The Florida Supreme Court has rejected an execution appeal for Michael Duane Zack III, who is facing a death sentence for killing two women in 1996 over the course of a nine-day crime spree near Tallahassee, Florida. The court upheld the death warrant signed by Governor Ron DeSantis signed on …
Read More »Redistricting fight teed up in federal court
TALLAHASSEE — As the state appeals a Leon County circuit judge’s ruling that a congressional redistricting plan violated the Florida Constitution, another battle about the plan is poised to play out in federal court. A three-judge panel of federal judges is scheduled next week to start hearing arguments in a …
Read More »Pedestrian safety focus of joint City Commission and UF Student Senate meeting
UF Student Government Senators asked for major changes to university-wide pedestrian safety at the joint annual Gainesville City Commission meeting. Five pedestrians have died in Gainesville so far this year, according to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. At the meeting, commission members heard students’ demands for …
Read More »Gainesville accepts $8 million award to make University Ave safer
Four-year-old Dylan Roberts was crossing East University Avenue when he was hit by a car Oct. 27, 2021. Almost two years after his death, the city he called home accepted an award to improve pedestrian safety. The Gainesville City Commission accepted an $8 million award from the U.S. Department of …
Read More »Gainesville Regional Utility maintains power for customers amidst severe weather events
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – University of Florida and Santa Fe College students received a warm welcome back to Gainesville… literally. Students were slammed with excessive heat warnings and a hurricane within the first two weeks of classes. As Hurricane Idalia threatened a direct path to Gainesville, students began scrambling to prepare …
Read More »HUD grant money to go toward improvements in East Gainesville
The city and housing authority will use the $500,000 to work with residents and local organizations to update public housing at the Pine Meadows and Lake Terrace properties off East University Avenue.
Read More »Death sentence appeal rejected by Florida Supreme Court
The Florida Supreme Court rejected the appeal of an inmate convicted of first degree murder in 1994. Floyd Damren, 72, challenged his death sentence after being diagnosed with autism and post-traumatic stress disorder. Damren was sentenced to death after he beat an R.G.C. Mineral Sands employee with a steel pipe …
Read More »The Hippodrome Cinema reopens after $335,000 renovation funded by Wild Spaces, Public Places
The Hippodrome held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday to celebrate the reopening of the Hippodrome Cinema, which has been closed for several months for renovations.
Read More »Exclusive: Florida temporarily suspends political ideology surveys to nearly 2 million in state colleges, universities
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – After only one year, Florida has temporarily suspended a highly controversial, statewide survey required under a new state law compelling public colleges and universities annually to ask students and faculty to identify political bias in college classrooms. The executive vice chancellor of the Florida College System, Clifford …
Read More »State seeks to toss out resident lawsuit against GRU law
TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Ron DeSantis and other top state officials are urging a federal judge to toss out a constitutional challenge to a new law aimed at overhauling the municipal utility in the Gainesville area. Lawyers for DeSantis, Attorney General Ashley Moody and Secretary of State Cord Byrd on Monday …
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