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Over the next few days, WUFT is bringing you the 2024 Year in Review, a compilation of the noteworthy stories from our newsroom over the last year. Today, we're bringing you two popular topics this year: education and the environment.

Education

Education was top of mind for many this year, with news stories garnering both local and statewide attention. Read on to explore some of the best education stories this year.

• With the vote commencing Friday, tensions are growing around possible Newberry charter school conversion

• Newberry Charter School Conversion Initiative fails, but Newberry Elementary’s fate is not yet determined

• Community contention and a foggy future: Newberry grapples with ongoing charter school conversion

• Success coaches for homeless students lose their jobs as federal funding runs dry

• Next chapter: Alachua County School Board implementing revised book ban review, but not without debate

• Frustrations among staff grow as more books are removed off Alachua County school library shelves

• ‘At least 90% of my time’: Book challenge policies continue to consume Alachua County school employees’ focus

• Marion County Public Schools install Knox Boxes on school campuses

• ‘They hold the business hostage’: Gainesville Starbucks closes its lobby during the high school rush

• Students say they’ve lost valuable mentorship in the wake of DEI closures at UF

• ‘Student loophole’ in Florida’s Live Local Act exacerbates Gainesville’s financial issues

• Apartment cleanups for fall semester leave some summer students temporarily stranded

• Todd Golden to continue as Gator men's basketball coach during Title IX investigation

• UF campus protester discusses the year of conflict in Gaza

• UF student reflects on serving in the Israeli Defense Forces during the Israel-Hamas war

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Environment

North central Florida is home to some of the world's most unique natural environments. The following links bring you stories of hardships and hope for Florida's natural world.

• Miracle cure or wishful thinking? Proposed treatment for citrus greening gets mixed reviews from growers

• The tree’s truth: Once dominant, longleaf pines face the growing threat of climate change

• The new natives: Climate change is causing native species to migrate

• Alachua County homeowner continues effort to have his property condemned

• 'You don’t see this in the city': Welaka has an unknown future

• Florida’s declining lovebug population may make for cleaner windshields — but it signals a troubling trend

Our newsroom also welcomed a new full-time staff member to the team this year. Rose Schnabel is WUFT's Report for America corps member, covering the agriculture, water and climate change beat in north central Florida. Here are some of her stories this year.

• ‘Do we want to pack it full of houses?’ Springs lovers challenge development plans in Alachua’s fragile Mill Creek

• ‘Worse than Idalia’: Florida peanut farmers report devastating losses from Hurricane Helene

• Land use, impacted species focus of new Suwannee River Basin research

• A citrus comeback is budding in North Florida

• Inside the grassroots ‘plant rescue ops’ to save Florida’s native species

• Gulf sturgeon, the iconic jumping fish of the Suwannee River, face new pollution and climate hurdles

Kristin Moorehead curated today's edition of The Point.