In today's Scoop:
🚌 Eastside RTS station breaks ground Friday
📶 Rural broadband push targets 4,500 homes
🗳️ Alachua County early voting runs through November 1
🎸 The Fest takes over downtown Oct. 23-25
🍳 Afternoon earns Gainesville's first Michelin Guide recommendation
🍳 Scratch-Made Brunch on NW 10th Avenue
At 231 NW 10th Ave., Afternoon serves breakfast and lunch in a small dining room, on the patio, and through a to-go window. The neighborhood restaurant has been open since 2017.
Try the crispy potatoes with onion cream, garlic confit, herbs and lime. The kitchen cures and smokes its own bacon and sources produce from Alachua County farms, including Frog Song Organics and Siembra. Afternoon became Gainesville's first Michelin Guide-recommended restaurant this year.
Read more here.
🚌 Eastside RTS station breaks ground Friday
The Gist: Gainesville will break ground on the Eastside RTS Transfer Station at 614 SE 20th St. The plan includes covered space for six buses and a 5,210-square-foot building with a public community room. Federal transit grants totaling $5.5 million fund the project.
Why It Matters: The station will connect bus routes between east and west Gainesville from the city's Hawthorne Road development site.
What's Next: The public groundbreaking is Friday, October 23, from 10 to 11 a.m. The city expects construction to finish in late 2027.
Read more here.
📶 Broadband project targets 4,500 rural homes
The Gist: Alachua County's $62 million broadband effort includes a $12.55 million grant for Kinetic to bring underground fiber to more than 4,500 rural households. The work covers areas near High Springs, Waldo and southeast Alachua County.
Why It Matters: A Waldo diner worker told WUFT that internet outages disrupt card payments. More reliable service would also help residents who currently leave home to get online.
What's Next: County staff expect separate broadband grant projects previously awarded to Cox to finish this fall.
Read more here.
🗳️ Early voting opens across Alachua County
The Gist: Alachua County began early voting October 19 for the November 3 general election. Supervisor of Elections Kim A. Barton said voters have 14 days, including two Saturdays and two Sundays, to choose a location and cast a ballot.
Why It Matters: Local, state and congressional races are on the ballot, and the voting window includes two Saturdays and two Sundays.
What's Next: Early voting ends Sunday, November 1. Election Day is Tuesday, November 3.
Read more here.
🅿️ Downtown businesses ask to use courthouse garage after hours
The Gist: A five-story, 500-plus-space garage is being built next to the Alachua County courthouse. It is planned for court and county business, but nearby business owners want public parking there at night and on weekends.
Why It Matters: Heartwood Soundstage and other South Station businesses say scarce evening parking can keep customers away or send them walking farther through poorly lit streets.
What's Next: County spokesperson Mark Sexton said commissioners plan to discuss public access at an upcoming meeting. The garage is expected to take about 18 more months to finish.
Read more here.
🏥 HCA opens hands-on nurse training center in Gainesville
The Gist: HCA North Central Florida opened a clinical training center in Gainesville on October 15 and held its first class that day. Its mock operating rooms and intensive care spaces let nurses practice with mannequins that breathe and bleed.
Why It Matters: The center will train staff from six HCA hospitals across North Central Florida before they face those situations with patients.
Read more here.
🦇 Florida Bat Festival | Lubee Bat Conservancy | Gainesville | Saturday, Oct. 24, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. | More
Meet some of the world's largest bats and explore exhibits about bat conservation.
👻 Sparks & Spooks | Cade Museum for Creativity & Invention | Gainesville | Saturday, Oct. 24, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. | More
Kids 17 and under in costume get free admission, games and activities.
🎭 Create a Cardboard Mask | Headquarters Library | Gainesville | Saturday, Oct. 24, 1 to 4 p.m. | More
Make a Halloween mask from cardboard and craft supplies in the HQ Makerspace.
🦴 Tot Trot: Bones | Natural Area Park | Gainesville | Tuesday, Oct. 27, 9 to 10:45 a.m. | More
Children ages 2 to 5 explore bones on a free nature walk.
🎃 Boo at the Zoo | Santa Fe College Teaching Zoo | Gainesville | Wednesday, Oct. 28, 3 to 7 p.m. | More
Bring a canned good for trick-or-treating, games and crafts.
🎸 The Fest 24 | Downtown Gainesville venues | Gainesville | Friday to Sunday, Oct. 23 to 25; show times vary | More
PUP, The Bouncing Souls and Lagwagon are among the bands playing across downtown.
💃 Halloween/Day of the Dead Party | Rena's Ballroom | Gainesville | Saturday, Oct. 24, 7:30 to 10 p.m. | More
Costume prizes, dancing and snacks; $15 per person or $25 per couple.
🎻 Claire Wells | Squitieri Studio Theatre | Gainesville | Sunday, Oct. 25, 2 p.m. | More
Violinist Claire Wells plays Debussy, Brahms, Prokofiev and Grieg.
📚 Robin Wall Kimmerer | Phillips Center | Gainesville | Sunday, Oct. 25, 7 p.m. | More
Kimmerer discusses The Serviceberry with Ginessa Mahar and Whitney Leigh Morris.
🎶 Florida Indigenous Soundscapes | Heartwood Soundstage | Gainesville | Tuesday, Oct. 27, 6 to 7:30 p.m. | More
Seminole artists Elgin Jumper and Gordon Wareham share poetry, music and stories.
If you want to read any of our previous issues, check them out HERE on our website.
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