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 • Mainstreet Daily News: Alachua County joins lawsuit against GNV zoning. “Peggy Carr and Faye L. Williams filed the lawsuit, with support from local nonprofit Gainesville Neighborhood Voices (GNVoices), and a judge will …
Read More »Inside the Matheson History Museum exhibit on iconic 70s concert venue
The Florida Theater’s condition is one of dismal disrepair. The windows are perpetually dark and marred by graffiti, and it has not hosted a show in more than five years. But an exhibit at the Matheson History Museum of Gainesville aims to illuminate the story of the site when it …
Read More »The Point, Nov. 21, 2022: Pedestrian dies crossing West University
Subscribe to The Point, arriving in your inbox Monday through Friday at 8 a.m. The stories near you • Mainstreet Daily News: Pedestrian dies crossing West University. “According to the Gainesville Police Department (GPD), the initial investigation found a pedestrian was trying to cross the roadway from the south to the …
Read More »Man accused of vandalizing UF Institute of Black Culture sign
A 27-year old man is facing charges after police say he vandalized the sign outside the UF Institute of Black Culture. UFPD was notified of the damage to the sign at 1510 West University Avenue. When they checked video surveillance, they saw Marvelle Blair uprooting the sign, according to police. He was arrested Thursday night on charges of criminal mischief, trespass after warning and assault on a law enforcement officer. Blair is not affiliated with the university but was issued two trespass warnings in 2021 and was banned for campus for three years. He also previously damaged the same sign in May and November of 2021 and was found guilty of criminal mischief both times. This is the second incident recently regarding vandalism of signs or monuments related to UF’s Black community. Someone vandalized plaques in the National Pan-Hellenic Council Garden but police do not believe the incidents are related.
Read More »Gainesville man who disappeared during trial sentenced to life in prison for sexually assaulting a minor
Nineteen-year-old Ian Gabriel Montero-Lopez, who disappeared while on trial for sexually assaulting a minor last Christmas Eve, was sentenced to life in prison in absentia on Thursday. Montero-Lopez, who was 18 at the time, met the underage victim on Snapchat the week before the assault. He pressured the victim into meeting him at her residence, where he gave the victim narcotics and sexually assaulted her. He was later arrested by the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office after being identified in a photo lineup by the victim. He disappeared during the jury selection phase of his trial. He was found guilty in absentia of one count of sexual battery on a child 12-17 years of age and on one count of sexual battery with use of physical force. Law enforcement does not currently know his whereabouts. A warrant is out for his arrest.
Read More »The Point, Nov. 18, 2022: Emerging Artist Program debuts in Gainesville with eye on diversifying arts festival
City employee Chelsea Carnes developed the program.
Read More »Transition from trucker to CBD sales was a healing journey
Local hemp farmer Tyler Griffin said his path to helping people heal from pain and other discomforts has been full of interesting turns. Griffin is the owner and founder of Southern Sun, a company that specializes in quality, all-natural and affordable CBD products. The hemp used to produce Southern Sun’s products is homegrown at his family’s farm in Archer, Florida.
Read More »Inside the effort to diversify north central Florida’s largest arts festival
The Emerging Artist Program was developed in response to a challenge: What would it take to diversify the Downtown Festival and Art Show?
Read More »National Pan-Hellenic Council Garden at UF faces third vandalism instance
Amid the pandemic and a host of Martin Luther King Jr. commemorations nearly two years ago, a small group of students, alumni, faculty and administrators attended a ceremony to celebrate the legacy of Black fraternities and sororities at the University of Florida. The focus of the event, on Jan. 14, …
Read More »‘It’s a fight for respect’: North Florida hijabis speak on the right to dress themselves
While women in Iran protest national religious mandates to wear a headscarf, Florida women who wear a hijab worry they may face backlash for their decision to wear the veil.
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