The Point

The Point, March 27, 2025: Alachua City Attorney warns city of development lawsuits

WUFT | By WUFT News

Published March 27, 2025 at 8:00 AM EDT

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Demonstrators gathered outside of Alachua City Hall on March 18 to demand the city conduct exit interviews with its former planners and halt development near the Mill Creek Sink cave system. (Rose Schnabel/WUFT News)

• WUFT News: Alachua City Attorney calls for increased communication to avoid development lawsuits. "City Attorney Marian Rush claims she wasn’t consulted before the city commission scheduled a vote for the first stage of the Tara Forest West development near Mill Creek Sink and its cave system in Alachua."

• WUFT News: UF student, veteran disputes charge he impersonated military police officer during arrest in classroom building. "In a highly unusual move, university police had arrested Brown on March 5 inside the UF classroom building Keene-Flint Hall during a history lecture. A video that circulated on social media showed at least four uniformed officers holding down Brown as a fifth officer in plain clothes watched."

• WUFT News: Manatee County sheriff’s office seize $1.4 million worth of fentanyl in county’s largest fentanyl bust. "Detectives in Manatee County south of Tampa say they are still searching for one suspect after what they describe as the largest fentanyl bust in the county’s history. Deputies seized over $1.7 million worth of narcotics, including enough fentanyl to kill the entire Tampa Bay area."

• Mainstreet Daily News: State attorney ends investigation into former ACSO administration. "State Attorney John Durrett decided in February to close an investigation into the administration of Alachua County Sheriff Clovis Watson Jr. and not pursue two criminal charges relating to intercepting privileged communications."

• WCJB: Alachua County School Board requests appeal of Newberry Elementary charter conversion. "They explain the April 2024 vote to approve the conversion was split among teachers 50/50. A discrepancy between the state statutes and administrative rules led to a debate about whether the conversion passed. Ultimately, the state sided with the Newberry Education First group over the district."

• Mainstreet Daily News: High Springs man receives federal prison sentence for wire fraud. "According to a U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida press release, court documents showed that Walker, 34, obtained more than $20,000 in unemployment benefits from the state of California. The funds came from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act and were intended to provide emergency financial assistance to Americans who were suffering from the economic effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic."

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Around the state

stethoscope on open book on a white background (Photo credit Dr. Farouk, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

• News Service of Florida: Florida House passes proposal that could open doors for more medical malpractice lawsuits. "House members voted 104-6 to approve the bill, which involves wrongful-death lawsuits and what are known as 'non-economic' damages for such things as pain and suffering."

• WFSU-Tallahassee: National Democrats pour millions into Florida's congressional special elections. Will it matter? "Democrats Joshua Weil and Gay Valimont combined have raised over $15 million. Most of that hasn’t come from Florida donors. The majority of the money comes from thousands of people, mostly in blue states. Most of those donors gave 200 dollars or less."

• WLRN-Miami: UM study finds recipe for restoration of elkhorn coral colonies. "Researchers at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School — as well as UM’s NOAA Cooperative Institute — say studies show to help those elkhorn to survive, researchers need to place them in shallow ocean locations with fast currents."

• Central Florida Public Media: Trump nominates UCF faculty member as NASA's chief financial officer. "Pending confirmation by the U.S. Senate, space policy expert and educator Greg Autry will play an influential role in shaping the financials and future of the federal agency."

• Associated Press: Republicans in Waltz's former Florida district aren't mad at him over Signal gaffe. "As Washington was roiled by the news that one of President Donald Trump’s top aides added a journalist to a group chat discussing military plans, many Republicans going to the polls to replace that White House aide’s old U.S. House seat have brushed off the story."

• WGCU-Fort Myers: State wildlife biologists post pictures of trio of Florida panther kittens after one-month check-up. "The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission biologists posted pictures of the kittens on Instagram after a veterinary visit, which is a common practice when baby panthers reach their one-month-old milestone."