WUFT News News and Public Media for North Central Florida from the University of Florida in Gainesville
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 »Heat-Related Illness Rising with Temperatures
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
Read More »‘Retreat’ Not An Option For A California Beach Town, But It’s Already Happening In Duval County
By Jessica Palombo & Nathan Rott, NPR In Jacksonville Beach, Kimberlee Prescott is selling her home to the county so it can be torn down. The house, built just over two decades ago at 3640 Sanctuary Way S., is located in unfortunate proximity to a Florida Department of Transportation drainage culvert along Butler Boulevard. After Hurricanes Matthew and Irma, rain and storm surges caused “tremendous damage, expense, time loss, and disruption to the homeowner and her family,” according to Jacksonville
Read More »Sandy Soil And Rising Seas Spell Septic Tank Disaster In Florida
By Brendan Rivers Communities across Florida are already grappling with aging septic tanks, which leak into groundwater and are considered a leading cause of toxic algae blooms. As sea level rise is expected to worsen that situation, the state and cities are beginning to tackle the expensive task of converting septic systems to sewer or newer septic technologies. It’s no small challenge. Floridians are estimated to be using 2.6 million septic systems, most of them the conventional variety with two
Read More »Real Estate And Sea Level Rise: A Buyer’s Guide
By Brendan Rivers In the Tampa Bay area, Pinellas County is teaching real estate agents how to field questions about flooding — an increasingly common concern when homebuyers talk to Realtors. “They really are the boots on the ground for all of the floodplain managers everywhere,” said Lisa Foster, the county’s floodplain administrator. She developed the Real Estate Flood Disclosure training program, a first of its kind in Florida. Realtors are eager, she said, to take the classes on everything
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