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Tuesday, March 31, 2026

Metro

GFGS volunteers organize fresh produce and food donations in preparation for their weekly distribution at the Civic Media Center Tuesday, May 16, 2023.
Metro

Gainesville community tackles Eastside food insecurity

A 2023 report by Gainesville Free Grocery Store, a mutual aid food pantry and garden, described East Gainesville neighborhoods abounding with poor-quality food as “food swamps." To combat this, a variety of local activists and organizations have launched efforts to feed food-insecure East Gainesville residents. 


Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at a political roundtable, Friday, May 19, 2023, in Bedford, N.H. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Metro

‘Unsettling’: Asian American locals criticize Florida bills targeting China

Han Yi, who immigrated to the U.S. from China, feels betrayed by the state she’s called home for roughly 10 years due to a bill restricting Chinese citizens from purchasing real estate in Florida. Yi, the vice principal of the HuaGen Chinese School in Gainesville, is one among the many frustrated Asian American and Pacific Islander locals speaking out against three bills signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis aimed at limiting the Chinese Communist Party’s influence on the state. 


Kate Yeung and Bradon Ramirez, owners of Coterie Market, prepare their new iced superfood latte at Working Food Community Kitchen on Saturday, May 20th, 2023.
Metro

Asian American-owned Coterie Market turns pop-up into brick-and-mortar store

While attending local farmers markets, Kate Yeung noticed the lack of representation of Asian American business owners among the vendors. The 23-year-old Gainesville resident left her 9-to-5 banker job to start her own business, Coterie Market, empowered by her family’s experience owning businesses in Hong Kong and Singapore.


Metro

DeSantis signs AAPI history K-12 education bill into law

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed House Bill 1537 into law May 9, requiring Asian American and Pacific Islander history in K-12 curriculum. The legislation’s enactment marks a milestone in a two-year-long battle to make AAPI history a mandatory part of Florida public school education led by Mimi Chan, director of Make Us Visible Florida, the state’s chapter of a nonprofit dedicated to integrating AAPI history into K-12 classrooms. 


Metro

Gainesville man arrested on suspicion of sexual battery toward 5-year-old

A Gainesville man was taken into custody Wednesday on charges of sexual battery toward a 5-year-old. Emilio Avalos Angel, 45, was charged with one capital felony count of sexual battery to a victim under 12. Avalos Angel allegedly battered her countless times throughout 2014, according to his arrest report. At that time he served as her caretaker and guardian.


A sign in front of the Alachua County Public Schools district office building is seen Sunday, June 6, 2021.
Metro

First-grader unknowingly brought handgun to Meadowbrook Elementary School

Parents were startled Wednesday after Alachua County Public Schools reported a first-grader accidentally brought a loaded gun to his classroom. No criminal charges were filed as the gun landed in the boy’s backpack from a series of events unknown to both the child and his mother, according to a release from Alachua County Sheriff’s Office


Vivian Filer, executive director of the Cotton Club Museum and Cultural Center, speaks at a reception to begin Gainesville's 43rd-annual 5th Avenue Arts Festival Friday, April 28, 2023.
Metro

Historic Black neighborhood honored in 43rd annual 5th Avenue Arts Festival

The Cultural Arts Coalition hosted the second day of its 43rd-annual 5th Avenue Arts Festival Saturday. From 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., attendees browsed vendors selling cultural items, singing performances and a variety of local-made art. The festival is held each year to celebrate Fifth Avenue, the city’s oldest Black neighborhood, according to Gainesville Neighborhoods United. 



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