MediaUpdate

​During transport, she went into traumatic cardiac arrest, but first responders with Fire Crew 81 were able to resuscitate her.

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​Alachua County officials are warning residents of an email scam.

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​At about 2 a.m. on June 21, units from Alachua County Fire Rescue and Gainesville Fire Rescue responded to a single-vehicle rollover accident in the 7100 block of West Newberry Road, under the I-75 overpass.

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​Alachua County Fire Rescue reminds all residents to check and change the batteries in their smoke detectors every six months to ensure they remain in proper working condition.

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​The Alachua County Commission will conduct its regular meeting on Tuesday, June 24, 2025. The meeting is in the Jack Durrance Auditorium on the second floor of the Alachua County Administration Building (12 SE 1st St., Gainesville). The meeting begins at 11:30 a.m. There is no evening portion.​

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​It all kicked off during a high-stakes, 90-year-old ham radio competition, where the Alachua County team, tied to local Emergency Management, was dominating the leaderboards. But one prize eluded them: the coveted Satellite Bonus Points, earned by making two-way contact with distant hams via orbiting amateur radio satellites. With about ten satellites zipping through space, the challenge was steep—and their initial attempts fell short.

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​ACFR Engine and Rescue 62 located the single victim in the vehicle, but the driver was reportedly dead on scene.

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​Units from Alachua County Fire Rescue and the Melrose Fire Department responded June 19 to a crash in Hawthorne, according to a release from ACFR.

When did the crash happen?

​June 19 at about 8:25 a.m.

Where did the crash happen?

5600 block of Southeast U.S. Highway 301 near the Love’s Travel Stop in Hawthorne.

​ACFR release

According to the ACFR release, rescue units arrived at the scene near the Love’s Travel Stop in Hawthorne where they discovered a single person trapped in a vehicle as a result of a crash. The individual was pronounced dead at the scene. The cause of the crash remains under investigation.

The Alachua County Sheriff's Office reported at about 9:30 a.m. that both lanes of U.S. Highway 301 near the crash are closed, and advised drivers to seek alternative routes.

​In a joint meeting Tuesday afternoon, commissioners voted to have staff research alternative venues for the 2027 event, including the Gainesville Raceway.

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​City of Gainesville and Alachua County commissioners during a joint meeting on June 17 discussed ideas for a permanent home for the annual Hoggetowne Medieval Faire.

Officials first heard a presentation by city staff on the history, community impact and challenges faced while looking for a new location for the event.

Marking almost 40 years as a Gainesville tradition, the Hoggetowne Medieval Faire was originally held at the Thomas Center for five years. In 1991, the festival moved to the Alachua County Fairgrounds, its home for nearly three decades before the property at 3100 NE 39th Ave. was leased to the U.S. Army Reserve for 50 years beginning in September 2020.

​The festival then briefly moved to the former YMCA sports complex along Archer Road before finding its most recent home for the past two years at Depot Park.

The new site would need 50 to 60 acres of mostly clear and flat dry land that's within the city limits, flushing toilets, campgrounds and have vehicle and ADA accessibility.

​Some of the locations offered by officials included the Alachua County Agriculture and Equestrian Center (current fairgrounds), the new West End Community Park, the MLK Center/Citizens Field complex and, possible the leading candidate, Gainesville Raceway.

Holding the medieval faire in the 11-acre space at Depot Park — its home again in 2026 — has caused the annual event to be reduced from its traditional three weekends to only one, limited the number of vendors from 150 to 90, scaled back 11 stages of entertainment to six, and prevented usual activities such as jousting and the birds of prey exhibit from being held.

​Despite the cuts, however, the 2025 event saw the highest recorded attendance within the past several years with 49,565 attendees. Attendance has been buoyed in recent years thanks to it having been transitioned into a free event due to the limited activities.

County Commissioner Ken Cornell said the event should held in Gainesville and that he feels the fairgrounds on the west side of the county is just too far away.

​County Commissioner Anna Prizzia, however, disagreed and said the event was designed to be held at the fairgrounds.

"I also don't understand that if you could do it at Depot Park, you can do it at the fairgrounds," Prizzia said. "The fairgrounds are way bigger than Depot Park and we have a 2,000-seat arena, we have stalls for horses, we have stalls for other animals under cover, we have 52 RV hookups, we have a ticket office, we have all of the things set up there for that event to be successful."

​Gainesville Mayor Harvey Ward said Newberry is a long way for Gainesville residents and staff to travel and that the fair is a Gainesville event.

"If it's a county event, that's a whole different story, but we write the check," Ward said. "Y'all are county commissioners, and I understand why that makes sense to you but y'all aren't going to put an event in Marion County that's in Alachua County."

Prizza then clarified that it would be a temporary solution as it provides amenities that Depot Park doesn't have.

With Gainesville Raceway as a possible leading candidate to host the event in 2027, City Commissioner Cynthia Chestnut and Prizzia motioned the city to refer its staff to work with county staff to jointly design a plan to look at alternative sites.

City Commissioner Eastman suggested sending a joint city-county letter to Gainesville Raceway to "open their eyes" about holding the event there, which was added to the final motion.

​​The motion passed unanimously with County Commissioners Mary Alford and Charles Chestnut IV absent.

​The Gainesville City Commission and Alachua County Board of County Commissioners directed their staffs to work together to fund transit options to GRACE Marketplace on weekends and to find a solution for the Hoggetowne Medieval Faire—potentially at Gainesville Raceway.  ​

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