Bringing a fiery passion and fierce drive for justice within the Gainesville City Commission, Reina Saco, a 33-year-old city commissioner, carries many identities — notably, her first-generation Cuban background.
The Gainesville man who was mauled by a Gainesville Police Department K-9 in July 2022 while fleeing a traffic stop changed his not guilty plea Tuesday and was sentenced to a year in prison.
Alachua County holds 606 short-term rental units. In The Magnolia Plantation owner Cindy Montalto’s words, “You can’t swing a dead cat in Gainesville without hitting an Airbnb.” Short-term rental (STR) units are residential spaces usually rented for under 30 days at a time and managed through online platforms like Airbnb. The industry is growing in Gainesville. AirDNA, a STR data analysis platform, ranked Gainesville among the top 15 best U.S. cities to invest in vacation rentals in 2021, 2022 and 2023.
A Gainesville mother was arrested after her child had 69 unexcused school absences and nine tardies during the 2021-2022 school year. Forty-two of the absences occurred from August to April of 2021, according to a truancy affidavit from Alachua County Public Schools.
Terwilliger is Alachua County’s first and only public school to offer dual language immersion as a magnet program, with that language being Spanish. The program is in its second year, with its first class of students starting first grade.
In Alachua County, the Hispanic community brings a variety of perspectives and beliefs to the importance of voting and political issues.
Parker Siegel, 19, was charged with sexual assault of a person between the ages of 12 and 18. The woman was 17, according to court records. Siegel previously pleaded not guilty.
Marty Jourard, a musician raised in Gainesville, lived in the city during some definitive times. Between the Civil Rights Movement, Brown v. The Board of Education and the Vietnam War, Gainesville was not necessarily a peaceful place in the 1960s and 1970s. It was a place of civil unrest — protests, beatings and riots, but not entirely because of the hippies.
Since 2011, 19 licensed abortion clinics have closed in Florida. Three were in the year following the overturn of Roe v. Wade in June 2022. Increased clinic closures in Florida echo a national trend.
A school administrator emailed the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office about a bomb threat made at Buchholz High School, according to an ACSO press release. ACSO was then made aware of another bomb threat at Kanapaha Middle School.
Younger generations tend to lean more politically liberal. Conservative voices share their experiences as Republicans in Gen Z.
Substance use is common at EDM events, which are popular among college students. While universities across Florida have established Narcan distribution programs to provide students with free and easy access to the vital drug safety resource, UF has not.
The Florida Supreme Court heard oral arguments Sept. 8 for the landmark case Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida v. State of Florida, which challenges the 15-week ban on abortion in Florida’s House Bill 5. Local and statewide reproductive health providers and advocacy organizations are leading efforts to offer women abortion care resources in the face of uncertainty.
The City Commission voted 4-3 Thursday to reinstate the open-container alcohol ordinance, which prohibits public consumption of alcoholic beverages. In addition to the first ordinance, which will bring back open container restrictions prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the City Commission voted 6-1 to create an entertainment district for downtown Gainesville.
The public event ‘Truth-Seeking and Democracy’ was co-sponsored by the African American Studies Program and Bob Graham Center for Civil Service. The speakers, Cornel West and Robert George, are known for their close friendship and widely different political ideologies.
Solutions by The State News
