WUFT News News and Public Media for North Central Florida from the University of Florida in Gainesville
Subscribe to The Point, arriving in your inbox Monday through Friday at 8 a.m. The stories near you • Fresh Take Florida: Sheriff who can’t carry a gun? Felon runs to become Florida county’s top cop. “A long-shot candidate — one who can’t legally carry a gun and would not be …
Read More »Florida Supreme Court rules police, crime victims can’t keep their names secret under Marsy’s Law
In a major ruling with broad implications across Florida, the state’s Supreme Court said Thursday that a constitutional amendment voters passed in 2018 known as “Marsy’s Law” does not guarantee victims of crimes a categorical right to keep their names secret. The justices said the amendment’s provisions to allow crime …
Read More »Autopsy: Felon who was GOP congressional nominee in South Florida died from overdose
Family members of a Republican congressional nominee in South Florida are mourning the death of a man they described as a loving father who wrestled with addiction. Newly released police and autopsy records show he died of a fentanyl and cocaine overdose after relapsing into using drugs. “I just love …
Read More »Chabad UF Jewish Student Center increases security after Friday vandalism
The Chabad UF Jewish Student Center, listed on its website as the “heart of Jewish life on campus,” will have stricter security after it was vandalized Friday morning. Berl Goldman, a rabbi at the center, said two signs located outside Chabad UF were written over. One of the signs is …
Read More »Man suspected of dismembering body in Inverness dies of self-inflicted gunshot wound
INVERNESS, Fla. (AP) — A 75-year-old man suspected in the dismembering death of a man at a home in north Florida has died, sheriff’s officials said. Someone called deputies about a possible murder at a home in Inverness, which is 75 miles (121 kilometers) north of Tampa, the Citrus County …
Read More »Gainesville still waiting for $2 million in promised federal grant funds
Despite being more than a month past the start of the city’s fiscal year, Gainesville has yet to receive any payout from its annual grants from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. Those funds, approximately $2 million, were scheduled to be released on Oct. 1. Each year, the …
Read More »The Point, Nov. 21, 2023: Alachua County considers shipping container homes for homeless
Subscribe to The Point, arriving in your inbox Monday through Friday at 8 a.m. The stories near you • WUFT News: Alachua County investigates a proposal for permanent shipping container housing for the homeless. “The housing units will be crafted from recycled shipping containers. The containers are used as the structural …
Read More »The Supreme Court won’t allow Florida to enforce its new law targeting drag shows during appeal
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court said Thursday it will not allow Florida to enforce its new law targeting drag shows, while a court case proceeds. The justices refused to narrow a lower-court order that has prohibited the law from being enforced statewide. Florida had asked the court to allow …
Read More »Panic in the plaza: New videos show chaos of stampede at UF peace vigil, reveal police secretly investigating suicide-bomb threat
The first substantial videos to emerge from a panicked stampede at the University of Florida during a nighttime vigil for Israelis killed in the Hamas attacks show waves of terrified students sprinting out of their shoes, discarding phones and water bottles and colliding with startled and confused police officers who …
Read More »Florida law making gun carry permits optional leads to dramatic drop in safety classes
Floridians no longer need a permit to carry a concealed firearm, and gun owners are overwhelmingly opting out of the safety and educational training once required for a license. Firearms instructors are seeing a dramatic drop in student sign ups for such courses, which teach safety and explain the state’s …
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