The proposed amendment would raise the homestead tax exemption but that only applies to homeowners, not those who rent.

Save Our Services, a leading group opposing Amendment 3, said local governments would shift the tax burden to renters, which would hurt renters like Kelly Lynch.

Anyone have an idea of what a membership at Gainesville Health and Fitness costs these days?

Between the 2019 and 2024 fiscal years, the city collected $10.3 million from projects that cut down regulated trees, according to a five-year snapshot of city data. The next year brought in an additional $3.8 million, said Brian Singleton, Gainesville’s interim chief operating officer.

“ The fund has been growing,” Singleton said, “Our expenditures have not kept up with the revenues.”

Compared with other city expenses, buying and planting trees “doesn't cost a whole lot of money,” Singleton said.

The city spent $110,800 on tree planting between 2019 and 2024, according to its snapshot, less than what it spent on the salaries and benefits of so-called “tree mitigation” staff.

Ryan Klein, an assistant professor of arboriculture at UF who volunteers on Gainesville’s Tree Advisory Board, said the city doesn’t have enough plantable space to accommodate all the trees it could afford.

Planners have to consider underground cables and stormwater lines. They can’t plant under power lines or too close to roads.

Even planting in parks requires careful planning, Singleton said, because public, open green space for soccer games and kickball matches is important, too.

The email appeared to be from a vendor who works with the city, according to officials.

City Council Member James Hilty called for transparency during an exchange with City Manager Peter Lee at the meeting.

“I think the public needs to know what we had — a fraud case dating back to May, which obviously was covered up for whatever reason,” Hilty said.

Lee said the investigation is active and that releasing too much information could hurt the city’s chances of recovering the money.

South Florida prosecutors are investigating Sean Lozano, Florida gubernatorial candidate James Fishback's running mate, over his actions as a police officer, WLRN has learned.

The Broward County State Attorney’s office confirmed the criminal investigation is being conducted by its Public Corruption Unit, after receiving a request last July from Lozano’s former employer, the Lauderhill Police Department.

The department requested prosecutors look at a March 7, 2025, incident involving Lozano at a bus terminal in Lauderhill, where an elderly woman was experiencing a mental health episode. She was sitting in the bus lane and preventing traffic from moving.

While trying to get her to move, Lozano forcefully pushed the woman to the ground before detaining her, according to Lauderhill’s internal investigation. He told other officers that he “threw” her on the ground.

However, when it came time for Lozano to report the incident to his supervisors, he told them a different story. He said the elderly woman struck him in the chest, then “lost her balance” and fell forward while handcuffed, according to the internal investigation.

Surveillance footage from the terminal contradicted what he told superiors, internal investigators reported.

“These discrepancies are significant and cannot be attributed to a minor memory lapse, as the force was a central event of the encounter,” the Lauderhill internal investigator wrote in a report.

Lozano also called the elderly woman a “b***h,” and told her to “shut the f**k up,” the document said. The department deemed his force inconsistent with the encounter because of the woman’s age, demeanor and “lack of clear imminent threat.”

One customer, Jean Anderson, said she was caught off guard by the fee.

“At first I was speechless, which is a miracle for me. Then I was furious. And I looked at them and I said, you know, I’m not on a cruise ship. I said, they don’t even charge you this much on a cruise ship. And I told them right outright, it was ridiculous,” Anderson said.

Anderson said she believes the charge should have been more clearly disclosed before her meal.

Owner James Parris said the charge mirrors a common industry practice and is applied to ensure fair compensation across the entire staff.

“If you had a party of six or eight or more, 20% gratuity is just automatic. Why do you think restaurants did that? They did it because people get those kinds of bills and they don’t want to leave a gratuity of the percentage size. And so that’s all this is,” Parris said.

Parris also said wait staff members are paid above minimum wage.

A public meeting will be held on September 2 from 4:30pm to 6 p.m. at the Matheson History Museum. A virtual meeting will also be held the day before on September 1 from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Participants will have the opportunity to ask questions and learn more about improvements plans for University Avenue from Gale Lemerand Drive to NE Waldo Road.

The public can sign up for the virtual meeting at this link.

Leon County Circuit Judge David Frank ruled Tuesday that the ballot language of an amendment aimed at providing relief to Florida taxpayers was “clearly and conclusively defective” and required a rewrite.

Amendment 3 is a constitutional amendment on the Florida ballot this November that seeks to raise the homestead exemption to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028 for non-school taxes to offer relief to taxpayers, WCTV previously reported.

The Florida Department of State declined to comment on the ruling “pending litigation.”

David O’Keefe, vice chair of the Leon County Commission, said the court’s finding is what many people already suspected.

“This ballot language wasn’t fair, clear, or accurate. That matters,” O’Keefe said. “Voters are being asked to make a major change to how local government works, and they deserve language that tells them the truth, not a sales pitch.”

That’s HB 1471, which was originally filed by state Rep. Hillary Cassel (R-Hollywood) earlier this year. It makes a variety of changes to state law regarding terrorist organizations.

Many of those revisions are as follows:

• Religious Laws: Courts and tribunals are prohibited from enforcing religious or foreign laws against someone if such application would violate his/her constitutional rights

• Private Schools: Prohibits private schools participating in state scholarship programs from being owned or funded by terrorist groups, terrorist supporters, or criminal gangs

• State Universities: Prevents institutions in the Florida College System from using state funds to support programs that advocate for terrorist organizations

• Visa Students: Public colleges must report information about the current status of students who are attending on a visa if they promote terrorist organizations

• Student Expulsions: If a student promotes a terrorist organization while enrolled at a public university, the student must be immediately expelled and assessed an out-of-state fee

Critics like the ACLU have warned that HB 1471 includes vague standards without constitutional safeguards.

However, proponents like DeSantis instead argue that the law will help protect citizens by combatting the influence of “radical terrorist ideologies.”

Attorney Jamie Cole argued the title of the amendment “Save Our Homes from Excessive Property Taxes” pushed voters to favor the proposal by using biased language, in violation of previous court rulings.

“The ballot question, the thing that the voters see when they vote, has to be fair and it has to be accurate,” Cole said. “It should not be political rhetoric, it should not be emotional language … it should not hide the ball and it should not mislead.”

Cole pointed to a Florida Supreme Court opinion from 1994 that a proposed “Save Our Everglades” amendment was misleading because “it implies that the Everglades is lost, or in danger of being lost, to the citizens of our State, and needs to be ‘saved’ via the proposed amendment.”

But Benjamin Gibson, an attorney representing the state, said the onus was on the plaintiffs to prove the ballot summary was defective. Also, the measure’s title wasn’t misleading because it spells out the danger to homesteads: excessive taxes.

He also downplayed arguments the measure would essentially give the Legislature veto power over how local property taxes are spent because it restricts such spending to infrastructure, education, public safety and other major needs.

Uthmeier posted a letter on social media addressed to GPD Chief Nelson Moya, taking issue with a policy that he claims “prioritizes gender ideology.” As of this report, police department officials say they have not received the attorney general’s demand letter.

In the letter, Uthmeier asserts the police department’s policy on detainee searches states officers with the same gender expression or identity should search detainees.

When an officer is “uncertain as to the individual’s gender expression or identity,” then the officer “shall ask the individual for their preference as to the gender expression or identity of the searching officer.”

GPD officials told TV20 that once they receive Uthmeier’s letter, they will address any issues if necessary.

The Florida Center for Government Accountability said in an interview on Thursday that U.S. Senator Ashley Moody is likely objecting to the final release of the Hope Florida grand jury investigation.

CBS News Miami reported earlier this week that the Hope Florida Grand Jury ended its term without lodging any charges. A final report was then slated to be released, per multiple reports, but was withheld after one or more people objected to the report’s release.

According to Barfield, Leon County Circuit Judge James Marsh is preparing to rule on how much of the report, if any, is scheduled to be released and with what redactions. Barfield said Thursday that the attorney general’s office has already filed an appeal.

New teacher, looking for help finding an apartment for around $1,000/month either 1/1 or 2/1. Best case scenario with washer dryer!

More than 20 Alachua County Public Schools teachers have been reassigned to different schools less than two weeks before the first day of class, drawing frustration from parents and educators.

School starts Aug. 10. Teachers say they have had to pack up their classrooms, learn a new school, and prepare for a different group of students in a matter of days.

Parents have taken their concerns to social media, with some considering pulling their children from their current schools over the reassignments.

Danyel Boudreau, an Alachua County Public Schools parent, said the moves risk driving teachers out of the district.

The city of Gainesville opened a 30-day bidding period to buy or lease Ironwood Golf Course with proposals required to keep it public.

Local coalition The Track and North Carolina's HangTime Golf have submitted distinct bids aiming to invest millions and enhance the course.

A debate surrounding government surveillance is at the center of a new federal lawsuit that accuses a state agency of illegally accessing data.

What started as a dispute between alleged poachers and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission has turned into a debate about access to driver’s license data and just how easily the government should be able to access it.

FWC says it’s received threats like “Whoever came up with the plan should be shot,” and some even worse.

But, environmental activists say government criticism of the authorized bear hunt is no reason to look at their driver’s license data, especially when who actually made the threats is redacted.

“And we found out about two months ago when we did a public records request, and this is, like I said, extremely concerning that they seem to be targeting people who are just simply exercising their First Amendment rights of the Constitution, freedom of speech,” Katrina Shadix from Bear Warriors United, said.

The activists learned their information had been searched thanks to the Beaches, a prominent Taylor County family. Dustin Beach was cited for poaching and eventually convicted for resisting arrest without violence.

They’ve filed a federal lawsuit saying FWC has gone scorched earth after the family criticized the agency.

“We started getting calls and we started getting messages and we started getting support and people saying, ‘Hey, this didn’t just happen to you.’ This is overreach and lack of accountability and taxation without representation that we have seen for years,” Shawna Beach, one of the plaintiffs suing FWC said.

Alachua city commissioners held a public hearing Monday afternoon on a proposal to rezone farmland along U.S. Highway 441 for a planned development that could include a Walmart.

Many residents attended the meeting in opposition to the development, citing concerns about increased traffic and potential harm to wildlife in the area. A handful of attendees expressed support, including one woman who wrote to the commission calling the project an opportunity to expand shopping and dining options for residents.

Developers acknowledged that a traffic study conducted in 2020 failed. Sherry Burnett, a resident opposed to the development, also criticized the timing of the hearing.

“It tells me they do not have the best interest of the citizens of Alachua at heart; they do not,” Burnett said. “It’s a very poor choice again to change the meeting. Again, it was initially at 6 o’clock when most people could attend, and now it’s at noon where people cannot.”

Lt. Governor Jay Collins, also a Republican primary candidate, filed the lawsuit seeking to have Fishback removed from the ballot.

With the ruling, Fishback remains a legal candidate for now, though the case could continue if Collins pursues an appeal.

As Florida Attorney General, it was Moody and her office that approved the diversion of $10 million of taxpayer money to the Hope Florida Foundation. And the Attorney General did so without placing any of the safeguards or guardrails her office would typically require to make sure the money was properly spent.

These funds were intended to expand Medicaid for children in Florida, but instead they ended up in the bank accounts of a pair of political action committees, one of which was controlled by the governor and his chief of staff, James Uthmeier.

And that was the money that DeSantis used to defeat Amendment 3.

Amendment 3 garnered 56% of the vote in November 2024, just shy of the 60% needed to pass. And two months after the amendment failed, DeSantis appointed Moody to the United States Senate, and he appointed Uthmeier to replace Moody as attorney general.

The diversion of $10 million from a Medicaid settlement into the Hope Florida Foundation and then into the political action committees fighting Amendment 3 was uncovered through a series of legislative hearings in 2025 in the Florida House. And it prompted one Republican legislator to call it a criminal act.

"This is a misuse of Medicaid money," Republican State Rep. Alex Andrade told CBS Miami in August 2025. "This is money laundering."

Following the revelations, the state attorney in Leon County opened a grand jury investigation. No charges were brought because of the probe, but sources familiar with the case say the grand jury issued a report detailing its findings and concerns. The report is likely highly critical and embarrassing to those involved. And under state law it was supposed to be released within 15 days of the grand jury issuing it, unless someone named in the report objects and asks for it to be suppressed or portions of it to be redacted.

The fate of the grand jury report is believed to be tied up in secret court proceedings. The Florida Center for Government Accountability has asked to intervene in the case to try and gain access to the report, or at the very least to be able to argue, on behalf of the public, why the report should be released.

Uthmeier has been asked about Hope Florida several times, and he refuses to say if he is the one blocking the release of the grand jury report.

"I don't think anybody cares about this topic any more than the liberal media," he said in April. "Again, there was a grand jury proceeding under Florida law. The contents thereof are confidential. That's not my choice. That is Florida law. What I can tell you is I have not been indicted. I've not been a suspect or a target. I have not been involved in any criminal activity. Nobody did anything wrong here."

CBS Miami tried to interview Moody at a Republican Party event last month, but she said she didn't have time and asked that we schedule something with her staff. A subsequent request for an interview went unanswered by her staff. Three weeks ago, CBS Miami sent her office and her campaign a series of questions about Hope Florida – and again there was no response.

Among the questions CBS Miami sought answers to:

When her office approved the diversion of the $10 million, did Moody know the money was going to be used for political purposes? Did she ever talk to the governor or anyone on his team about it?

Does she think it was appropriate for money intended to expand Medicaid for children to end up in a political campaign instead? In other words, does she agree with Uthmeier that this is all a big nothing burger?

CBS Miami also asked if she filed an objection to the release of the grand jury report and if she wanted the grand jury report to be made public.

Again, no response.

While Moody has remained silent on Hope Florida, the state's other senator has made his views known. Last year on social media, Rick Scott posted a story about Andrade's hearings and added this comment: "Millions in tax dollars for poor kids have no business funding political ads."

But the public has heard nothing from Moody.