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Gainesville, FL– Unite US is coming to the Stephen C. O’Connell Center on Wednesday, Oct. 23 at 7:30 p.m.  Unite US is a movement of college students coming together to lift the name of Jesus. The event is open to the Gainesville community.

You can register for free at https://brushfire.com/uniteus/uniteflorida/579337.

More than 50,000 students representing more than 300 universities have joined the Unite movement at events across the country. The movement has traveled to college campuses including Auburn, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida State, Georgia, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, South Carolina, and Tennessee. UNITE began at Auburn University as a one-night venture started by Tonya Prewett. Prewett’s husband Chad is an assistant basketball coach at Auburn, and her daughter Madison Prewett Troutt rose to fame for standing up for her faith as a contestant on season 24 of “The Bachelor.”

Madison and her husband Grant Troutt will also be attending. Tonya said she is seeing God move on college campuses. “We’ve heard testimonies from students who say I came in wanting to end my life, but I walked out wanting to live my life,” she said. “Only God could do this.”

Unite Florida will feature a lineup of nationally renowned speakers Jennie Allen and Jonathan “JP” Pokluda. Allen is a New York Times’ best-selling author of “Untangle Your Emotions,” “Find Your People” and “Get Out of Your Head.” She is also the founder of IF: Gathering, a discipleship event for women launched in 2014. Pokluda is the lead pastor of Harris Creek Baptist Church in Waco, TX. He previously led one of the largest young adult ministries in the country, “The Porch,” in Dallas, TX. He is the author of three books: “Why Do I Do What I Don’t Want To Do,” “Outdated,” and “Welcome to Adulting.” Pokluda is also the host of his podcast, “Becoming Something with Jonathan Pokluda.”

Passion Music is leading worship at the event. Gator football legends Danny Wuerffel and Coach Steve Spurrier have been impressed by the impact that Unite Us has had across college campuses.

“I have been so moved by the students leading the effort to bring Unite US to UF,” Wuerffel said. “As our mission at the Wuerffel Foundation is to inspire greater service and unity, we are excited to see what God is doing through Unite Us and encourage everyone to attend. This will be a night UF won’t forget and will impact many students forever.”

Coach Spurrier added, “As the son of a preacher, faith and religion have always played an integral role in my life. It’s always been a rock for me when going through the hard times, as well as the good ones. The Unite US Movement has a strong message and is sure to be inspirational for the students at UF.”

UniteUS is a section 501(c)(3) charitable organization and as such is eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions. To learn more about the Unite US movement visit https://www.uniteusmovement.com/. 

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ALACHUA ‒ A 46-year-old woman from Alachua, identified as Dawn Marie Burkhardt, was arrested on Wednesday following a high-speed chase with law enforcement and a series of charges, including driving under the influence (DUI) and battery on an officer.

Shortly after 4 p.m. on Sept. 18, 2024, a Florida Highway Patrol Trooper responded to a call about a vehicle stopped in the roadway at Peggy Road and Northwest 202^nd Street. The caller said the driver did not want help and refused to move the vehicle out of the roadway.

The trooper reported that when he approached the Lincoln SUV, the driver, later identified as Dawn Marie Burkhardt, seemed to be looking at her cell phone. In response to questions from the trooper, she reportedly told him the vehicle was not disabled and would not explain why she was stopped in the roadway.

The trooper reported that he explained that she needed to pull off the road as other vehicles were trying to navigate around her stopped vehicle. He reported that he smelled alcohol. When he asked the driver for her identification, she reportedly said she was the registered owner of the vehicle but made no attempt to produce a driver’s license. The trooper reported that she did not answer a question about whether there was alcohol in the vehicle.

The trooper said he asked the driver to step out of the vehicle. In response, she allegedly rolled the window up and drove away. The trooper reported that he pursued the vehicle along Peggy Road at speeds above the speed limit until the vehicle stopped on the shoulder of Northwest 234^th Street. The trooper reportedly got out of his vehicle, drew his firearm and initiated a felony stop on the vehicle. He reported that after he ordered her to get out of the vehicle for several minutes, she allegedly drove away. She again exceeded the speed limit along Northwest 234^th Street.

The trooper reportedly pursued the vehicle again, and the woman drove onto the shoulder, apparently intending to make a U-turn. The trooper placed his vehicle in front of the SUV and reported that the woman tried to put her vehicle in reverse, but was unsuccessful in moving it from the shoulder.

The trooper again drew his firearm and initiated a felony stop and reported that the woman refused to get out of her vehicle. He reportedly opened the driver’s side door and told her to get out. She allegedly punched him several times, then kicked him and continued to fight his attempts to get her out of the car. The trooper reported that he “conducted a takedown” and placed her on the ground, where she allegedly continued to resist by tensing up until a “good Samaritan” assisted the trooper in handcuffing her.

A search of her vehicle reportedly produced multiple cans of White Claw Hard Seltzer, a cold open container of White Claw Hard Seltzer within reach of the driver and multiple bottles of prescription narcotics.

When the trooper again asked the driver to identify herself, she reportedly told him to “go f*** [him]self.” The driver was later identified by the driver’s license found in her wallet.

The trooper requested an ambulance as a precaution, but Burkhardt reportedly refused treatment from paramedics. The paramedics, however, were reportedly concerned about her state of impairment and transported her to a hospital for medical clearance.

Post Miranda at the hospital, Burkhardt reportedly declined to answer questions and refused to consent to blood, breath or urine tests.

The deputy reported that Burkhardt continued to “violently scream” at him while he was interviewing her at the hospital.

Burkhardt has been charged with fleeing with lights and sirens active, battery on an officer, resisting an officer with violence, DUI with two previous DUI convictions, DUI with damage to property, refusal to submit to DUI testing and providing false identification information to an officer. She has two previous DUI convictions, in 2003 and 2008.

Bail was set by Judge Kristine Van Vorst at $130,000. In addition, when she is released, she must observe a curfew between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. and be fitted with a transdermal alcohol device. Burkhardt’s attorney has already requested a reduced bond, arguing that she is not a flight risk and has lived in the same home for over 30 years.

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. – When Albina Guri evacuated from St. Petersburg with her husband ahead of Hurricane Milton, her neighborhood back home was filled with discarded,  curbside debris including furniture, carpets and artwork that had been pulled from homes damaged in last month’s Hurricane Helene.

Guri, a pulmonary physician from Largo, Florida, headed with her husband to Jacksonville as the latest hurricane lumbered toward the state’s Gulf Coast. She had remained in Pinellas County for the last storm, losing two cars to flooding from its storm surge. She wasn’t taking any chances with this one.

“I think that Milton is a whole different beast, and I hope that people are taking it seriously and getting out,” Guri said in a phone interview.

Her evacuation to Jacksonville – a drive that normally would take less than four hours – took eight hours due to heavy traffic during one of Florida’s largest evacuations in a generation.

Hurricane Milton was expected to come ashore with winds up to 125 miles per hour and a huge storm surge, enough to pick up even heavy pieces of furniture and send them flying into buildings or vehicles or washing junk down roads and possibly interfering with drainage.

“We know that wind speeds do increase when wind is funneled between buildings,” said Corene Matyas, a University of Florida researcher specializing in climatology and meteorology. “The water can also pick up the debris and spread it and now it might be in piles on the curb, but the water is going to take it and just spread it everywhere.”

All along Florida’s Gulf Coast, governments were rushing to remove the debris from the last storm before Hurricane Milton’s strong winds could blow it away or its storm surges could wash it away. The pace of the cleanup was agonizingly slow, and time was running out.

“Most times after a storm, you don’t have another storm on the back end,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said at a news briefing Tuesday. “These things tend to take months and months to do.”

DeSantis sent more than 300 state dump trucks and other vehicles into areas over the weekend to augment local government cleanup efforts in Manatee, Sarasota, Hillsborough and Pinellas counties ahead of Milton’s landfall .Over 48 hours, those trucks removed 1,200 loads of debris, he said. But it wasn’t enough.

“We’ve made a huge dent in this,” DeSantis said. “The more debris we can get picked up, the less damage is going to happen, whether that’s floating into the Gulf of Mexico, whether it’s projectiles into other buildings.” 

The governor ordered landfills to remain open full time ahead of Hurricane Milton, and said trucks would continue to haul away debris in the hours before the next hurricane hits, “until it’s no longer safe to do so.” He said contractors working for local governments after Hurricane Helene were taking too long to haul away debris.

“There was not necessarily a great job all around,” DeSantis said.

Matyas, the UF researcher, said that the debris left over from Helene and the new debris that Milton could clog drains, leading to more flooding. 

Leftover debris like scrap metal, couches and picture frames can become projectiles once winds get a hold of them, Jennifer Collins, a University of South Florida professor specializing in climatology, said.
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This story was produced by Fresh Take Florida, a news service of the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications. The reporter can be reached at landerson2l@freshtakeflorida.com. You can donate to support our students here.

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By RICK BURKE/Special to Alachua County Today

PENSACOLA, Fla. ‒ Seaman Raul Colon, a native of Fort White, Florida, is serving aboard one of the nation’s newest, most-versatile warships, the future San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock, USS Richard M. McCool, Jr. (LPD 29).

Colon is a 2012 Fort White High School graduate. According to Colon, the values required to succeed in the Navy are similar to those found in Fort White.

Richard M. McCool, Jr. was commissioned by the U.S. Navy on Sept. 7, 2024, in Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida. Ship commissioning is a naval tradition that places a ship in active service.

The naming of LPD 29 honors U.S. Navy Capt. (Ret.) Richard M. McCool, Jr., who received the Medal of Honor in 1945 for the heroism he displayed after his ship was attacked by kamikaze aircraft in the Battle of Okinawa. Despite suffering from shrapnel wounds and painful burns, he led efforts to battle a blazing fire on his ship and rescue injured sailors.

Today, Colon serves as a quartermaster responsible for the ship's navigation.

“I enjoy meeting new people from all over the world and finding out that you have a lot in common,” said Colon.

Though there are many ways for sailors to earn distinction within their command, community and career, Colon is most proud of getting through boot camp.

“Going through Navy boot camp was a pretty rough eight weeks,” said Colon. "It was a challenging experience but I learned a lot, and I am better for the things we were taught and trained for."

Serving in the Navy is a continuing tradition of military service for Colon, who has military ties with family members who have previously served. Colon is honored to carry on the family tradition.

“I joined the Navy because my grandfather served before me, and I wanted to follow in his footsteps and serve our country as well,” said Colon.

The Surface Force is focused on providing lethal, ready, well-trained, and logistically supported surface forces to fight today and in the future. “I am proud to be able to lead this impressive crew,” said Capt. Jeff Baker, Richard M. McCool, Jr.’s commanding officer.

“Richard M. McCool, Jr. has shown toughness in the face of adversity. As a crew, they have grown together, faced challenges and overcome them with each other, and have learned to trust in themselves, their shipmates, and their chain of command,” said Baker. “We will continue to live up to the high standards the Navy calls us to achieve by focusing on behaviors that lead to excellence and victory.”

As a member of the U.S. Navy, Colon, as well as other sailors, know they are part of a service tradition providing unforgettable experiences through leadership development, world affairs, and humanitarian assistance. Their efforts will have a lasting effect around the globe and for generations of sailors who will follow.

“Serving in the Navy means a great deal,” said Colon. “I just want to make my family proud of me.”

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HIGH SPRINGS ‒ The High Springs City Commission met Monday, Sept. 23, 2024, to address several key issues, including the City’s millage rate, budget for Fiscal Year 2024-25, utility rate changes, and a state of emergency declaration ahead of a looming hurricane.

Millage and Budget

During the meeting, the Commission unanimously adopted the Fiscal Year 2024-25 millage rate of 6.7400 mills, a decrease of 0.25 mills from the previous year. Despite the lower rate, the city is projected to see an increase in revenue due to rising property values. Finance Director Diane Wilson noted that the “rolled back” rate, which would generate the same revenue as the previous year, is 6.3802 mills — an increase of 5.639 percent over last year’s rolled-back rate.

The Commission also approved the FY 2024-25 budget, which totals $27,228,237 across all funds, including a General Fund Budget of $7,435,632.

Utility Rate Changes

The Commission approved amendments to customer utility rates for the upcoming fiscal year. Water rates will increase by $3.99 per customer per month, while residential solid waste pickup will see a $3 increase per residential can. Sewer rates will remain unchanged. These changes were discussed in previous workshops and public hearings, with notices sent to customers through their utility bills.

Lot Size Regulations

During a brief discussion regarding setting a minimum lot size, Commissioner Wayne Bloodsworth suggested that the minimum lot size should not be less than 0.25 an acre. Commissioner Tristan Grunder suggested the best way to set the lot size would probably be through the City’s Land Development Regulations.

The City attorney suggested that North Central Florida Regional Planning Council (NCFRPC ) might be able to assist the City since there will have to be changes made to several documents. She said she will contact NCFRPC to see if they are available to assist.

In other business, the Commission also updated the City's personnel policy to include formal guidelines for department head credit card use and a cell phone reimbursement policy for city employees.

High Springs Police Chief Antoine Sheppard presented a new Police Benevolent Association (PBA) contract, which includes a five percent salary increase for police officers. The Commission ratified the contract unanimously.

With a hurricane expected to impact Florida in the coming days, the Commission declared a State of Emergency for High Springs, effective from Sept. 24, 2024, for seven days. This proactive measure ensures no additional meetings are required to respond to the impending storm.

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ALACHUA ‒ As Florida braces for the potential impact of Hurricane Helene, state and local officials are ramping up preparations. The storm, currently intensifying in the Gulf of Mexico, is expected to make landfall by Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024, potentially as a Category 3 hurricane.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has declared a state of emergency for 61 counties, expanding the initial declaration as the storm's threat increases. Evacuations are underway in several coastal areas, especially in regions vulnerable to storm surge like the Big Bend.

Hurricane and storm surge watches have been issued for the Gulf Coast of Florida, including the Florida Panhandle and portions of Florida’s west coast. The National Hurricane Center forecasts this system will strengthen while moving northward over the Gulf of Mexico.

Residents are being urged to finalize preparations, including gathering emergency supplies. Sandbags are being distributed in flood-prone areas, and local authorities are preparing for potential heavy rainfall, flash flooding, and strong winds. Storm surge is expected to reach up to 9 feet in some areas, and rainfall could total 8 inches in parts of North Florida.  

On Tuesday Alachua County issued a local State of Emergency in preparation for Tropical Storm Helene, which was upgraded from a potential tropical cyclone. The order was passed at Tuesday’s County Commission meeting. Alachua County has also activated the 311 Emergency Information Line (352-264-6557 if 311 is unavailable in your area). This is for questions and rumor control. If there is an actual emergency, call 911. Alachua County officials are urging residents not to underestimate the potential impact of this storm. Residents are urged to make sure they have hurricane kits and emergency plans are ready.

Sandbag Locations

Alachua County staff will distribute 10 sandbags per vehicle at designated locations. Sandbags are available at Alachua County’s Wayside Park, 11855 N.W. U.S. Highway 441, Alachua. Distribution began on Tuesday, Sept. 24, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and was scheduled to continue until Wednesday at 9 a.m., weather permitting, until 3 p.m. The County says that after staffed hours, sand, bags and shovels will be available for self-service.

In the City of High Springs, an unmanned sandbag site has been opened at Memorial Park, 17380 N.W. U.S. Highway 441. Bags and sand are limited although additional truckloads of sand are being delivered. Anyone wishing to obtain sand from this site must bring their own shovel and be prepared to load their own bags.

For residents of the City of Gainesville, pre-made sandbags were being provided at the Public Works Center, 405 N.W. 39^th Ave., Gainesville. Distribution began Tuesday, Sept. 24 and was scheduled to continue Wednesday at 8 a.m. A limit of 10 filled sandbags per vehicle can be picked up at this location. To ease traffic flow, arrive at this location via northbound Northwest 6^th Street and then turn east (right) onto Northwest 39^th Ave.

Self-Serve sandbags were available on the same schedule at Citizens Field, 1000 N.E. Waldo Rd., Gainesville. Persons wishing to obtain sandbags from Citizens Field should be prepared to bring a shovel or trowel to fill sandbags. Assistance is available for those in need. To ease traffic flow, access the site from Northeast 12^th Ave. via Waldo Road, or travel south on Northeast 15^th Street via Northeast 16^th Ave.

The City of Hawthorne has sand and bags available at the City of Hawthorne Wastewater Treatment Plant, 23016 S.E. 65^th Lane. Residents are informed to be prepared to fill their own bags.

The City of Newberry has sand and bags available at the public works compound at 120 N.W. 260^th Street and residents are advised to bring their own shovels.

Early Prescription Refills

Additionally, the Florida Department of Health is working with emergency managers statewide to prepare for any impacts to communities and reminds Floridians to have enough of their prescriptions on hand in the event pharmacies are temporarily unavailable. Under a state of emergency, Floridians are permitted to receive early prescription refills. An early refill may include controlled substances as long as the medical drug is not listed in Schedule II appearing in Chapter 893, Florida Statutes, of the Florida Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act.

State Emergency Response

The Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM) activated the State Emergency Operations Center to a Level 1 on Tuesday, Sept. 24 and is leading coordination efforts for the State Emergency Response Team. FDEM is hosting twice-daily calls with all 67 counties to identify needs and to ensure the state is prepared to respond quickly and efficiently.

Additionally, FDEM is coordinating with state agencies, non-governmental organizations, and private sector partners to facilitate ongoing resource requests for counties, including requests for water, generators and support personnel.

Nearly 500 missions are being facilitated by the State Emergency Response Team to assist counties in their preparation efforts. These missions accomplish vital tasks like prestaging response resources, protecting critical infrastructure facilities like hospitals and utility stations, and coordinating personnel statewide.

The Florida State Guard (FSG) has prepared the following:

• 250+ Soldiers ready to deploy.
• 10 shallow water vessel boat teams
• 7 flat-bottom-flood rescue skiffs
• 2 amphibious rescue vehicles
• 12 UTV’s
• 15 Cut and toss crews
• 7 search and rescue teams
• 1 UH-60 Blackhawk for daytime aerial assessment and logistics missions

Important actions to take include:

• Secure loose items around your home that could be carried by strong winds.
• Protect properties in flood-prone areas.
• Trim tree limbs around windows and clear debris.
• Move vehicles away from trees.
• Ensure all family members are familiar with your emergency plan.
• Prepare for possible extended power outages.
• Refill essential prescription medications.
• Create a plan for pets.
• Check-in on neighbors, particularly those with special needs.
• For the latest storm track and updates, Alachua County recommends visiting www.weather.gov/media/jax/briefings/nws-jax-briefing.pdf

Local residents may sign up for text alerts by texting the word ALACHUA to 888-777 to stay fully informed of any disaster-related information related specifically to Alachua County

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