The Point

The Point, Dec. 11, 2023: UF's Chabad Center celebrates Hanukkah amid antisemitism, war

WUFT | By WUFT News,

WUFT News

Published December 11, 2023 at 1:00 PM EST

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The stories near you

• WUFT News: A different Hanukkah, with the same spirit. "University of Florida’s Chabad center is celebrating Hanukkah amidst rising antisemitism and the war between Israel and Hamas."

• Mainstreet Daily News: Gainesville jury awards $7.5 million for 2021 car wash murder. "On Wednesday, an Alachua County jury awarded $7.5 million to the family of Bobby Hopkins Jr., who was shot and killed in May 2021 at the Swamp Car Wash on East University Avenue."

• WUFT News: Protestors call for ceasefire at Gainesville city commission meeting. "Protestors with Jewish Voice for Peace gathered at the Gainesville city commission meeting to call upon leaders to sign a resolution requesting President Biden to support a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas."

• Mainstreet Daily News: Gainesville renames portion of 8th Avenue in honor of Charles Chestnut III. "The renamed thoroughfare, Charles S. Chestnut III Avenue, will run along 8th Avenue from NW 6th Street to Waldo Road at Citizens Field. This stretch of road will pass in front of the historic Chestnut Funeral Home, founded in 1914 and run by Chestnut III and now his son, Alachua County Commissioner Charles Chestnut IV."

• WCJB: Marion County NAACP Branch celebrates 100 years. "The celebration was held at the New Covenant Missionary Baptist Church in Ocala, which is the original church where NAACP members used to hold their first ever meetings."

• Ocala Gazette: Ocala Christmas Parade. "The Ocala Christmas Parade has been dazzling onlookers for more than six decades. The event on Dec. 9 continued the tradition of showcasing local groups, with a wide assortment of gaily decorated floats, marching and mounted units, vintage and exotic vehicles and, as always, parade VIP Santa Claus."

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Around the state

• WUSF-Tampa: Here's the current state of Citizens Property Insurance. "From a federal investigation to a drop in policies, there have been lots of recent developments for Florida's insurer of last resort."

• Associated Press: Drought vs deluge: Florida’s unusual rainfall totals either too little or too much on each coast. "In Florida, this year has been a tale of two states as far as rainfall totals, with the southeast coast deluged by sometimes-record rainfall and much of the Gulf of Mexico coast facing a drought."

• Fresh Take Florida: ‘Return to sender:’ New evidence in questions about residency of newly elected House member in South Florida. "New evidence emerged Friday raising more questions about the legal residency of a Republican who won election this week to the state House in South Florida as his Democratic rival filed an official complaint with the Florida Ethics Commission."

• WUSF-Tampa: Calls mount for Bridget Ziegler to resign from Sarasota School Board amid a sex scandal. "The five-member Sarasota School Board is dominated by four conservatives. The two members who won election on the same slate as Ziegler, Tim Enos and Robyn Marinelli, have not commented."

• WMFE-Orlando: New Gene-editing Sickle cell treatment could be great news in Central Florida. "The Sunshine State boasts a yearly average of 7,000 new cases a year, twice that of the national average, according to a 2023 report by the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration."

• WLRN-Miami: 'Not even close': Clean-up of Everglades water polluted by Big Sugar struggles to keep up. "Bright Lit Place — a name given to the Everglades by the Miccosukee tribe that lives there — is reported and narrated by WLRN Environment Editor Jenny Staletovich, and she spoke with South Florida Roundup host Tim Padgett last Friday about the episode “The Reverse Farm,” which examines those hurdles."

• WFSU-Tallahassee: College Football Playoff: Sports attorney says FSU has a 'fighting chance' for possible lawsuit. "NCAA lawyer says the move might’ve hurt FSU’s pockets and that means the school could sue for lost compensation."

• Associated Press: Extremely rare white alligator is born at Florida's Gatorland reptile park. "The 19.2-inch (49 cm) female slithered out of its shell and into the history books as one of a few known leucistic alligators, Gatorland Orlando said Thursday."