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Wednesday, July 02, 2025

Metro

Project Continuity with UF Health educating the public about Pap tests and cervical cancer on Sept. 30, 2023.
METRO  |  ALACHUA COUNTY

Alachua County immigrants fear new SB 1718’s impact on health care

By Valentina Sandoval and Jinelle Vazquez | Oct. 2, 2023

Senate Bill 1718 took effect July 1 and is among the strictest immigration laws in the country. One of the controversial aspects of the law is the provision requiring any hospital that accepts Medicaid to ask about patients’ immigration status. Local advocacy organizations, health care workers and community members worry about the impacts the law could have on immigrant households across Alachua County.

METRO

Veteran makes $10,000 homeless clinic donation for suicide prevention month

By Zoey Thomas | Oct. 2, 2023

Nash Cooper doesn’t want his $10,000 donation to be about him. Instead, the 59-year old veteran hopes his contribution to Helping Hands Clinic raises awareness about suicide prevention, especially for youth and those who, like him, have experienced homelessness. Cooper made the donation to the volunteer-based clinic, which delivers health care to the poor and homeless in Gainesville, in honor of former volunteer Eric “Thomas” Anderson. 

The Duck House Airbnb is filled with duck decor for guests in Pine Park, Gainesville.
METRO

Gainesville residents both welcome and criticize Airbnb growth

By Zoey Thomas | Sep. 25, 2023

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.

Rock band circa 1970. Taken by Marty Jourard in the parking lot of Lipham Music, the main music store of Gainesville.
METRO

Hippie hotspot: A look into Gainesville’s hippie history

By Ella Thompson | Sep. 22, 2023

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. 

METRO  |  CITY COUNTY COMMISSION

Gainesville City Commission votes to implement downtown entertainment district, open-container alcohol ordinance

By Kat Tran | Sep. 17, 2023

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. 

METRO

Local front-yard ‘fresh eggs’ box delights neighborhood

By Zoey Thomas | Sep. 11, 2023

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. 

Third grade teacher Alayna Schwenker sits on a hand-made bench in the library corner of her classroom at Stephen Foster Elementary School Sept. 8, 2023.
METRO  |  K-12 EDUCATION

Teachers spend up to thousands on classroom supplies

By Alissa Gary | Sep. 11, 2023

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.

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