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 »Former UF quarterback faces years in prison, sex offender status if convicted
Jalen Kitna, the former backup quarterback for the University of Florida, would face years in prison and hundreds of dollars in fines and be required to register as a sex offender if he were convicted on the child pornography charges he is facing, according to a review of over 1,000 …
Read More »Murder of 24-year-old TV journalist Dylan Lyons weighing heavily on University of Florida’s Innovation News Center
The University of Central Florida is just under a three-hour drive from the University of Florida, and the city of Orlando is about two hours from Gainesville. So, when Gainesville residents and UF students started seeing reports Thursday morning of Dylan Lyons’ death, a mournful, somber cloud loomed over the …
Read More »A cancer survivor, Jo Carver rededicates his life to cleaning the Santa Fe River
Jo Carver, 60, is a stage 4 cancer survivor who has dedicated his life to the Santa Fe River. Now, he spends every Saturday on the river with a new mission to clean up Florida’s diverse freshwater springs and the rivers that stem from them. For his 60th birthday, his family of volunteers organized a clean-up in his honor.
Read More »Farm Share and Project Youthbuild join together to give free food to families in need
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – As food prices soar, a Florida non-profit organization Farm Share continues to work with students in Project Youthbuild to alleviate those stresses for families. The drive was scheduled to start at 9 a.m., but drivers got up bright and early eager to get food. The Project Youthbuild …
Read More »The Point, Jan. 20, 2023: New Gainesville commissioners confirm salary increase
Subscribe to The Point, arriving in your inbox Monday through Friday at 8 a.m. The stories near you • WUFT News: GPD endeavor to lead the fight against child exploitation. “In 2022, Gainesville Police completed 96 investigations of child exploitation. Those investigations produced 17 arrests and over 325 subpoenas.” • Mainstreet …
Read More »Florida beekeepers rally community in Hurricane Ian recovery efforts
B. Keith Councell is a beekeeper stripped of his bees – 2,800 of them spread across his farms in Arcadia, Cape Coral, Pine Island and Fort Myers. His honeybees were among the 400,000 Florida bee colonies in Hurricane Ian’s path in September. Ian decimated 100,000 total hives, which were toppled and drowned in 12-foot storm surges as high as eight beehives. The state’s surviving bees were left starving from the storm’s destruction of foliage, the bees' source of energy and protein. Deprived of bees, feed and equipment, beekeepers have found relief among themselves.
Read More »Weathering the storm: Homeless Micanopy couple spent two hurricanes in a tent
Of the thousands of motorists who drive southbound Interstate 75 every day, hundreds take the Exit 374 ramp toward Micanopy, and they all pass Sharon James and Tim Rader. James and Rader have been “off and on” homeless for over 20 years and have been in Florida since 2016. They spend their days panhandling at the exit and return to their tent in the woods at night, where they weathered Hurricane Ian and Tropical Storm Nicole.
Read More »Florida Gators backup quarterback faces child pornography charges, suspended from team indefinitely
Florida Gators backup quarterback Jalen James Kitna was arrested Wednesday and accused of five felony counts of possession and distribution of child pornography. The team suspended him indefinitely and said in a statement it was shocked and saddened over his arrest. Gainesville police said Kitna, 19, of Burleson, Texas, shared …
Read More »Food banks in Alachua County facing new barriers this season
Food banks and pantries in Alachua County are facing more challenges than usual this season thanks to a rise in the price of groceries, the aftermath of Hurricane Ian and an increase in demand.
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