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 • Fresh Take Florida: Sheriff who can’t carry a gun? Felon runs to become Florida county’s top cop. “A long-shot candidate — one who can’t legally carry a gun and would not be …
Read More »Pro-Palestinian demonstrators express free speech concerns amid Israel-Hamas war
Farrah Maswadeh doesn’t wish to live in the United States anymore. As a 25-year-old Palestinian American who grew up in Jordan and now lives in Gainesville, she said she was disgusted to live in the country after seeing the behavior of U.S. news outlets and people around her during the …
Read More »The Point, Nov. 9, 2023: Third GOP debate: What you need to know
Subscribe to The Point, arriving in your inbox Monday through Friday at 8 a.m. The stories near you • WUFT News: Firefighters rescue chickens, dogs, rabbits, goats, ferret in burning home. “Firefighters in Crystal River extinguished a fire at a rural home Tuesday and rescued 15 chickens, six dogs, six rabbits, …
Read More »‘Hamas ought to be destroyed,’ political commentator Ben Shapiro says
Controversial conservative political commentator Ben Shapiro harshly criticized the Palestinian militant group Hamas and said anyone who disagrees with him is a “Jew hater” during a campus event Wednesday night at the University of Florida. “If you support Hamas, you are a Jew hater,” Shapiro said during his appearance …
Read More »DeSantis requests aid for Big Bend fishing industries
Governor Ron DeSantis requested assistance for North Central Florida’s fishing industry to repair damage from Hurricane Idalia. He wrote a letter on Wednesday to the U.S. Secretary of Commerce to issue a federal fisheries declaration providing federal funding for offshore, nearshore and inshore fisheries to rebuild. In DeSantis’ letter, he …
Read More »Heavily damaged Horseshoe Beach mourns what was lost to Hurricane Idalia
Hundreds of Big Bend residents lost their homes last week to Idalia, with Horseshoe Beach taking one of the hardest hits of all. Officials estimate it may take up to two weeks to restore power to the area.
Read More »Pres. Biden and First Lady visit hurricane-ravaged Florida community
President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden toured the areas hit hardest by Hurricane Idalia Saturday, taking in the damage by air and by land. The president promised to help with the area's recovery "until the job is done."
Read More »Destruction seen from above: New video, photos reveal hurricane damage in Florida’s hardest hit region
An aerial tour of the region in north-central Florida where Idalia made landfall early Wednesday and nearby communities revealed the devastating scale of destruction spanning more than 100 miles across Florida’s Big Bend.
Read More »Hurricane, shooting test DeSantis leadership as he trades the campaign trail for crisis management
First a shooting, then a storm. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is facing a one-two punch testing his leadership at a critical moment for his presidential campaign, with the Republican moving to cast aside his role as culture warrior and show the country that he can govern through crises. His first …
Read More »Hurricane Idalia makes landfall on Florida’s west coast as a dangerous Category 3 storm
CEDAR KEY, Fla. (AP) — Hurricane Idalia has made landfall on Florida’s west coast as a dangerous Category 3 storm on Wednesday and threatens to unleash life-threatening storm surges and rainfall. Idalia came ashore in the lightly populated Big Bend region, where the Florida Panhandle curves into the peninsula. The …
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