After a jury couldn’t agree on the death penalty in Florida’s deadliest school shooting, Republican lawmakers in Tallahassee are proposing to make it easier to send condemned convicts to death row. The changes – which would allow a jury to recommend the death penalty even when only eight of 12 …
Read More »GRU, other utility companies face possibility of more oversight
TALLAHASSEE — Florida House members Tuesday raised the possibility of giving state regulators more oversight of municipal utilities. Members of the House Energy, Communications & Cybersecurity Subcommittee repeatedly touched on the issue as they received presentations about the Florida Public Service Commission and the state Office of Public Counsel. The …
Read More »DeSantis asks universities for transgender care information
TALLAHASSEE — Continuing to target treatment for transgender people, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration is requiring state universities to provide information from the past five years about services they have provided to people with gender dysphoria, according to documents released Wednesday. Chris Spencer, director of the governor’s Office of Planning and …
Read More »Two former Gainesville mayors died in last week
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Two former Gainesville mayors died in the past week. James “Jim” Painter died Thursday from cancer at the age of 71, and Craig Lowe was found dead Saturday morning at the age of 65. Lowe’s cause of death remains undisclosed. From 1993 through 1996, Painter was Gainesville’s …
Read More »DeSantis to scrutinize higher ed programs in Florida colleges and universities
TALLAHASSEE — As Gov. Ron DeSantis targets “trendy ideology” in higher education, his administration is asking state colleges and universities for information about resources they are putting into activities related to diversity, equity and inclusion and critical race theory. DeSantis has made the fight against critical race theory — which …
Read More »DeSantis focuses on ‘freedom’ to start second term
TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Ron DeSantis was sworn in Tuesday for a second term, offering a theme of “freedom” in Florida to counter “faddish ideology” nationally. Speaking on the steps of the Old Capitol, the state’s 46th governor balanced some campaign-style rhetoric and generic policy stances with the confidence of a …
Read More »UF professors say high-profile lawsuit now ‘moot’
TALLAHASSEE — Saying the case is “moot,” University of Florida professors are asking a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit that challenged a controversial conflict-of-interest policy that gave school administrators discretion over allowing faculty members to serve as expert witnesses in litigation. The university adopted a revised policy in October …
Read More »Growing, growing, gone: Marion County residents bemoan development surge
The air in McPherson Complex Auditorium in Ocala, once stale with bureaucracy, surged with something much more urgent upon the introduction of Item 7. Items 1-6 on the Marion County Commission planning and zoning agenda – ensnared in traps of technical jargon and dusted with mundane details – didn’t hold …
Read More »Newberry in talks with Archer and High Springs about new $40M regional wastewater treatment facility
The City of Newberry is negotiating with the cities of Archer and High Springs about joining onto its planned regional wastewater treatment facility. The new facility is part of an effort by Newberry to overhaul its wastewater infrastructure to accommodate new development and meet new environmental regulations the state legislature …
Read More »Paying the price: GRU customers question why their bills are so high
Watch above: Lisa Jordan, 54, talks about how her $2,000 Gainesville Regional Utilities bills have affected her business, Nature’s Pet Day Spa, off of West Newberry Road in northwest Gainesville. (Lauren Witte/WUFT News) Hayley Shea is a lifelong Gainesville resident who’s considering moving to another state. Why? Because her utility …
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