WUFT News News and Public Media for North Central Florida from the University of Florida in Gainesville
The office of Gov. Ron DeSantis says 57-year-old Gary Ray Bowles was pronounced dead at 10:58 p.m. Thursday after receiving a lethal injection at Florida State Prison in Starke.
Read More »Serial Killer Who Preyed On Gay Men Executed In Florida
Gainesville-Alachua County Drug Task Force Quietly Dismantled A Cocaine Ring Described As One Of Region’s Largest
Authorities say it has quietly become one of the largest marijuana and cocaine investigations across the region, at least by the number of people arrested, charged or convicted.
Read More »Gainesville City Commission Makes Tweaks To Current Public Comment System
Gainesville City Commission took action to change the way the public can interact with elected leaders on Thursday at a general policy committee meeting.
Read More »$178M Truck Route Will Attempt To Relieve Congestion In Starke. It’s Likely To Change The City One Way Or Another
To address the longstanding traffic problems in Starke, the Florida Department of Transportation is building a 7.3 mile, four-lane bypass between County Roads 227 and 233 on the city’s west side.
Read More »Alachua County Commission Decides To Repeal Plastic Ban After Lawsuit Threat
Deliberation on the motion to appeal Alachua County's ban on Styrofoam carry-out containers and single-use plastic bags took less than 20 minutes.
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 »‘Resilience Hubs’ Could Help Northeast Floridians — Including Animals — Weather Floods
By Brendan Rivers Recent “vulnerability assessments” by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation reaffirm Northeast Florida is highly threatened by sea level rise and flooding caused by rain. Unlike many densely populated areas along the East Coast, the assessment says, shoreline and inland riverbanks here are largely unprotected, which leaves opportunities for nature-based resilience improvements. McCoy Creek and McCoy Creek Boulevard just southwest of Downtown are frequently inundated during rain. The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation made the McCoy Creek Floodplain
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 »The Navy Is On The Front Lines Of Adapting To Climate Change
By Brendan Rivers “Climate change will affect the Department of Defense’s ability to defend the Nation and poses immediate risks to U.S. national security.” – DoD Climate Change Adaptation Roadmap, 2014 Naval Station Mayport sits 15 miles east of Downtown Jacksonville at the mouth of the St. Johns River. One of two major naval installations in Jacksonville, Mayport is home base for the Navy’s third-largest fleet, along with more than 15,000 active-duty personnel and 32,000 of their family members. Any
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