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 • WUFT News: Hundreds of students forced to live in temporary hotel rooms, possibly left homeless after delay in promised housing. “On Sept. 16, several hotels across Gainesville were sold out for the …
Read More »“It’s not perfect”: Alachua County School Board amends draft of LGBTQ guide, accounts for new state laws
The Alachua County School Board presented a draft of its new LGBTQ guide to about 40 people Tuesday, with several public commenters pushing for safer standards for queer youth. The guide has been months in the making after its predecessor was removed last year and revised in February when the …
Read More »Find your county: Watches, warnings, evacuations and closures ahead of Idalia
Current watches, warnings, evacuations and closures for Florida counties as Idalia closes in The National Hurricane Center has issued alerts for Florida counties ahead of the arrival of Tropical Storm Idalia. The cyclone is expected to intensify into a hurricane and is forecasted to strengthen into a major hurricane before …
Read More »The Point, July 31, 2023: GRU explained, Black history backlash and a 46,000-year-old worm
Subscribe to The Point, arriving in your inbox Monday through Friday at 8 a.m. The stories near you • WUFT News: What’s happening with GRU? Here’s an explainer as its control shifts to new authority. “If the headlines about GRU from the last few months have left you scratching your head …
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 »Florida Senate passes bill that would undermine most of state’s teacher unions
CLEARWATER, Fla. – Nancy Velardi has negotiated with Pinellas County Schools, one of the largest school districts across Florida, for 18 years, securing affordable health insurance for teachers and their families and working to increase salaries. But in her last term as president of the Pinellas County Teacher Association, the …
Read More »Effort to protect abandoned African American cemeteries stalled last year; things are different now
TARPON SPRINGS, Fla. – An effort in Florida’s Legislature to repair and preserve abandoned and historic cemeteries throughout the state – including lost Black burial grounds – is making strides among lawmakers this year after similar measures stalled in 2022. The legislation over abandoned and historic cemeteries would enact recommendations …
Read More »By the numbers: County abortion totals in Florida during 2022
A new state report shows that, as of Dec. 2, Florida totaled 68,217 abortions this year. That was up from 61,956 abortions as of Nov. 1 and 57,067 abortions as of Oct. 4. Statewide, there were 79,817 in 2021 and 74,868 in 2020. Here are the counties with the most …
Read More »Republican Anna Paulina Luna flips Florida seat in 13th Congressional District
Anna Paulina Luna flips Florida’s District 13.
Read More »Florida GOP takes lead in early voting in traditionally blue Miami-Dade
In an extraordinary sign of trouble for Democrats in Florida ahead of Election Day, the number of registered Republicans voting in Miami-Dade County surpassed Democrats on Wednesday – one day after President Joe Biden visited the area on a campaign swing. The most populous county in Florida, Miami-Dade – with …
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