2 - The Independent Florida Alligator

Wide receiver Van Jefferson figures to be one of the most impactful newcomers for the UF football team.

SPORTS | FOOTBALL

Top incoming recruits/transfers rundown for fall sports

By Chris O'Brien , Andrew Huang and Alligator Staff report | July 10, 2018

There are many incoming freshmen and transfers joining UF Athletics for the 2018-19 season. With the first sporting event of the 2018 fall sports season under one month away (soccer exhibition match at Florida Gulf Coast on Aug. 7), it’s time to get acquainted with some of the new faces of the Florida Gators. Sports writers Chris O’Brien, Andrew Huang and Mark Stine highlight newcomers to watch for the upcoming football, volleyball and soccer campaigns.

OPINION | COLUMNS

The cereal industry Trix kids

By Stephan Chamberlin | July 9, 2018

Walking down the breakfast aisle of the grocery store, a rainbow of boxes scrolls past. Mascots like Tony the Tiger and Lucky the Leprechaun jump out from each rectangle. The obvious conclusion is that a lot of these cereals are aimed at kids. Turn those boxes over, and you’ll find most of them are high in sugar, and, for some, extremely high. Improving public health isn’t a simple topic, but one common sense move is obvious: We should stop marketing sugary cereals to children.

OPINION | COLUMNS

How to quit sucking: the problem with plastic straws

By Layla Soboh | July 9, 2018

Americans have recently discovered the harm of plastic straws to the environment and the animals that inhabit it. Overnight, it seems that many young people have begun urging each other to stop using the thin drinking tubes. When I first heard about this movement, I didn’t understand why straws were any worse than other plastic pollution. I figured all plastic was bad. Why are we singling out straws? This week I set out to find the reason so many environmentalists were warning us about these seemingly innocent tools.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Don't settle

By Sophie Feinberg | July 9, 2018

Don’t settle for a situation that only hurts.

Boomer and officer Dale Holmes play tug-of-war with a rolled-up towel after Boomer finds the planted scent during a demonstration.

METRO

GPD, UPD train department's newest K-9 officers

By Jessica Curbelo | July 9, 2018

When Gainesville Police officer Ed Ratliff and his K-9 partner, Ace, patrolled along Southeast Eighth Avenue, they weren’t expecting to find their first suspect as a solo team.

METRO | CRIMINAL JUSTICE

Woman charged with unarmed burglary

By Devoun Cetoute | July 9, 2018

A woman was found sleeping on a man’s couch after burglarizing his home on Northeast Fifth Avenue on Saturday, then gave her 19-year-old daughter’s name when she was arrested by Gainesville Police, according to the arrest report.

METRO | CRIMINAL JUSTICE

GPD: Man attempts to eat bag of cocaine

By Devoun Cetoute | July 9, 2018

When a man was stopped by Gainesville Police after a chase Saturday, he allegedly tried to eat a small plastic bag of cocaine.

METRO | CRIMINAL JUSTICE

Man charged with sexual assault in Dillard's dress room

By Jessica Curbelo | July 9, 2018

Gainesville Police arrested a 19-year-old Lake City man Thursday for allegedly sexually battering a minor at The Oaks Mall.

METRO

City announces 'tree team' to enhance urban forest

By Anais Roache | July 9, 2018

The City of Gainesville has announced a tree team to develop an urban forest management plan to act as a roadmap that will enhance the city’s current tree canopy, which is the layer of tree brush that covers the city when viewed from above, and maximize its ability to provide benefits for all citizens.

NEWS | CAMPUS

UF researchers pit moths against bats in recent study

By Dana Cassidy | July 9, 2018

New evidence shows moths with elongated tails and hindwings have a better chance of escaping a bat attack.

NEWS | CAMPUS

Advocates speak out against Filipino war on drugs

By Kelly Hayes | July 9, 2018

Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs has led to the deaths of thousands of people, catching the attention of student groups at UF.

Lt. Sean Withers from Gainesville Fire Rescue won the grand champion belt for eating the most hot dogs (eight) by himself. Withers and other members of GFR were awarded first prize during the competition. Together, they consumed 25 hot dogs.

METRO

Firefighters down hot dogs in inaugural charity event

By Jessica Curbelo | July 9, 2018

Eight men sat along a wooden table. In front of them, 96 hot dogs waited. Behind them, a golden trophy and a belt fit for a champion motivated them. They were eating to win.

Villiance and Viviane Charlestin in June 2018. “It doesn’t matter if a person’s gay, straight, immigrant, black, white,” Viviane said. “They’re a human being.”

NEWS | CAMPUS

Fifteen years ago, her father was deported. Her family has almost given up on bringing him back.

By Victoria Chin | July 9, 2018

Viviane Charlestin remembers wearing a red dress when her family drove to West Palm Beach on a hot day in 2003.

NEWS | CAMPUS STUDENT GOVERNMENT

Jay Pharoah to perform at Accent event Tuesday

By Carly Rogers | July 9, 2018

The Accent Speakers Bureau chairman said students were so excited about Tuesday’s event, they were asking for details as the posters for it were being hung up.

Tiger Woods hasn’t won a tournament since the 2013 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational or a major since the 2008 U.S. Open.

SPORTS | COLUMNS

Stop giving coverage to Tiger Woods

By Chris O'Brien and O’B-Wan Kenobi | July 9, 2018

Read the title. Then read it again, and again and again.

Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher was snubbed from the 2018 MLB All-Star Game even though he leads the AL in ERA at 2.09.

SPORTS | BASEBALL

Blake Snell’s All-Star snub is because of where he plays

By Mark My Words | July 9, 2018

Blake Snell has been one of the most dominant starting pitchers in all baseball through the 2018 season. During his third season in Tampa Bay, he’s unexpectedly led the Rays to a record on the plus-side of .500 (46-44) and put himself in serious contention for the American League Cy Young Award.

People file in through the main entrance to attend the festival.

METRO

The City of Gainesville holds 19th Annual Fourth of July Celebration

By Madison Rubert | July 5, 2018

UF alumni Matt Redinger was searching online for ways to celebrate his 10-month-old daughter Emmy’s first Independence Day when he came across the City of Alachua Fourth of July Celebration.

OPINION | COLUMNS

If you can't be a vegan, be a vegan ally

By Layla Soboh | July 4, 2018

I have recently come across a community of people who have a unique view about diets and veganism. These people believe that consuming a more plant-based diet is beneficial to the environment and our bodies, but they are open to making exceptions in times of inconvenience.

OPINION | COLUMNS

The Student Government spiel you missed at Preview

By Zachariah Chou | July 4, 2018

Hi there! Are you interested in Student Government? I saw you staring at our board and have mentally given you half a second to flee. Yes? Fantastic!

OPINION | COLUMNS

Half of dealing with a disability is the feedback

By Sophie Feinberg | July 4, 2018

Just like there’s sexism, racism, cisgenderism, anti-Semitism or ethnocentrism, there’s ableism.

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