WUFT News News and Public Media for North Central Florida from the University of Florida in Gainesville
Deliberation on the motion to appeal Alachua County's ban on Styrofoam carry-out containers and single-use plastic bags took less than 20 minutes.
Read More »Alachua County Commission Decides To Repeal Plastic Ban After Lawsuit Threat
Downtown Businesses Leery Over Closing Of Dignity Village
Dignity Village is set to close by 2020. While housing options are being provided for the homeless people who live there, some are expected to reject the help.
Read More »Gainesville Hosts First Mental Health Symposium
Alachua County is one of two counties in Florida that have more than one mental health provider for every 500 residents.
Read More »Storm Season Could Be Met With ‘Skittishness’
Saturday marks the start of the six-month long Atlantic hurricane season, and with the destruction of Hurricane Michael still visible, Florida residents may have a heightened sense of skittishness when it comes to perceived hurricane threats.
Read More »Gainesville Residents Struggle To Pay Rent Amid Florida’s Housing Crisis
American Community Survey data suggests Gainesville may be a harder place to pay rent than many other major cities in the state of Florida. Krystal Martinez is working to overcome challenges like high rent costs to provide for her family.
Read More »Potions And Profits: Modern Witches Making A Living In Gainesville
There are about 1 million practicing witches in the U.S. and several in north central Florida. These are a few of their stories.
Read More »Gainesville’s Independent Bookstores Look To Beat The Odds Against Challenges From National Cyber Chains
Since the 2011 closure of the national bookstore chain, Borders, the future of retail bookstores looked grim. The competitive world of online book sales and e-readers have forced bookstores to adapt. Third House Books and Coffee, 113 N Main St., is one such independent bookstore in Gainesville planning on further changes. …
Read More »Proposed Florida Bill Would Protect Students From Hazing Deaths
The proposed legislation offers amnesty to the first person who makes a 911 call in a hazing emergency.
Read More »Untold Florida: The Man Behind The Marching Band
Arjuna Myles spends weeks every summer at band camp. But he's no high school student or band director. He’s a drill designer; he directs hundreds of high school students scampering in intricate patterns across football and practice fields around North Central Florida, like ants under a microscope.
Read More »Lawrence Fowler: A Retired Vet Turned Coaster Connoisseur
Larry Fowler, often called "the crazy coaster guy," has completed over 10,600 coaster rides since mid-December of 2017, with his longest consecutive run at 140 rides after 13 hours in the park. He expects to exceed 12,000 by the end of the year.
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