News | Features - The Independent Florida Alligator

Ethan Irvin, a 19-year-old UF mathematics sophomore, juggles on Turlington Plaza on Feb. 12. Irvin said he's been juggling for more than two years and loves doing it. "It's a good stress reliever,” he said.

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UF student takes juggling to new heights

By Tristan Wood | Feb. 20, 2020

He performs on Turlington Plaza and teaches other students the craft

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UF investigation uncovers two female staff accused of sexually harassing male professor

By Hope Dean | Jan. 17, 2020

Two deans didn’t report Mark Hart’s situation for years

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Doctoral student demands response to UF sexual assault cases on website

By Hope Dean | Jan. 10, 2020

Records show some cases weren't handled correctly by faculty

Gainesville Regional Utilities general manager Edward Bielarski Jr discusses increasing electric rates with the Gainesville City Commission on Wednesday during a meeting. Gas rates will increase by 0.57 percent, wastewater by 0.42 percent and water by 0.44 percent.

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Why Gainesville faces some of the highest utility rates in the state

By Lina Ruiz | Nov. 14, 2019

After living in Gainesville for eight years, Danielle Chanzes shared her struggles with city commissioners during public comment.

FILE - In this Friday, Oct. 4, 2019, file photo, a woman using an electronic cigarette exhales in Mayfield Heights, Ohio. A Michigan judge is blocking the state's two-week-old ban on flavored e-cigarettes. Court of Claims Judge Cynthia Stephens issued a preliminary injunction Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019. She says Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's administration's delay in implementing the ban undercut its position that emergency rules were needed. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak, File)

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'Next thing you know I’m addicted': The effect of new vaping laws in Gainesville

By Emma McAvoy and Meghan McGlone | Oct. 31, 2019

It’s a Monday night at White Buffalo bar. A group of fraternity brothers gather in a circle and share some laughs.

A young boy, Liam, and a horse become friendly, as he pets the horse’s nose. Liam’s family, meanwhile, has the attention of another horse nearby.

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‘Labor of love:’ Alachua farm provides a retirement home for horses the non-profit sanctuary runs on donations

By Nicole Chang | Oct. 17, 2019

On a 335-acre farm, a mother and her son are outnumbered by their 148 horses and four donkeys.

Bruce Capin strokes Kuwa, one of the three cougars living in the sanctuary at his home, Monday evening after bringing her some grass to eat. Capin said he has had the sanctuary for 20 years and that he takes in cougars that were mistreated or neglected so that they can live out the rest of their lives.

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Cougars of Alachua: Meet the couple behind Yahtok’ya Animal Sanctuary

By Alyssa Feliciano | Sep. 19, 2019

In a fenced enclosement adjacent to a mobile home, an 80 pound cougar slowly inched closer to Bruce Capin.

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Alachua County Jail hacker outsmarted system “just to prove” he could

By Samia Lagmis | Sep. 12, 2019

Justin Lee Williams watched his reflection against a dim screen in the Alachua County Jail.

A traditional dance performed by the indigenous Kuikuro people in the Brazilian Amazon, which Michael Heckenberger has worked with for the past 27 years. He designed Amazon Hope to help save these people and the rainforest they live in.

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‘There is still hope’: UF professor organizes summit to address Amazon rainforest fires

By Hope Dean | Aug. 29, 2019

When UF anthropology professor Michael Heckenberger worked in the Brazilian Amazonrainforest, the sky wasn’t always blue.

Burlesque performer Sally B. Dash performs her flying monkey routine during Sally B’s Noobie Reveal event Saturday night at the Hardback Cafe. The reveal showcased new performers, as well as longtime performer Dash, and about 50 people attended the performance.

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Red lips, rhinestones and the risqué: The life of burlesque dancer Sally B. Dash

By Romy Ellenbogen | Mar. 28, 2019

“Sally B’s not my alter ego. She’s my ego.”

Jamal Waked, a 23-year-old UF alumnus, holds his dog Sonny Thursday while being interviewed in his apartment at College Park, 303 NW 17th St. Waked made living alone a priority when he was looking for an apartment. “I need my own space. I need to do my own thing,” he said.

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Living in Gainesville: Students choose between luxury and affordability (Part 2 of 4)

By Taylor Girtman | Mar. 21, 2019

Six new luxury apartment complexes will be built by 2020

In Dignity Village, just outside the main gate of GRACE Marketplace, Mark Venzke, 62, describes his plans to renovate his motorhome so he can move out of the 6-foot tent where he currently sleeps.

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Living in Gainesville: From tents to shelters, the homeless hope for a home (Part 1 of 4)

By Karina Elwood | Mar. 14, 2019

Ellen Miller’s hot pink fingernails peeked out of her fists as she folded her hands together and searched for the words to describe her situation.

Vincent Tate, 51, receives a haircut Tuesday from Edward Young, 64, at the Clean Cut Barber Shop on Northwest Fifth Avenue. Tate moved from Alabama to Gainesville for a fresh start, and he has worked for the Alachua County School Board for 25 years.

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‘The true natives of Fifth Avenue’: Preserving the culture of Pleasant Street Historic District

By Josephine Fuller | Jan. 31, 2019

A look at Gainesville’s oldest black residential area

Kevin Kimbrough. Courtesy to The Alligator.

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UF student, Dance Marathon leader remembered after his death

By Angela DiMichele | Dec. 29, 2018

He was 24 years old.

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Q&A: Gainesville Police Officer Dontonya Smith has a history with the Police Explorers in town

By Jessica Curbelo | July 23, 2018

When she was about 13, Gainesville Police Officer Dontonya Smith joined the Police Explorers as a part of Post 917, the local section in Gainesville. About 32 years later, the Florida Association of Police Explorers named her the 2018 “Explorer Advisor of the Year.”

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Potholes plague Gainesville

By Ashley Mirtyl | July 2, 2018

With June 21 marking the beginning of summer, residents are running into a lot more than traffic as Gainesville’s streets crumble in the heat.

The Flores-Colondres family poses for a photo at an Alabama church in 2010.

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Gainesville residents raise money to bring deported father, husband back home

By Amanda Rosa | Apr. 27, 2018

Every night for the past six years, Lina Colondres and her husband Ruben Flores Garcia have stayed up thinking of each other — 1,681 miles apart.

In the 2012-13 school year, the Disability Resource Center center served 1,214 students. This academic year, that rose to 3,055.

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Disability Resource Center struggles with growing demand

By Jessica Giles | Mar. 29, 2018

Nestled alone in her cubicle, Marti Stein can fidget all she wants.

Michael Weissman, a UF finance freshman.

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Why I'm Marching

By Meryl Kornfield | Mar. 23, 2018

Michael Weissman, a UF finance freshman, graduated from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School last year. He still has friends in the school, and when the Valentine’s Day shooting started at about 2 p.m., the 18-year-old was in class.

Julia Tiplea, a 19-year-old marine science sophomore, hands out "UF stands with MSD" T-shirts to fundraise for her group's trip to Washington for the national "March for Our Lives" event Saturday.

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'Come back stronger'

By Romy Ellenbogen | Mar. 22, 2018

Julia Tiplea knows grief.