WUFT News News and Public Media for North Central Florida from the University of Florida in Gainesville
Subscribe to The Point, arriving in your inbox Monday through Friday at 8 a.m. The stories near you • Mainstreet Daily News: Gainesville again pulls police K-9 unit. “Two weeks after returning to regular duty, the K-9 squad at the Gainesville Police Department (GPD) will again leave regular service as the …
Read More »Taylor’s Teddy Bears Travels to Gainesville
The teddy bear is a simple thing. They’re colorful and cuddly. They’re soft and sweet. It’s an innocent toy filled with so many playful memories. “He took Chevy everywhere,” Megan Bishop said, “That was his best friend.” Chevy was the best friend of Bishop’s four year old son Taylor. “Taylor …
Read More »Liftoff: Science projects by students from 5 Florida schools headed to space
Watch above: WUFT reporter Elena Barrera produced this video report. OCALA, Fla. – What started out as a group project turned into one middle school student getting her science experiment a seat to the International Space Station, one of five such projects headed to space from schools across Florida. Collins …
Read More »Retired author and Mississippi farmer shares personal stories of her childhood life from the 1950s
One of Barbara Johnson’s, 67, fondest childhood memories was when she would go outside and spend time around her farm animals. Some of her favorite parts of this were the things she would find around these animals, one being cow dung. She would then take chunks of the dried-up dung …
Read More »North Marion boys basketball team fights through heartbreak
In mid-January, Timothy Yarn was watching the North Marion High School girls basketball team play against Hawthorne High School. Yarn, the head coach of the North Marion boys varsity basketball team, cheered on the Broncos and prepped his team for a matchup with the Hornets. In the stands, Shirley Ann …
Read More »A goodbye letter from reporter Katie Hyson
Katie Hyson is finishing her time as a Report for America Corps Member for WUFT News. She is headed to San Diego to report on race and equity for the NPR/PBS station there, KPBS.
Read More »The Point, Feb. 27, 2023: Former cop helps convict rapist in decades-old cold case
Subscribe to The Point, arriving in your inbox Monday through Friday at 8 a.m. The stories near you • Fresh Take Florida: Mystery solved? Feds name man they say lived under another’s identity for 3 decades. “The mystery of the bizarre identity case that spanned the Eastern seaboard is a step …
Read More »Alachua County Schools see ESOL population bounce back from the pandemic
The number of English for Speakers of Other Languages students in Alachua County increased by more than 100 in 2022 from the previous year, when it dropped during the pandemic. Most ESOL students speak Spanish as their first language.
Read More »Gainesville High School hires Ian Scott as head football coach
Ian Scott’s contributions to sports in Alachua County, both at a high school and collegiate level, stand above those of many others. He was Gainesville High School’s valedictorian in 2000 and was a member of the school’s back-to-back state champion basketball teams in 1999 and 2000. He was also an …
Read More »Protesters sang and prayed outside Florida State Prison as Donald Dillbeck was executed
Schoolchildren, teachers, anti-death penalty advocates and attorneys gathered across the street from the Florida State Prison in Raiford Thursday protesting the execution of David Dillbeck, a convicted murderer.
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