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GAINESVILLE, Fla. (Jan. 19, 2024) – The Gainesville Police Department Canine (K-9) Unit will return to regular duty status on Monday, January 22. This full reinstatement comes after 10 months under a Limited Deployment Protocol.

Gainesville Police Chief Lonnie Scott first removed the K-9 Unit from service in late 2022 following an unexpected change in unit supervision. In March 2023, as the unit faced training challenges and a shortage of officers, Gainesville City Manager Cynthia W. Curry initiated the extended period of limited deployment to give the Gainesville Police Department (GPD) time to increase K-9 Unit staffing.

Gainesville Police Chief Lonnie Scott reports the department has now met the minimum operational staffing goal. “Getting the K-9 Unit back to regular duty is an important step for our department,” said Chief Scott. “A well-trained K-9 Unit saves lives. The canines are used to find missing people, search for weapons, and track and apprehend armed and violent subjects.”

During the months spent in limited deployment, GPD has added two K-9 officers and two new canines, bringing the unit to its current staffing level of four K-9 teams. Additional changes include revised training protocols, improved supervision, and enhanced focus on safety measures and oversight.

In addition, the Canine Unit Policy Manual received a thorough review with a number of updates. These include an expanded list of the equipment provided to each handler and a higher level of detail in determining how and when the units will be deployed.

“Our intention with the limited deployment was to support the police department and its officers,” said City Manager Curry. “This strategic move has achieved the intended results. It gave GPD the opportunity to evolve procedures so our skilled and dedicated police officers can continue to have all the tools they need to protect our neighbors."

While under limited deployment, the K-9 Unit was only activated on a case-by-case basis as approved by Chief Scott. After its scheduled return to full duty status on Monday, that decision can be made by other personnel in the chain of command in accordance with criteria listed in the updated policy manual. 

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GAINESVILLE, FL ‒ On Sept. 17, 2023, The Alachua County Sheriff’s Office responded to the area of 2315 S.E. 35^th Street Gainesville, FL, in reference to a shooting investigation.

Alachua Sheriff’s Deputies discovered the victim, Johnny Walker, suffering from a gunshot wound. Walker was pronounced dead at the scene by medical personnel.

Alachua Sheriff’s Office Detective later identified Javon Barclay, dob 11/06/1994, as the suspect who unlawfully shot and killed Walker.

On Jan. 17, 2024, Barclay was indicted by a Grand Jury for first degree murder, grand theft of a motor vehicle, grand theft of a firearm, possession of a firearm by a felon, felony driving while license suspended, and fleeing or attempting to elude.

Barclay was remanded to the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office Department of the Jail without bond on the first degree murder charge.

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. - City of Gainesville officials anticipate severe weather conditions, including temperatures below 45 degrees Fahrenheit during evening hours Friday, Jan. 19 through Sunday, Jan. 21. The anticipated temperatures will lead to the activation of the city's Cold Night Shelter (CNS) Program, and it is expected to remain in effect until overnight low temperatures rise above 45 F. The CNS program normally runs from Nov. 1 through March 31.

 St. Francis House and GRACE Marketplace at the Empowerment Center will provide Cold Night Shelter services to people in need of shelter as long as overnight temperatures remain below 45 F. The CNS program providers serve additional persons in need of shelter so that families and individuals desiring shelter will have a warm place to stay. St. Francis House provides temporary shelter that is appropriate for families, women and children. GRACE Marketplace primarily serves individual adults.

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GAINESVILLE ‒ On Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024, Assistant State Attorney Nicole Reed presented to the Alachua County Fall Term Grand Jury State vs. Amanda Marie Jazen.

On Dec. 25, 2023, the Gainesville Police Department responded to Walgreens 3909 N.W. 13^th Street in reference to a shooting investigation.

Officers arrived and observed the victims, Anna Haslup Terrill and Thomas Lepread Williams, in the parking lot suffering from gunshot wounds. Officers observed a fleeing vehicle that Amanda Jazen, dob 6/29/1985, was driving.

The Gainesville Police investigation determined that Jazen unlawfully shot and killed Haslup and attempted to unlawfully kill Williams.

While Jazen fled from the scene, she had five of her children with her as she led law enforcement on a 15-mile chase.

The Fall Term Grand Jury reviewed all the evidence and returned a True Bill indicting Jazen for first degree murder, attempted first degree murder, fleeing or attempting to elude law enforcement, and five counts of child neglect.  

Jazen was remanded to the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office Department of the Jail without bond on the first degree murder charges.

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GAINESVILLE, Fl. — Starting Monday, Jan. 22, 2024, through Friday, Feb. 2, 2024, the Alachua County Property Appraiser’s Office is expanding its operations to the City of Newberry by hosting a mobile pop-up at the Mentholee Norfleet Municipal Building.

The popup will be located at 25420 W Newberry Rd, Newberry, FL 32669 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. each weekday.   During this time, the office will be available to assist with questions about homestead and other exemptions, agricultural classifications, title and ownership, property fraud detection and more. Appointments are not required and walk-ins are welcome. 

“Our office hopes for this mobilization initiative to be the first of many pop-ups,” said Property Appraiser, Ayesha Solomon. “With the continuous growth of the county, we must strive to be as accessible as possible.” 

The Property Appraiser's office said they plan to continue to collaborate with neighboring cities and government officials to help determine the best central areas to expand our services throughout the county.

"We prioritize community involvement," said Solomon. “Being community driven has always been a priority of this office as we want to ensure we are actively engaging with the communities we serve and gaining direct insight from residents.” 

This event is free and will be open to the general public. In addition, this event will be photographed and is subject to later use. 

The Alachua County Property Appraiser’s Office ensures that all taxable property in the county is assessed equitably and at its fair market value in accordance with Florida statutes. The Property Appraiser’s Office has two locations: 515 N. Main Street in Gainesville and 15010 N.W. 142nd Terrace in Alachua. For more information visit https://www.acpafl.org.

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. – North Florida Regional Medical Center, one of the state’s largest hospitals, is abruptly suspending surgeries for at least four days to deal with significant concerns about its processes to sterilize surgical instruments.

The suspension affects operations in Gainesville at one of the flagship hospitals for HCA Florida Healthcare, which has 510 beds, sources said. It treats more than 50,000 patients each year and has more than 1,000 employees.

The hospital announced its decision internally late Wednesday. A spokeswoman said in a statement Thursday the move was proactive and described it only as an unspecified “operational matter.”

“We are proactively addressing an operational matter at HCA Florida North Florida Hospital that resulted in the need to temporarily reschedule certain elective surgeries and have notified impacted patients,” communications director Lauren Lettelier said. “Our commitment has always been and continues to be to provide the highest quality of safe patient care to the citizens of North Central Florida and the surrounding area. We thank everyone affected for their patience and understanding.”

Lettelier declined to answer questions or provide any further information.

The hospital directed Alachua County Fire Rescue not to transport patients to the hospital for surgeries but told the agency to disregard that warning early Thursday, assistant fire rescue chief Misty Woods said.

The hospital’s concerns involve the activities of its Sterile Processing Department, the unit that cleans and sanitizes equipment, such as drills and other precision medical tools, that are reused after surgeries, sources said. Its chief medical officer told doctors and others the hospital wants to ensure it has sufficient numbers of instruments that have been sterilized properly before it reopens its surgical bays.

The hospital said it began diverting emergency surgeries to other area hospitals late Wednesday. Some cardiac surgeries were still scheduled to take place Thursday at the hospital. It said it hopes to resume all types of surgeries as early as the weekend and said it may only be functioning at half its expected capacity next week.

UF Health Shands did not immediately have any information on the transfer plans from the neighboring hospital, communications manager Peyton Wesner said.

Such suspensions are highly unusual but not unprecedented at U.S. hospitals coping with issues involving sterilization procedures and equipment. At least some surgeries were suspended for those reasons last year at hospitals in California, Texas, Massachusetts and Kansas. In southwest Colorado, patients in December sued Mercy Hospital, an 82-bed acute care facility, over allegations they contracted infections about the time that Mercy suspended elective surgeries two years earlier.

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