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 • Florida Politics: Joe Harding indicted on wire fraud, money laundering charges. “Harding, an Ocala Republican recently elected to his second term representing District 24, was released Wednesday on a $10,000 bond.” • …
Read More »A new Newberry Christmas tradition transforms its downtown into a gingerbread village
The city of Newberry has worked tirelessly to put together its first annual Gingerbread Village holiday celebration.
Read More »This RTS driver tries to spread holiday joy — every day — via his bus header
For one Gainesville bus driver, it’s the holiday season year-round. January through December, Steven Sowders displays “happy holidays” on his bus header to celebrate a national holiday, big or small, every day. Sowders has worked for the Gainesville Regional Transit System for nearly eight years. For most of that time, …
Read More »UF backup quarterback played season while secretly under investigation in child pornography case
The University of Florida’s backup quarterback played his whole season in the shadows of struggling starter Anthony Richardson — and now, it turns out, a sensational child pornography investigation, too. The criminal investigation, which began in June and unfolded slowly over five months during a disappointing 6-6 season, has redirected national attention on the Florida Gators – under new head coach Billy Napier – and quarterback Jalen Kitna, 19, of Burleson, Texas. Kitna was released from jail on an $80,000 bond late Thursday, after his first court appearance in a case involving five felony counts of possessing and distributing child pornography online.
Read More »Solar-powered trash cans are coming to Gainesville city streets
Gainesville’s city commissioners have something up their sleeve to combat litter – and residents may be surprised to see their solution: Solar-powered trash recycling bins, which will be deployed beginning in 2023. Big Belly Inc., a Needham, Massachusetts, waste and recycling company, has been awarded the contract to bring its …
Read More »New sandwich shop is first bite at restaurant business for Haitian immigrant
It started with the $5 mini chicken sandwich sold at a local coffee shop. Now, 30-year-old Shelton Seraphin, who is from Haiti, is seeking a bigger bite of the American business success story by opening his first sit-down restaurant earlier this month. Customers can now gobble-up tasty sandwiches with names like the Rooster Deluxe, Blue Bird and Angry Bird at Germain’s Chicken Sandwich Shop. Then stepped up to a food truck and became the purveyor of Gainesville’s most famous chicken sandwich.
Read More »Hitchcock Field and Fork Pantry receives donations from Pepsi, Winn Dixie
In partnership with Winn Dixie, Pepsi donated $50,000 to the Alan and Cathy Hitchcock Field and Fork Pantry. The donations came in the form of $20,000 in Winn Dixie gift cards donated by Pepsi, as well as $5,000 in groceries courtesy of Winn Dixie. According to the University of Florida’s …
Read More »Florida Gators backup quarterback faces child pornography charges, suspended from team indefinitely
Florida Gators backup quarterback Jalen James Kitna was arrested Wednesday and accused of five felony counts of possession and distribution of child pornography. The team suspended him indefinitely and said in a statement it was shocked and saddened over his arrest. Gainesville police said Kitna, 19, of Burleson, Texas, shared …
Read More »UF Iranian alumna who was arrested when she was a year old says oppression in Iran is a burden
The news that Iran threatened the families of its World Cup soccer team, which refused to sing the national anthem, came as no surprise to Shabnam Goli. When Goli was one, she was arrested. She and her mother spent a night in an Iranian jail for being at a birthday …
Read More »Gainesville music teacher reinvents how to love music
If you walk past Nellie ‘Sunshine’ Eshleman home this holiday season, you’ll hear the strum of a cello, a piano to the tune of ‘Carol of the Bells’ and the timbre of violins. You’ll also hear her cheers, reassurances and laughs. Her home, Sunshine Music Studio, is the musical escape …
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