GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Darius Jermaine Ned Thomas Jr. was driving west on the Florida parkway in Jacksonville that runs along the St. Johns River, listening to music on a Friday afternoon in August in his Chevrolet Malibu sedan, when a sheriff’s deputy in a marked SUV pulled him over. “When …
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Performers and venues worry about the implications — but believe that drag will survive For Gainesville-based drag queen Star Shine, drag has always been connected with family. Star, who asked to use her stage name out of fear for losing her job, was first introduced to drag by her mother …
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Republican Florida House of Representatives Bobby Payne, Palatka, and Tyler Sirois, Merritt Island, are cosponsoring HB 1543, which proposes to reduce the minimum age at which a person may purchase, sell or transfer a firearm from 21 to 18. The measure is headed to the Criminal Justice Subcommittee for discussion March 13.
Read More »Subscribe to The Point, arriving in your inbox Monday through Friday at 8 a.m. The stories near you • WUFT News: Why women and racial minorities are underrepresented in the US Foreign Service. “WUFT’s Report for America Corps Member Katie Hyson spoke with two African American women in the service – …
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Newberry High School claimed the highest graduation rate -- 98.5% -- among Alachua County public schools despite the county and the state of Florida experiencing drops in overall graduation rates for the 2021-22 school year.
Read More »Subscribe to The Point, arriving in your inbox Monday through Friday at 8 a.m. The stories near you • WUFT News Special Report: Nay’loni Fairley: Jacksonville father recalls losing his ‘Dazzling Doll.’ “‘I just hope it gets better, because we’re all suffering, and it doesn’t get better,’ he said. ‘As the …
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A Marion County judge is working with experts around the country to aid veterans in Ukraine. For 20 years, Judge Jim McCune has served on the bench in Marion County. His effort to help veterans in the court system has had a positive impact on the local community and is now reaching the global scale. McCune and a team around the country are working to provide a Veterans Treatment Court (VTC) for soldiers in Ukraine.
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Over 750 people walked through the doors of Eastside High School Thursday evening to attend the annual Career Academy Showcase. Alachua County Public Schools faculty welcomed prospective eighth-grade students and family members to visit different displays to familiarize themselves with the 15 career academies spread amongst all the county’s high …
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Republican Keith Perry came out on top Tuesday night in the District 9 Senate race, garnering approximately 65% of the vote. After the Associated Press called the race, the outgoing District 8 senator thanked his team and his voters for supporting the campaign and, above all, single-member districting. “I can’t …
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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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