GAINESVILLE, Fla. – With Florida making it easier for juries to impose the death sentence, two formerly condemned inmates who are still behind bars are warning that the change gives too much power over life and death to elected prosecutors. Their concerns are at odds with some families of murder …
Read More »The Point, May 3, 2023: Investigation reveals trend around Florida’s new loud music law
The data show Black drivers are nearly three times more likely to receive a ticket.
Read More »‘Stop being racist:’ Tickets for loud music nearly 3 times more likely for Black drivers under new Florida law
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 …
Read More »The Point, April 27, 2023: Bill shielding kids’ autopsy details nears passage
Subscribe to The Point, arriving in your inbox Monday through Friday at 8 a.m. The stories near you • Fresh Take Florida: After family murders, suicide, Florida nears passage of bill to shield kids’ autopsy details. “The bills would ban the public release of autopsy reports for minors killed by domestic …
Read More »After family murders, suicide, Florida nears passage of bill to shield kids’ autopsy details
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Nearly two years after both her sons were killed by her estranged husband, a surviving mother is picking up the pieces of her life to move forward as untold storylines about the murders are just emerging. Minde O’Sullivan, 44, of Gainesville said her new marriage to the …
Read More »The Point, April 26, 2023: Behind the scenes of schools purging ‘improper’ books
Subscribe to The Point, arriving in your inbox Monday through Friday at 8 a.m. The stories near you • WUFT News: 2021 Swamp Car Wash murder case defendant changes plea again. “Under the former plea deal, Patrick was facing up to 15 years in prison. Now, if he is found guilty …
Read More »Behind the scenes of Florida’s efforts to purge schools of books deemed improper
CLEARWATER, Fla. – With a scanner like ones used at grocery stores plugged into her computer, Paula Stephens spent her 30-minute planning period scanning two boxes of books from her classroom library. Those two green boxes had roughly 55 books, and her first-grade classroom at Eisenhower Elementary has about 40 …
Read More »The Point, April 25, 2023: COVID-19 made tracking elder abuse harder
Subscribe to The Point, arriving in your inbox Monday through Friday at 8 a.m. The stories near you • WUFT News: The Rise of the Red. “The Williston Middle High School Red Devils football team went 1-8 in the 2021 football season. They also averaged about 30 fans a game according …
Read More »The Point, April 20, 2023: House committee approves GRU control bill
Subscribe to The Point, arriving in your inbox Monday through Friday at 8 a.m. The stories near you • WUFT News: GRU control bill gets House committee approval. “The House State Affairs Committee approved Representative Chuck Clemons’ bill giving the state of Florida control of Gainesville Regional Utilities on Wednesday.” • …
Read More »Hit snooze: Bills would delay middle, high school start times
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – When McKenzie McAliley, a senior at Atlantic Community High in Delray Beach along Florida’s East Coast, took the bus to school, she would wake up at 5 a.m. and walk to the bus stop in the dark. McAliley, 18, now drives to school but must wake just …
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