Houston Harwood

Houston is a reporter for WUFT News who can be reached by calling 352-392-6397 or emailing news@wuft.org.

Prosecutors charge prominent real estate brokers with racketeering, stealing trade secrets

State prosecutors on Tuesday formally charged two prominent real estate brokers with felony criminal charges of racketeering, fraud and stealing trade secrets as part of a long-running investigation into a business dispute with their former employer. The men, Daniel James Drotos, 34, and Michael Steven Ryals, 65, were the same …

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UF in political firestorm over decision to block professors’ testimony in voting rights lawsuit

Century Tower stands in the middle of the University of Florida campus. A bill was approved Tuesday that would require colleges and universities to change accrediting organizations

Trying to extinguish a political controversy that has enveloped the University of Florida, the school promised that it will review its conflict-of-interest policy after it blocked requests by three prominent professors to provide paid testimony in a voting rights lawsuit against Gov. Ron DeSantis and other top state officials. On …

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Real estate agents in school board land deal are accused of ‘working both sides,’ increasing cost to Alachua County taxpayers

Fresh Take Florida’s two-month investigation into the deal also revealed that it largely circumvented oversight from a committee specifically tasked with monitoring the use of funds stemming from a half-cent education sales tax, which county officials pitched to voters as a way to fund improvements at existing schools and pay for new properties and construction.

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Photos: Low-Lying Streets In Gainesville Experience Flooding

Rain from Tropical Storm Elsa caused flooding throughout some of Gainesville’s low-lying areas Wednesday. Alachua County spokesperson Mark Sexton stated in a Wednesday press release that residents reported flooding, downed power lines and downed trees throughout the Gainesville area. Northwest Gainesville was particularly inundated with rainfall from Tropical Storm Elsa, …

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