters seeking to remove the downtown statue of the Confederate soldier spoke to city officials for the first time since the campaign began in late June. This is the first of several efforts that will go on over the next two weeks among protesters who call for the County Commission to take down the statue.

In an effort to even the scales, the Gainesville City Commission voted Thursday afternoon to regulate app-based transportation services like Uber. The ordinance will hold them to standards similar to those of traditional taxi drivers.

Investigations found no evidence that UF's Zeta Beta Tau chapter mistreated wounded veterans in Panama City Beach, according to a UF report released Thursday. A hearing later this summer will determine whether the chapter will be eligible to reopen, according to UF spokesperson Janine Sikes.

The idea of a homeless center was born eight years ago alongside an ambitious plan to end homelessness in Gainesville. In the years since, the city's plan to construct a permanent shelter has taken many twists and turns, all of them captured in this timeline.

Only three Florida counties remain dry for liquor sales, including Lafayette County, which struggles to retain business. Suwannee County went wet in 2011, though some of its towns did not follow.

Two feet of soil needs to be removed from the neighborhood near Gainesville’s Koppers Superfund site. And over the course of seven hours Thursday afternoon, Mitchell Brourman presented four times to the public the step-by-step plans for doing so.