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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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
Read More »
Most counties in north central Florida are compliant, including Levy, Gilchrist, Columbia, Union, Bradford and Putnam.
Read More »
The city of Jacksonville has seen a 70 percent drop in repeat opioid overdoses in the past year thanks to a new program that immediately introduces overdose patients rehabilitation and treatment resources during their initial visit to the emergency department.
Read More »
Sporting a baseball cap and a Florida Gators hoodie, Matthew Hunter walked into the University of Florida’s J. Wayne Reitz Union on Thursday, Nov. 1, 2018, excited to vote for the first time. His heart sank just a bit when he first saw the line of others waiting to vote …
Read More »
WUFT News News and Public Media for North Central Florida from the University of Florida in Gainesville