metro - The Independent Florida Alligator

A picture of the Jam, a local music venue located on 817 W University Ave.

Metro

UF sociology faculty to perform benefit show at The Jam

By Jacob Braun | Feb. 19, 2015

Members of the UF community will hit the stage tonight for a show benefitting graduate student organizations.

Metro

Police: Man arrested for December DUI crash that killed daughter, her friend

By Melissa Mihm | Feb. 19, 2015

Gainesville Police arrested a local man Thursday after determining he was driving drunk during the December crash that killed his daughter and her friend.

Metro

Police: UF student arrested after smashing SNAP van mirror

By EMILY COCHRANE< | Feb. 18, 2015

University Police arrested a UF student Wednesday after he reportedly broke a mirror on a Student Nighttime Auxiliary Patrol van.

Metro

Low temperatures affecting scooters, riders

By Courtney Kaiser | Feb. 18, 2015

Colder temperatures this week may cause problems for scooter riders.

University of Florida students pass in front of the recycling and trash bins near Weimer Hall on Monday afternoon. Ginnie Springs management is encouraging park visitors to deposit their trash in bins and not litter.

Metro

Plastic waste in ocean on the rise, but not in local springs

By Mikaya Mott | Feb. 18, 2015

Litter accumulated in the ocean over the past year is equivalent to if each person on the planet had dumped 700 pieces of trash into the water, according to a recent study published in the journal PLOS ONE.

Metro

Museum to bring local musicians and UF professors together to discuss songwriting, play the blues

By Chelsey Freeman | Feb. 18, 2015

Gainesville’s music legends are coming together to teach songwriting to residents.

Metro

St. Augustine offers Ash Wednesday services

By Emily Cardinali | Feb. 17, 2015

St. Augustine Church and Catholic Student Center expects to see thousands of Catholics today for Ash Wednesday mass.

Steve Carroll, owner of the Oaks Mall’s last locally owned store, stands in Chick-fil-a and poses for a picture. Carroll’s restaurant opened in 1978 and was one of the mall’s original stores.

Metro

Man stands tall in one of the oldest locally owned stores in Oaks Mall

By Carla Vianna | Feb. 17, 2015

Steve Carroll has been here for awhile.

Metro

50 shades of sex toy injuries as BDSM becomes more mainstream

By Olivia Vega | Feb. 17, 2015

Sex toy injuries have reached their climax.

Metro

USF performs first penis reduction surgery

By Wesley Higgins | Feb. 17, 2015

Editor’s Note: This story originally ran in the University of South Florida’s paper, The Oracle.

Metro

Tourists flock to sunny Florida in 2014

By Hunter Williamson | Feb. 17, 2015

A record number of tourists visited Florida last year.

Florida Highway Patrol responded to 21 accidents in Alachua County Tuesday, with the first one occurring just before 8 a.m. and the last one just after 6 p.m. Thirteen of the crashes happened on I-75 between the 380 and 392 mile markers, according to a patrol report.

Metro

Multiple accidents across the county most likely caused by rain

By EMILY COCHRANE< | Feb. 17, 2015

With rain pouring almost all day, local drivers dealt with accidents across the county Tuesday.

Metro

GNV woman arrested after assaulting woman in Publix, spitting, throwing jar

By EMILY COCHRANE< | Feb. 16, 2015

Gainesville Police arrested a local woman Sunday afternoon after she reportedly spit on and threw a jar at a stranger inside a Publix.

Andrew Bittikoffer, 5, and Ella Bittikoffer, 3, draw with chalk during Gainesville’s Open Streets event. Their mother, Katherine Bittikoffer, said, “I’ve always seen big cities have events like these. It’s about time Gainesville stepped up.”

Metro

Active Streets brings activities to downtown Gainesville, closes off road to vehicles

By Ansley Pentz | Feb. 16, 2015

Nine blocks of University Avenue will be closed Sunday as Gainesville residents and students listen to live music, swing fencing swords and enjoy the flavor of local establishments.

Metro

Voter registration ends today for City Commission election

By Melissa Mihm | Feb. 15, 2015

Today is the voter registration deadline for the March 17 City of Gainesville Elections.

A group of people gather to participate in a vigil on Turlington Plaza on Friday night in memory of the victims from the Tuesday shootings in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Metro

UF community comes together to remember Chapel Hill

By EMILY COCHRANE< | Feb. 15, 2015

In the shadow of Turlington, they prayed.

Metro

Three arrested with crack in bra, to-go box

By EMILY COCHRANE< | Feb. 15, 2015

Gainesville Police arrested three people early Saturday morning after they reportedly had cocaine and a gun in their car.

Metro

Florida woman charged for possession of marijuana hidden in purse, cocaine in vagina

By EMILY COCHRANE< | Feb. 15, 2015

Gainesville Police arrested a local woman early Friday after she reportedly hid cocaine in her vagina and marijuana in her purse.

A flyer depicting Bear, a 30-pound rat terrier, hangs on a wooden pole on Sunday morning in Boulware Springs Nature Park, the last place he was sighted. Bear went missing on Feb. 3.

Metro

Texas family continues search for dog after bison scared him off

By Carla Vianna | Feb. 15, 2015

When Doug Ashby decided to walk Bear at the La Chua Trail at Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park, he assumed it was a safe place to bring his rat terrier.

From left: Michael Roth, 63, CJ Shaw, 28, Tyson Adams, 47, and Bob Tucker, 59, all members of the Barbergators, sing “Heart of My Heart,” to Lingyan Li, 44, a visiting scholar from China, who is engaged to Tucker. “She leaves the U.S. March 2nd, so we appreciate how special this time together is,” Tucker said.

Metro

Barbergators belt it out for Valentine’s Day

By Shawn Larsen | Feb. 15, 2015

Silence the alarm. Slide out of bed. Take a shower. Shave.