Zachary Carnell

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

Remembering Rosewood: Descendants mark racial violence that razed Florida town 100 years ago

ROSEWOOD, Fla. – Lizzie Robinson Jenkins’s living room walls are covered in neat rows and columns of early 1900s history. Tables are littered with artifacts from her aunt, including frayed handkerchiefs and a metal coin purse — family heirlooms almost lost to hate. The 84-year-old’s expression changed as she remembered …

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Gainesville commissioners vote to allow sex offenders to live closer to schools, day cares and parks

The Gainesville City Commission passed an amendment Tuesday that allows people convicted of sexual offenses involving children under age 16 to live closer to schools, day care centers and parks, reducing the prohibited radius from 2,500 feet to 1,000 feet. The amendment also establishes a cut-off date that was previously …

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Local NAACP to pursue legal action for ‘deceptive’ political advertisements on single-member districting; GOP rejects accusations

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s chapter for Alachua County announced at a press conference Tuesday morning that it will pursue legal action against an advertising campaign that quoted political leaders of the local Black community to garner support for single-member districts, a referendum on November’s ballot.  …

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Alachua County makes history with approval of equitable criminal sentencing technology

Alachua County made the joint-effort of state attorney Brian Kramer and public defender Stacy Scott a historic reality: Florida’s Eighth Judicial Circuit will become Florida’s first judicial circuit to integrate equitable sentencing software as an official part of its case management system and plea-bargaining process. Roughly 95% of cases are settled in plea negotiations. Known as the Equity in Sentencing Analysis System (ESAS), this fairly new software provides legal practitioners with a searchable database of statewide sentencing data from the Florida Department of Corrections going back to 1998.

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