The Gainesville City Commission held a special meeting Tuesday to present updates on the fiscal 2025 city budget. The city manager’s office discussed funding for the fire, police, parks, recreation and cultural affairs and public works departments.
On Tuesday at 4:04 p.m., four Alachua County Fire Rescue units and one Gainesville Police Department unit were sent out to extract a driver from his vehicle after he lost control.
In its Tuesday meeting, the Alachua County Commission unanimously approved a purchase contract of the West End Golf course by Viking Companies.
Two opposing meetings, one by the city commission and the other by the Gainesville Regional Utilities authority, discussed the future of GRU May 23.
When 80-year-old Richard Thomas got a call from his grandson from jail asking for $5,000, he told his son, Ernest Thomas. Thomas immediately began the drive to Gainesville from his home in Miami to grab his son. There was only one problem: the grandson, 21-year-old UF student Nathan Thomas, wasn’t in jail. He was studying in his room and never called his grandfather.
Chef Empowerment’s Underground Kitchen Cooking Class works with ages 12 to 18 to combine skills such as sauteing, chopping, dicing and meat preparation. This year, each community class is hosted at Gainesville Housing Authority (GHA) properties including Horizon Sunset, Eastwood Meadows, Lake Terrace and Woodland Park.
For formerly incarcerated people, transitioning back to civilian life can be difficult, whether it’s finding a job that will take them or finding housing. Released Reentry hopes to close that gap.
Summer in Gainesville comes with various complications for local restaurants, from the hot weather to the decrease in student population. However, some Latin restaurants in Gainesville like La Maracucha, El Porteñito and Peruvian Food Blessing seem immune to these changes, gaining clients that keep them in business no matter the season.
Over 100 people gathered for an emergency rally in downtown Gainesville following the bombing of Rafah by Israel Sunday night, shutting off parts of Main Street leading to Depot Park.
In honor of fallen veterans, approximately 100 people gathered with handheld flags and paper fans at the Gainesville Historic Evergreen Cemetery for a Monday Memorial Day service.
Residents of a homeless encampment located along Southeast Fourth Place were removed by Gainesville Fire Rescue, the Gainesville Public Works Department (GNV Public Works) and the Gainesville Police Department in the early hours of May 16 following a February sweep of the street and a May 10 sweep of Haisley Lynch Dog Park.
All five directors were appointed by Governor Ron DeSantis in accordance with 2023 House Bill 1645, which transferred GRU authority from the city commission to a governor-appointed board.
In its Thursday Special Meeting, the Gainesville City Commission approved the second reading of ordinance 2024-23 for a proposed Gainesville Regional Utilities oversight charter amendment.
On May 18, the organization Children Beyond Our Borders (CBOB), in collaboration with Equal Access Clinic (EAC), held its well-known free health fair in Gainesville, this time extending its reach beyond the Latino community to serve Brazilian and Haitian patients.
Gainesville City Commission passed its first reading to potentially let voters change how the Gainesville Regional Utilities Authority operates in the November election.
Pickup driver arrested on eight counts of DUI-manslaughter
In its meeting Tuesday, The Alachua County Commission authorized the advertisement of a Charter Amendment to make county commission elections at-large unanimously.
After over a month of student protests and community criticism, UF and the city came to an agreement at a City Hall meeting May 1 allowing RTS to continue providing its current level of service until Jan. 1, 2025. The compromise extended existing bus routes and schedules for six months beyond the June 30 contract deadline in anticipation of a permanent funding solution.
The Alachua County Public Schools district office was packed with student athletes, coaches and speech language pathologists ahead of the May 7 school board meeting.
Newberry Elementary School will apply to become a public charter school under the Yes Newberry initiative. Of the three Newberry schools considered for conversion, Newberry Elementary was the only school to pass the parent vote.
Solutions by The State News
