WUFT News News and Public Media for North Central Florida from the University of Florida in Gainesville
Florida reached 2.5 million people fully vaccinated against COVID-19 on Tuesday. Miami-Dade, Palm Beach and Broward Counties topped the list.
Read More »Florida Reaches 2.5 Million People Fully Vaccinated Against COVID-19
In Test Of Florida’s Self-Defense Law, Appeals Court Throws Out ‘Stand Your Ground’ Claim In Murder Trial
A Florida appeals court is denying a Jacksonville man’s legal appeals to invoke the controversial “stand your ground” law over the death of his girlfriend, the latest case to define limits on claiming that a killing might be justified as self defense.
Read More »President Trump Cancels Jacksonville Portion Of Republican National Convention
Delegates to the convention will still meet in North Carolina as planned, but Trump's keynote Jacksonville speech will no longer take place.
Read More »Heat-Related Illness Rising with Temperatures
Florida has made headlines this spring for record heat, but the trend stretches back far longer. Statewide temperature averages have been higher than normal for 57 out of the last 60 months.
Read More »Bill To Streamline Life-Saving, Anti-Overdose Drug Naloxone In Schools Failed In Legislature
First-responders carry a powerful, opioid-overdose reversal drug – known as naloxone – that can save lives when injected into a patient or sprayed into his nose. The U.S. surgeon general has urged broader access to the drug to reduce overdose deaths, but the Legislature failed to pass a measure that could have made the drug more widely available in Florida’s schools – despite it being free of charge to schools in many cases.
Read More »Judge Weighs Decision On Voting Rights Law That Could Sway 2020 Election
A two-day hearing is fueling anticipation about a federal judge's upcoming decision whether to block provisions of a new Florida law requiring ex-felons to repay all court fines and fees before they can be allowed to vote in future elections.
Read More »Florida School Districts Working To Meet New Mandate For Mental Health Instruction
In July, the Florida Board of Education mandated five hours of mental health instruction within the school year. The state became the third in the nation to require it.
Read More »How To Make Jacksonville More ‘Resilient’: 2 Committees’ Suggestions
By Brendan Rivers In early 2019, Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry announced he was putting together an ad hoc committee on sea level rise. Clad in a rain jacket, he was speaking on the sand at a press conference about the completion of a beach renourishment project as he stood alongside with the mayors of Duval County’s beach towns. Praise followed quickly from environmentalists. “We’re pleased to see that the mayor is listening,” St. Johns Riverkeeper Lisa Rinaman said shortly afterward.
Read More »With Weather Extremes Projected For Jacksonville, Elected Officials Cool To Aggressive Climate Action
By Brendan Rivers & Ayurella Horn-Muller for Climate Central In September of 2017, flooding caused by Hurricane Irma destroyed the house that Tom Davitt was renting on Jacksonville’s Westside and wrecked tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of his uninsured possessions. “I rolled out of bed because I thought it was my alarm, and it was a tornado warning. And I stepped into a foot and a half of water,” the 56-year-old yacht broker said in February. “I’m basically starting all
Read More »The New Vanguard Protecting Historic Sites From Sea Level Rise: Volunteers
By Brendan Rivers Thousands of archaeologically significant sites in Florida could be underwater within a century as seas rise, but there isn’t enough manpower, time or money to thoroughly research and excavate them all. With the prospect of losing so many clues about the past, professional archaeologists are hanging their hopes on a volunteer force of history enthusiasts. One of them is Jaime Bach. A cultural anthropologist who recently moved to Gainesville, Florida from California, she spent much of her
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