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Vol. 1 · No. 63 · Friday, July 3, 2026

The Gainesville Ledger

Education

Alachua County Public Schools holds ‘B’ district grade under tougher state standards

The Florida Department of Education released its annual school grades, and Alachua County Public Schools maintained a B rating for the 2025-26 school year despite a stricter grading scale. State law requires the grading benchmarks to be raised when at least 75% of schools in a category earn A or B grades, making the district’s maintained standing more notable. The release follows recently published statewide assessment results.

Sources: The Independent Florida Alligator · Mainstreet Daily News · WUFT News

Arts & Culture

City to temporarily remove Al Black mural for restoration, relocation

Gainesville’s Cultural Affairs Division will take down a landscape mural by late Florida Highwaymen artist Al Black from its corner of Main Street and Northeast Sixth Avenue, with July 12 as the last day for the public to view it in place. The work, commissioned by the city in 2022, has deteriorated after nearly four years of outdoor exposure and will undergo professional restoration. Once restored, the city plans to reinstall the mural at a new permanent location offering better protection from the elements.

Sources: Mainstreet Daily News · City of Gainesville

City

In Brief

Public Safety

Gainesville man faces 10 years to life after pleading guilty to carfentanil trafficking

Trai Williams, 28, entered a guilty plea to federal drug trafficking charges after law enforcement raided his Gainesville apartment in October and found more than 100 grams of carfentanil — a drug lethal in doses as small as two milligrams — along with fentanyl and heroin. Williams is scheduled to be sentenced on September 1 and could receive anywhere from ten years to a life sentence in federal prison.

Sources: WCJB TV20

Live Oak realtor dies after boating accident on Suwannee River

A 44-year-old Live Oak woman died Wednesday night after a vessel struck a dock in Gilchrist County, knocking her and another person into the Suwannee River near the Rock Bluff Conservation Area. Rescue teams searched for nearly six hours before recovering her body around 1 a.m. Thursday. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is investigating the accident.

Sources: WCJB TV20

Judge dismisses individual defendants in UF Health Shands wrongful death case

A judge ruled Thursday to dismiss the individual doctors and pharmacists named as defendants in a wrongful death lawsuit against UF Health Shands, stemming from the March 2024 death of two-year-old De’Markus Page. The family alleges Page died after receiving a potassium dose ten times higher than intended due to a decimal-point error in a medication order. The hearing focused on whether Florida’s sovereign immunity protections shield state-employed healthcare providers from being sued individually absent specific factual allegations of misconduct outside those protections.

Sources: WCJB TV20

In Brief

Sports

In Brief

Environment

In Brief

Community

In Brief

State & National

Florida oversight boards advance plan to ban undocumented students from colleges

Two state oversight boards have moved forward with proposals requiring students to prove legal immigration status before enrolling in Florida’s universities and colleges, which would effectively bar undocumented students — including those covered by DACA — from all 30 state institutions. Governor Ron DeSantis has voiced support for the policy, while a coalition of immigrant rights groups argued the move would worsen already declining enrollment at many campuses. The Florida Board of Governors must hold an additional vote before the university policy becomes official.

Read both sides →

Sources: WCJB TV20

In Brief

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