Despite thunderstorms, Gainesville community leaders walked through Forest Pines. The Duval neighborhood was chosen after violence among youth and gunfire in the area became a concern.
The speed tables are a temporary solution to the issue of speeding, and their installment will act as a test to determine if other safety improvements, such as lowering the speed limit or redesigning the road, will be needed in the future.
The arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic in March disrupted daily in-person classes and introduced new safety regulations such as temperature screenings and mask mandates in Alachua County Public Schools. ACPS teachers adjusted to smaller class sizes, instructing on Zoom and changing mask mandates all while trying to ensure students were still learning.
Farmers and volunteers harvested hundreds of unused crops at Siembra Farm in East Gainesville. The event began at 6 p.m. on May 4 and volunteers stayed until 8:30 p.m. to pick and wash vegetables and create 110 community-supported agriculture boxes.
Gov. DeSantis signed an executive order invalidating local emergency COVID-19 orders requiring masks and social distancing around the state, but Alachua County will not be affected by the change.
Community members and advocates gathered downtown on the corner of North Main Street and Northwest Second Avenue at 4:30 p.m. Monday to protest what the Alachua County Labor Coalition called discriminatory housing practices at Bivens Cove.
Beginning this summer, masks will be optional indoors on ACPS campuses as well, ACPS Director of Communications Jackie Johnson said. The county will also no longer require temperature checks, but social distancing will still be enforced.
At about 2:14 a.m., a vehicle traveling west at a high speed hit a raised median near the intersection of West University Avenue and 34th Street, according to a Gainesville Police Department press release.
In Gainesville, a college town where the median age is about 26, organized demonstrations occur frequently. Although Gainesville protests almost never descend into violence, some students and local activists are worried about the precedent the legislation will set.
After about 2,000 people gathered at the T.B. McPherson Center on April 4 to celebrate Easter and participate in Peaceful Sundays, a weekly gathering for the community, residents sent complaints to the city.
After the crash, the car driver who was hit was rushed to the hospital by Gainesville Fire Rescue, according to the release. They died from injuries later that night.
To celebrate its one-year anniversary, Luke’s New York Bagel Shop posted an online social media competition March 22. Located at 620 S Main St., the shop challenged bagel fans to post something creative on their accounts with their favorite order in frame.
The mandate requires customers to wear masks in businesses to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The commission also voted to add a section to the order barring county officials from asking residents for proof of vaccination.
Wolverton will require facial reconstructive surgery, CAT scans, MRIs and other procedures to recover, according to a GoFundMe page created by Wolverton’s fraternity, Beta Theta Pi.
![A photographed undated postcard of University Avenue before the 1970s and 1980s renovations that eliminated on-street parking along the road. [Photo courtesy of the Matheson History Museum]](https://snworksceo.imgix.net/ufa/79090ab0-6246-4dc4-bdff-98571c7d4f5c.sized-1000x1000.jpg?w=1500&ar=4%3A3&fit=crop&crop=faces&facepad=3&auto=format)
The state and city stayed stubborn about the road for decades. Driver-oriented politicians and businesses in fear of losing customers fought city planners to keep the roads wide and fast. And even when Gainesville made efforts to protect pedestrians, Florida state agencies shut down redesigns to the state-controlled road.
Despite these efforts from authorities to improve safety on the road and across the city, doubts over pedestrian and cyclist safety persist. Concerned parents, students and citizens remain skeptical of the road’s design and constant construction along it, as well as the safety of the sidewalks.
Vote-by-mail drop boxes can alleviate the stress of commuting to a precinct for voters of color, those in low income communities, disabled people and those in quarantine, the clergymen’s letter to Florida lawmakers read.
Faye Williams, a 66-year-old Gainesville social justice activist, founded M.A.M.A.'s Club in 2017. The center, which stands for music, arts, movement and action, is a gathering place for people in East Gainesville to celebrate Black history and attend community events.
![Gainesville Nissan customer Larry Katz found a sanitizer bottle with the racist message, "Chinese Kung-flu Killer" written in black ink in the dealership storeroom. [Photo courtesy of Larry Katz.]](https://snworksceo.imgix.net/ufa/aff0d62b-c48b-4f1e-b171-27ab54025312.sized-1000x1000.jpg?w=1500&ar=4%3A3&fit=crop&crop=faces&facepad=3&auto=format)
Larry Katz went to the Gainesville Nissan dealership Saturday to get his airbags changed when he found a clear hand sanitizer bottle with a racist slur for the COVID-19 virus written across it in black ink, according to a photo posted on Facebook.
Small business owners are struggling to bring back former employees, and others face small applicant pools of mostly inexperienced workers. The shortages come as COVID-19 vaccines enable Americans to return to public spaces — only to find them understaffed.
Solutions by The State News
