Opinion: Where have all of Florida’s teachers gone?
Empty Classroom(shutterstock) Everyone can remember a special teacher who inspired, motivated, or guided us to that singular level of excellence. We each had that one teacher who was an understanding listener who helped us navigate the travails of growing up. What motivates certain people to become teachers, a job that is arduous, long and demanding, at the best of times, and where have all of Florida’s teachers gone?
Read full storyDaydreams are the motivation of the soul.
Woman Daydreaming(LoveThisPic - free usage) I’m a writer. I’ll say it - I write some weird stuff. Dark humor tales of children dying in obscure ways (thanks Edward Gorey!), thrilling tales of the supernatural, the esoteric, the dark, the ludicrous, ridiculous, and farcical. My writing has won multiple awards and without fail, readers either love it or hate it, but they never forget it.
Read full storyGerm spreading season, er… I mean back to school time for Alachua County.
Germs(Az. State University) Kids, you gotta love ‘em (and not just with a little BBQ sauce on the side.) Children are our future, or so I’ve heard. I wouldn’t really know as I don’t have any. Weirdly though, I still seem to catch their germs on a regular basis. Kids and germs go together like… (use your imagination and insert some other parasitic relationship here).
Read full storyDemocrats' ‘huge’ tax increase will cost you only if you make more than $400,000 annually.
Couple Saving Money(marketing photo - public license) According to some Republican-leaning news outlets and websites, like RedState and FOX News, Americans are about to face a huge tax increase and during the middle of a ‘recession’. According to Sen. Joe Kennedy (R-LA), “It takes a special kind of stupid, in my judgment, to raise taxes during both a recession and inflation.”
Read full storySharks vs. Alligators – Which one is more dangerous to you?
Toy Gator attacked by Toy Shark(Stock-free.org) Last Thursday a man swimming in Lake Thonotosassa in Florida got bitten in the face by an alligator. Whether you are a resident or visitor to Florida, you are at risk from both sharks and alligators, but which is more dangerous, and how do you avoid becoming a tasty morsel for either?
Read full storyCollege Life: UF releases new campus construction website.
University of Florida(public use photo) Gainesville, Fl. - In an email sent out to the UF campus community earlier today, the Office of Business Affairs has announced the release of a new website detailing current campus construction projects and road closures.
Read full storyA peace movement is spreading around the globe.
Globe with People(atlascompany) Being committed to honesty and truth. Building trust with others. Civility, justice, kindness, and tolerance. According to ‘Live and Let Live’, these are the bedrock principles of their world-wide peace movement and is “the world’s most important endeavor”.
Read full storyOpinion: Cracker Barrel is accused of going ‘woke’.
Cracker Barrel(marketing photo - public license) Other than that chicken place the cows want you to eat at, no other nation-wide restaurant chain has been so widely condemned for its social policies, as Tennessee-based Cracker Barrel. To now have some conservatives on Facebook accuse the company of going ‘woke’, (a term meaning to ‘be aware of and actively attentive to important facts and issues, especially issues of racial and social justice’ (see Merriam Webster) usually used as an insult toward liberal-minded persons) seems to be the epitome of conservative fear-mongering.
Read full storyEat your vegetables!
Vegetable Rainbow(Va. Cooperative Extension) Believe it or not, there was a time when most people grew their own food. Looking around the apartment you share with four other people that seems like a pretty hard sell. Are you destined to forever eat squishy sodium-rich canned vegetables for the rest of your life, or the wilted offerings from the market that seem to spoil even before they ripen?
Read full storyOpinion: Thanks, SCOTUS, for opening my eyes to the truth about abortion.
Abortion Protesters(Reprinted with permission of ProCon.org) Like many people of mine and previous generations, I was taught that in no uncertain terms, abortion is murder in God’s eyes. Life is precious from the moment of conception onwards. Unlike many other ‘Christians’, I was also taught it is not my place to judge other people or condemn them for their actions. I was taught, and still believe, people should act out of love and charity toward other persons.
Read full storySatire: It seems God is a Miami Marlins fan.
Miami Marlins Logo(used with permission) According to Marlin’s pitcher Daniel Castano when a line drive hit him in the head at 104 miles per hour during last Thursday’s game, he was saved from serious injury by his love for God. Castano was quoted on his Twitter account quoting Romans 8:28: “and we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him…”
Read full storyOpinion: A gay president – could it ever happen?
Pete Buttigieg(Matthew Woodruff) In the Alabama county I lived in, I was one of only 5,658 persons who voted for Barack Obama for president in 2008. When Obama won the election, I was ecstatic, believing the country was finally on the correct path to the future – one of equality and justice. At the time I could only imagine the depth of feeling and hope generated in communities of color who had finally seen a black man given the mantle of this country’s most powerful office, accomplishing something many said could never happen.
Read full story7 puppies dead from a highly contagious virus – how to protect your precious little beasts.
Man Holding Puppies(shutterstock) In a scene reminiscent of an episode of ‘Criminal Minds’, local police last week in the upstate New York community of Troy, NY discovered the dead bodies of seven puppies scattered along the Uncle Sam bike path. Autopsies confirmed all seven of the young pups had died from the highly contagious virus called Canine parovirus, sometimes shortened to the moniker ‘Parvo’.
Read full storyParking, restrooms, new trails planned for Four Creeks Preserve.
Four Creeks Preserve Overview(Alachua County) In a public forum held on July 28th the body overseeing Four Creeks Preserve in Gainesville’s Northwest area, The Alachua County Land Conservation and Management Office, announced plans for the future of the 715-acre preserve bordering Hwy 441 and NW 43rd St.
Read full storyWhere do Elephants go when they are on vacation? Williston, Fl., of course.
Colorful Elephant(shutterstock) Elephants are the majestic, powerful, gentle, family-oriented behemoths you see on television moving trees with their trunks, frolicking in the water, caring for their young and giving rides to children and adventurers.
Read full storyAI comes to Florida and changes how we all live.
AI(Artificial Intelligence) infographic banner(Shutterstock) With 1 billion dollars in research funding and access to one of the smartest AI computers in the world, named HiPerGator, University of Florida researchers are on the leading edge in the advancements of health care, technology, agriculture and food production, and artificial intelligence research putting us on the precipice of improved lives.
Read full storySome scientists think turtles are the key to de-aging treatments for humans.
Sea Turtle(Stock-free.org) July 14th of this year dawned sunny and warm. The perfect day for the students and technicians from the Sea Turtle Hospital at UF’s Whitney Labs in St. Augustine Beach, Fl. to release two now healthy former patients, Artichoke and Granny Smith.
Read full storyLegal marijuana use is sprouting green in the US.
On a beautiful spring day in Washington, DC, while the grass on Capitol Hill was just filling in after winter’s doldrums, lawmakers in the House of Representatives passed legislation that would legalize marijuana nationwide. The Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act (H.R. 3617) eliminates criminal penalties for anyone who manufactures, distributes, or possesses marijuana.
Read full storyCollege Life – Staying safe on campus.
After eighteen or more years of living at home, you are now ready to fly off and be your own person. Your parent(s) and other mentors did their best to get you ready. You carefully weighed your options and investigated where you wanted to go to college and finally the big day is here. The day you move onto campus.
Read full storyPreserved for nature, now the county wants to add parking lots.
If you have lived in Gainesville for any length of time, you will likely remember the large ‘For Sale’ signs that appeared on the 700+ acre tract of undeveloped land between north Hwy 441 (13th St.) and 43rd St. Likely you looked at it with a little apprehension, considering many areas in Gainesville have seen undeveloped land turn into five-story condominiums, shopping centers or developments with thousands of homes.
Read full story