Taking place from July 10 through July 19, the challenge is an effort to control the population of the Burmese pythons in the Everglades. The grand-prize for removing the most pythons is $10,000.
>Commissioners discussed whether to allow people who are convicted sexual offenders or predators to conduct trespass towing, and may soon take up that question again.
>North Central Florida will be a backdrop in an upcoming adaptation of the classic novel ‘A Land Remembered.’
>Wednesday, Micanopy’s downtown was covered by red clay and giant façades, bringing the entire road into the 1800s to portray Georgia at the start of the award-winning novel by Patrick D. Smith.
>“Smith really captured this old Florida that in many ways has been long forgotten,” director Todd Wiseman said. ”I think we have the responsibility to bring it to life in the show."
>Wells in North Central Florida are at extremely low levels, fueled by record drought conditions.
>In some cases the lack of water is causing wells to become completely depleted.
>“When you drill a well, you take from the top of the ground to the water and you pull that measurement so what we’re seeing on average is about a five to ten foot drop in water tables,” said Josh Myers, a leader at All County Water.
>Myers has been in the water pump business for decades and said these are the lowest water levels he has seen since 2001.
>
“So now when you turn on the water and you’re asking for this well to produce water it’s not producing so we’re seeing a lot of wells start to pump trash, seeing a lot of wells go dry,” Myers said.
>The lack of water is forcing pumps to sputter. Myers said his crews are lowering five pumps a week on average in and around the city of Alachua.
>“In the past we’ve seen drops where the water tables drop three or four feet and it hadn’t been that big of a deal but this time it drops and now we’re seeing pumps really suck out of water and just go completely dry,” Myers said.
>He said if residents get a water restriction alert they ought to pay attention.
>“The water management’s have issued states that with water restrictions, follow them it’s serious people are running out of water,” Myers said.
>Dozens of Alachua residents gathered to express concerns about rumors of a data center moving in along U.S. 441, spending hours speaking against the potential development even though the issue was not officially on the agenda.
>The rumors began with an online real estate listing by Eric Ligman on My Gainesville Realty dot com. The listing currently calls the 104-acre property near the San Felasco Tech City a large-scale industrial redevelopment and manufacturing campus opportunity. The property was once an Energizer battery plant.
>Many at the meeting were concerned because the website’s URL reads high-megawatt-data-center-development-site. Online archive tools indicate the name of the listing has changed.
>Data centers store massive amounts of information and are essential infrastructure for technology like artificial intelligence. Dozens spoke out against environmental risks they feel are posed by a center’s potential implementation in Alachua and the potential impact it could have on property values.
>Commissioners plan to discuss the matter at the Alachua 2050 workshop at Alachua City Hall on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
>One neighborhood in Keystone Heights was packed over the weekend for a party at an Airbnb.
>The party was advertised as a “sex party.” One concerned neighbor addressed Keystone Heights City Council members about it on Monday.
>The party was held Saturday at a home along Pointview Road. The home is for sale, and the current owner uses it as an Airbnb.
>The owner said the party listing was news to him. An RSVP list showed 409 people were supposed to attend, but nearby residents said fewer than 100 people showed up.
>Miami residents sued President Donald Trump, Miami Dade College and Florida state officials on Wednesday, alleging that the decision to donate an iconic stretch of downtown Miami property for Trump’s future presidential library — which might also house a hotel — is unconstitutional.
>The lawsuit argues that the president, his presidential library foundation and state officials — including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — violated the Domestic Emoluments Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits states from giving a financial benefit to a sitting president.
>The White House didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment on Wednesday night.
>DeSantis moved last September to transfer a 2.63-acre (1.06-hectare) parcel of land to Trump’s presidential library foundation. Since then, the president and his son Eric Trump shared extravagant plans for a skyscraper to house the library. An artificial intelligence video unveiled in March includes panning shots of the tower’s exterior and interior, with a presidential jet parked in the lobby alongside a gold escalator like the one Trump rode while launching his presidential campaign in 2015. Other shots show a giant ballroom like the one he’s planning for the White House, a replica Oval Office, rooftop gardens and a large, gold statue of Trump.
Previous discussions:
Florida judge temporarily blocks transfer of downtown Miami land for Trump's presidential library
>A Gainesville woman says what started as a routine mammogram has now turned into months of waiting for answers after doctors recommended a breast biopsy.
>The federal government has announced a shortage of biopsy medical supplies, creating long wait times for many patients, due to a federal recall.
>HCA Florida North Florida Hospital officials confirm a temporary shortage of specialized supplies used in a breast biopsy procedure.
>A woman who contacted TV20 says her yearly screening at Doctor’s Imaging led to a follow-up mammogram after a spot was detected. Doctors then recommended a stereotactic biopsy to determine whether the area was cancerous.
>She says she was unable to schedule the procedure in Gainesville due to a reported shortage of specialized supplies used in breast diagnostic procedures.
>Nicole Miller from Blossoming Butterfly, an agency that advocates for women facing barriers in cancer care, says delays like this can be especially difficult for patients waiting for answers.
>“When you first recognize a symptom, or something is going on, and you’re not seeing when that happens, it just gives time for the cells to grow in things to progress, so my concern is instead of it being zero or stage one that we waited till this is too late, no 3 or 4,″ Miller said.
>The patient is now on the waitlist at both HCA Florida North Florida Hospital and UF Health Shands and has been told that patients are being prioritized based on risk, with some waiting months for procedures.
>The GRU Authority failed to vote on a new contract to continue collecting Gainesville's garbage and stormwater fees, ending decades of billing these through GRU.
>Gainesville will now collect these fees through the county tax collector despite wanting to stay with GRU and offering a high cost for the service.
>
The GRU Authority started down this path over a year ago, voting in March 2025 to stop collecting garbage and stormwater fees for the city. That vote came after the Gainesville City Commission voted to raise its fees and a few months after a software error caused GRU to incorrectly bill more than 75,000 accounts.
>
With the GRU Authority refusing the contract, the City Commission will collect payments through the tax collector, just like property taxes are assessed annually.
>Alachua County Tax Collector Jon Power joined the Wednesday meeting and said his office would easily be able to handle the additional assessment. He noted that the office had collected the Board of County Commissioner’s stormwater and garbage fees for decades.
>“We can collect it for half of what you guys are charging [the city of Gainesville]. Plus, they would have the money a lot sooner,” Power said.
>Through the tax collector, the bulk of the revenue would be collected within two or three months at the start of the fiscal year. Power said the city could then shift that money around as needed or invest it and collect interest. He also emphasized the tax collector’s office has a 100% collection rate because of the tools given to it by the state of Florida.
>Power would charge Gainesville a 2% fee—a percentage set by statute— for collecting the funds. The new contract Gainesville negotiated with GRU would give the utility a 4% fee.
>Gainesville’s interim Chief Operating Officer Brian Singleton told the GRU Authority that the city estimated that it would still save by offering the utility the higher fee compared to the tax collector option.
>He said the state of Florida gives a 4% discount to citizens who pay their property tax bill early, and Power confirmed that around 65% of accounts pay early to get the discount. Power also said the money is often invested to recoup that discount.
>Singleton said the city also worried about recent lawsuits concerning these assessments and nonprofits, saying the potential losses could add up to $2.5 million. He said the city would rather keep the ongoing system with GRU and pay an extra $150,000.
>Eliminating property taxes would reduce Newberry's budget by $2.2 to $2.5 million, about 20% of its general fund, according to Mayor Tim Marden.
>Alachua County's budget could drop by $24 million, leaving $21 million for mandatory services like Medicaid and elections, said Manager Michele Lieberman.
>Harvest Singularity will break ground on $66 million hydroponic greenhouses in Newberry's AgFoodTech Park on May 26, creating 90 jobs each.
>Alachua County elected officials are at odds over a proposal to improve access to housing for students who are homeless.
>Data from the Florida Department of Education indicates there are 920 homeless unaccompanied youth in Alachua County. Cornell and leaders with the Children’s Trust of Alachua County believe that number is higher.
>Cornell sent a letter to Alachua County School Board members asking for three things: a convening of leadership from several stakeholders to develop a coordinated response to homelessness, a review of underutilized and vacant facilities owned by the school board to review ways to help serve homeless students and families, and a request that schools work collaboratively with the city and county to improve access to services.
>Thomas Vu, chair of the Alachua County School Board, said he is opposed to the idea of homeless shelters or temporary housing in Alachua County schools. He said that is not the central mission of the school district.
>Vu defended the district’s handling of supporting homeless students.
>“The Commissioner brought up McKinney-Vento and our responsibilities under that, almost implying somehow we’re not meeting them, which again I find really insulting to the school district and for our staff who work hard for something like this,” Vu said.
>The McKinney-Vento Act seeks to ensure educational rights and protections for youth experiencing homelessness.
>Millions of gallons of water may not be filtered into north central Florida from Jacksonville after all.
>State Sen. Corey Simon wants stakeholders in the Water First North Florida Project to go back to the drawing board. Commissioners in both Columbia and Union counties say they are happy to hear the project is canceled in its current form.
>The project would have filtered millions of gallons of reclaimed water through an aquifer system. The project would have returned more than 40 million gallons of reclaimed water a day to the Floridan Aquifer from Jacksonville.
>
“I’m pleased. Really kind of astonished that it happened,” Johns said.
>This includes not knowing exactly where the project would be going and what chemicals would not be cleaned out.
>“You know, you say trust the science, well we put trust in science all the time and a lot of times it backfires on us, so I’m real pleased with this news,” Johns said.
>In February, a spokesperson for the Suwannee River Water Management District said this project would allow them to not cut back the amount of water people are using. They say they are aware of the letter sent by Simon and did not have any additional comments, as Simon wants developers to come up with a better long-term solution.
>
“It’s great news for us. There was a lot of people opposed to it, and not really opposed to the whole project, the entirety, just the way the project was done,” Johns said.
>State Rep. Chuck Brannan sent a statement that says, in part, this project was never a part of the legislative budget and now has no funding.
>Johns said this makes Union County commissioners feel better because maybe some of their questions will now be answered.
The Alachua County Commission will hold two meetings on Tuesday, May 12, 2026. The first is a special meeting/open discussion that begins at 9:30 a.m. in the Grace Knight Conference Room. The second is a regular meeting at 11:30 a.m. in the Jack Durrance Auditorium. There is no evening portion to this meeting.
Both locations are on the second floor of the Alachua County Administration Building (12 SE 1st St., Gainesville).
The special meeting agenda item:
View the special meeting agenda and backup items.
The regular meeting agenda items includes:
View the full regular meeting agenda and backup items.
During the regular meeting, the public can make comments at the meeting in person or call in during the 12 p.m. (noon) comment period. Callers will have three minutes to comment on anything not on the agenda and three minutes to discuss anything on the agenda. Callers can choose either or both. Those commenting on items on the agenda will not be allowed to comment again on agenda items if attending the meeting in person later in the day.
The call-in number is 1-929-205-6099. When prompted, enter meeting ID 873 5974 1977. Callers can hear the meeting while on hold and can use the system to listen. If you wish to comment, “raise your hand” by dialing *9 (star nine). Once you are called on by the last four digits of your phone number, unmute your phone by dialing *6 (star six).
The meetings can be viewed on Cox Channel 12, the AC TV app (Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku), the county’s Facebook and YouTube sites, and the county’s Video on Demand website.
Residents are encouraged to stay informed by following the county on Facebook, X (Twitter), Nextdoor, Instagram and subscribing to the county’s newsletter/press release group.
For more information, contact Alachua County Communications Director Mark Sexton at 352-264-6979 or msexton@alachuacounty.us.
The Alachua County Victim Services & Rape Crisis Center is looking for volunteers to serve in the Community Ambassador Program.
This opportunity allows volunteers to play an active role in raising awareness and engaging the community on important topics. Ambassadors receive 15 hours of training, followed by a shadowing period. The center asks for a six-month commitment to join the program. Applications are due by May 18, 2026. View the application. Training starts May 20.
As a community ambassador, volunteers support public health initiatives by:
“Our Community Ambassadors help us show up in the community in meaningful ways,” said Bethan O’Connor, supervisor of the Community Ambassador Program. "They bring the energy and connection that allows us to better support and serve others.”
Learn more about volunteering with the Alachua County Victim Services & Rape Crisis Center.
For more information, contact Bethan O’Connor at 352-264-6765 or boconnor@alachuacounty.us.
>But it could still be several weeks until the bipartisan ethics tribunal publishes the results of its probe, in which investigators are examining accusations that the Republican congressman assaulted a woman at his Washington, D.C., apartment last year — an incident which led to a police investigation.
>The House Ethics Committee in November opened an investigation into Mills, 45, stemming from the reported February 2025 assault. D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department conducted its own inquiry into the matter but declined to charge the lawmaker.
>Mills was also the target of an October 2025 restraining order levied by an ex-girlfriend, which restricted him from contacting her or going within 500 feet of her home or place of work.
>The lower chamber’s ethics panel rarely issues public statements on its investigations. But in a statement published Monday afternoon, the committee said it was devoting “significant resources” to its Mills probe and that the accusations against him were “serious and complex.”
>The House Ethics Committee said in a rare public statement Monday that it continues to conduct a “full and thorough investigation” of Florida Representative Cory Mills which has so far seen the panel authorize nearly two dozen subpoenas and collect thousands of documents.
The Ethics Committee’s investigative subcommittee, the statement said, has so far authorized more than 20 subpoenas, received thousands of documents and contacted dozens of witnesses.
>And the panel reiterated that it was investigating the circumstances surrounding the February 2025 domestic assault police probe and the court-ordered restraining order issued later that year.
>“The ISC expects to receive additional relevant documents and testimony in the coming weeks and will take all necessary steps to conduct a full and thorough investigation,” the House ethics czars wrote. “The committee takes these and the other allegations very seriously and will continue to review them in a manner that ensures due process and prioritizes witness confidentiality and safety.”
>Mills has long denied the accusations against him and resisted calls, including from some members of his own party, to step down from his position representing Florida’s 7th Congressional District.
>But amid the ethical reckoning that has gripped the House in recent weeks, the Republican congressman has faced fresh calls to resign — and even threats of an expulsion resolution authored by a fellow Republican, Representative Nancy Mace of South Carolina.
>Mace has said that the accusations against Mills make him unfit to serve and has further accused the lawmaker of “stolen valor,” suggesting that he exaggerated his military record and that he was a U.S. Army Ranger and was awarded a Bronze Star.
>Mills, meanwhile, has responded to Mace’s accusations by threatening to bring up his own resolution to expel the South Carolina congresswoman from the House. So far, neither lawmaker has acted on their threats.
Columbia County judge grants dating violence injunction against US Rep. Cory Mills
Kenneth Brian Curry was convicted of commiting sexual battery on a child. He served time in prison for his crime. He was arrested in April by FDLE for violatiing registration laws.
He sets up his food truck in Gainesville and has been at numerous events in the Alachua County area. Celebration Pointe has had his truck at events. He has been at events for children. I am surprised that some events allowed him to participate without looking into his history.
His food truck caught on fire recently. He has a GoFundMe to replace it. The f****ng nerve!
>Judge Marlon Weiss, going beyond what is typically required in such a case, suggested in his order that surrogacy may be unconstitutional. His ruling holds that if unborn children are entitled to personhood — which he implies is correct, citing legal articles in favor of that view — those children cannot be subject to an ownership contract.
>In November, roughly 24 hours after the fathers told the court about the baby’s birth, Attorney General James Uthmeier began pushing to intervene in the case.
>His office is arguing that surrogacy is akin to slavery, saying it violates the 13th Amendment and should be deemed unconstitutional, according to a lawyer representing the family.
>A case is now pending in front of the Fourth District Court of Appeal. The child has been with the fathers since birth and is not likely to be removed from their care.
>This is not the first time Uthmeier, who was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis a little over a year ago, has injected himself into a normally uncontested court case. His office’s involvement in a 17-year-old’s request for an abortion last spring further whittled down Florida’s abortion access.
>The fact that his office got wind of the surrogacy case is remarkable. The court didn’t ask him to intervene.
>Surrogacy cases are confidential under Florida law. But when Weiss published his order, he wrote that his ruling was not confidential because it didn’t share identifying information about the child or parents. A month later, he submitted it as part of his application to be on Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal. And in December, the order was published in a law trade journal.
>It’s not clear how Uthmeier’s office heard about the case. Uthmeier’s office declined to confirm or clarify its arguments to the Times/Herald, saying the case is confidential.
>Katie Jay, an appellate and adoption attorney representing the fathers, said that she’s not accusing Weiss of sharing the case with Uthmeier’s office, saying she has no proof of that. But she added that trial judges don’t have the authority to unilaterally decide to publish opinions from confidential cases.
>“What I am saying is that the conduct I can document — using a confidential parentage order as a writing sample for personal promotion — is troubling,” Jay said.
>
>Weiss was appointed to the Broward County court by DeSantis in May 2025. About five months later, Weiss, 46, applied for a spot on the Fourth District Court of Appeal. He attached the surrogacy order he’d written, highlighting it as one of the most significant cases he’s heard.