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: 400 pride flags planted in Micanopy on town’s election day. “LGBTQ+ issues were not on the ballot in Micanopy, but they were certainly on the minds of voters as they …
Read More »Fahrenheit 352? What Alachua County educators are saying about book removals
Even as national attention focuses on Florida and other states controlling what books students can read, some Alachua County teachers haven’t faced any issues with certain books being removed from public schools. Jay Winter Collins, a part-time teacher at W.A. Metcalfe Elementary School and children’s book illustrator, said if her …
Read More »Dragonslayers walk among us: Gainesville players discuss the rise and benefits of Dungeons and Dragons
Watch Above: Every Tuesday night, a kids Dungeons and Dragons group meets at Coliseum of Comics to learn how to play. They have all seen the academic and social benefits of the game apply to their lives. (Aubrey Bocalan/WUFT News) In the basement of Fine Arts Building C at the …
Read More »‘Ain’t seen nothing yet’: DeSantis touts making Florida attractive destination, largely tempers firebrand style
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – In his first State of the State speech since his re-election, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday touted his policies as making Florida an attractive destination with a booming economy. Widely expected to run for the Republican presidential nomination, the governor appeared to temper his firebrand style for …
Read More »Choosing to suffer: Patrick Gallagher builds ultramarathon community in Gainesville
Halfway through a 100-kilometer race, his left arm went limp. Then, his left leg. The nearest aid station was 3 miles away. When Patrick Gallagher looked around, there was no one in sight. He didn’t know what was happening, so he spoke aloud to rule out a stroke. Then, he …
Read More »Then and now: How DeSantis’ State of State speeches have changed
For the first State of the State address of his second term on Tuesday, Gov. Ron DeSantis is kicking off the Florida legislative session in a much different position than he was four years ago. When DeSantis took office in 2019, he had defeated his Democratic opponent Andrew Gillum by …
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 »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 »Calligraphy in contemporary Chinese art speaker frames the relationship between mortals and murals
Kuiyi Shen, who has a doctorate in art history, adored art since his childhood in China. Fitted in a Neptune-blue shirt and charcoal blazer, he stepped into the Harn Museum of Art at the University of Florida prepared to teach. Not about brushstrokes, but about creativity. “Art paints a bridge …
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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