A Trenton man stole an excavator and crashed it into several different properties, including the Walmart on Southwest 42nd Street, according to a police report. Nobody was injured.
Michelle Castronover wasn’t keen on owning chickens. But when her husband and daughter asked to build a coop as a “COVID project,” the 49-year-old Shell Elementary teacher agreed. Three years later, the Castronovers own 10 chickens — the maximum allowed to residents by Gainesville’s Fowl, Chickens or Livestock Code — and share their eggs with the neighborhood through the “fresh eggs” box standing on the edge of their front lawn, which they restock regularly with six- and nine-egg-sized boxes. The coop is just one of the family’s backyard sustainability projects, along with a greenhouse and butterfly garden.
Teachers across Alachua County Public Schools and throughout the country spend from hundreds to thousands of dollars each year buying school supplies, class decorations, cleaning supplies and snacks for their students — most of which can’t be purchased using district-allocated supply funds. Among the ACPS teachers who talked to The Alligator, the average amount spent out-of-pocket was between $1,460 and $2,500, with the lowest estimate being $100 and the highest being $10,000.
A few weeks into the Fall semester, countless UF students are getting sick with various viruses, including the common cold and the latest COVID-19 strain, resulting in an outbreak of what has been dubbed as the 'Gainesville Plague.'
Only a 10-minute drive from UF lies one of Gainesville’s hidden gems: the historic bed-and-breakfast district. With a rich history and eclectic aesthetics, these inns have provided a unique travel experience to Gainesville visitors for 32 years. Ghosts, hippies, Tom Petty and some members of his first band, Mudcrutch, have inhabited these inns long before they became temporary homes to travelers passing through.
The Florida Supreme Court heard oral arguments for a case that will determine the fate of abortion rights in the state Friday morning.
Emery Gainey will take over the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office beginning Oct. 2, according to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ press release Thursday.
Alachua eSchool has lost seven of its original 13 teachers, leaving it with only six full-time instructors, according to the school directory.
The Humane Society of North Central Florida manages 250 fosterable animals, but on the morning of Aug. 30, not one could be found at the shelter. The Humane Society and other Alachua animal shelters began efforts late last week to find foster homes for their animals to wait out Hurricane Idalia. The storm made landfall in Florida the morning of Aug. 30 but spared much of Gainesville.
The GEZ Family Learning Center is a new preschool center founded by the local nonprofit Gainesville for All, known as GNV4ALL, which seeks to address racial and economic inequities in the community. The center opened its doors to Alachua County families Aug. 10 and is located on the Metcalfe Elementary School campus. Roughly 20 students ranging from 6 weeks old to 4 years old currently take advantage of the resource, said Schuran Cartwright the assistant director for the center.
As Florida’s Big Bend communities recover from the devastating impacts of Hurricane Idalia, the Alachua County community is grateful to not have met the storm's eye. Alachua County suffered minor damages. Several trees and power lines came down across Gainesville, and some roadways were blocked.
As concerned Gainesville residents spent last week huddled around their TVs to follow Hurricane Idalia's path, first responders prepared for the worst. Hurricane Idalia made landfall as a Category 3 storm in Florida's Big Bend region Aug. 30. Although earlier projections predicted a direct hit to Gainesville, cities such as Cedar Key, Steinhatchee and Perry suffered the brunt of the storm's 125 mph winds and 7-foot water surges.
A local drug trafficking organization known as “Billy Blood” was dismantled by the Gainesville Police Department’s Drug Task Force unit. The organization was responsible for selling fentanyl, cocaine, molly, marijuana and prescription medications, according to a GPD press release.
Buchholz High School was ranked No. 54 best high school in Florida and No. 1 in Alachua County Public Schools by US News & World Report for the 2023-2024 school year. The school was also ranked No. 822 out of 17,680 public high schools in the country, putting it in the top 5%.
A Gainesville man led police on a high speed chase — endangering a woman who flew out of his car — after police received a domestic violence call Wednesday.
When he wasn’t jumping from planes as an 82nd Airborne lieutenant, the Gainesville native, history buff and diehard Gators football fan served as a Gainesville city commissioner and mayor-commissioner from 1985 to 1988, followed by two terms in the Florida House from 1988 to 1992. During his time in office, he championed natural resource protection and gun safety legislation. He died Aug. 21.
A Gainesville man led police on a high-speed chase through the city, resulting in his arrest at about 7:30 p.m. Sunday, according to an Alachua County Sheriff’s Office police report. Police also found drugs.
City officials held a press conference at 5:30 p.m. Monday to discuss city operations and provide safety tips about flooding and power outages as Tropical Storm Idalia approaches the west coast of Florida. Gainesville Mayor Harvey Ward was joined by City Commissioner Cynthia Chestnut, city manager Cynthia Curry, city attorney Dan Nee, Gainesville Regional Utilities general manager Tony Cunningham and a handful of the city’s emergency response team.
Metcalfe Elementary School will become the 37th site to offer free meals to students on campus after school beginning Sept. 5. The After School Meal Program, or supper program, feeds students during after-school activities.
Alachua County Public Schools will close Tuesday and Wednesday to prepare for Tropical Storm Idalia, according to an ACPS press release.
Solutions by The State News
