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Florida’s outgoing Democratic agricultural commissioner, Nikki Fried, is asking the Justice Department to knock down former President Donald Trump's…

Horse Farms Forever hosted a conservation summit where local officials were able to address ongoing and future transportation projects.

A local woman who gave birth in the Alachua County Jail last year is still fighting to have authorities recognize her claim that her medical needs were…

The Gainesville City Commission's special meeting on the K9 unit largely pitted law enforcement officers pleading to preserve the unit against community members calling to dismantle it.

As inflation rises across the country and fuels growing food insecurity in local communities, the largest food bank in Florida is scheduled to hold food…

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…

A video round-up of local, state and national stories for readers in North Central Florida.

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.

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.

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…