13 Movies You Didn’t Know Were Filmed in North Central (and Other Areas) of Florida

With the Oscars right around the corner, many of us are thinking about movies we love. While viewing this year’s Best Picture nominations may be the best way for some to prep for Sunday’s Oscar telecast, some film fans may simply choose to re-watch their definition of classics.

It may seem like a stretch to think that some well-known and beloved films were shot within miles of Gainesville and across North Central Florida, but there are numerous movies that were filmed in our area and across the state.

Here are just a few, dating back as far as 1954 and as recent as 2013.

To read the rest of this article, click here. 

Alachua County Farms Recover Months After Hurricane Irma

Beyond Gainesville’s city limits lies an equine sanctuary, a U-pick fruit farm, a field-grown shade tree farm, a dairy farm and a produce farm.

The owners of these five farms say they suffered losses — mainly crops — from flooding and wind related to Hurricane Irma.

But now, more than two months after Irma struck the area around Sept. 11, the five say they’ve almost fully recovered.

To read the rest of this article, click here. 

Lambrix Maintains Innocence At Pre-Execution News Conference

Rolling around in the grass naked is the first thing Michael Lambrix said he would do if he were released from prison today.

The 57-year-old has been on death row for 33 years, all the while maintaining his innocence. On Thursday at 6 p.m., his sentence is scheduled to come to an end, along with his life.

“This is not an execution. This is an act of cold-blooded, pre-meditated murder,” he said Tuesday at a news conference at Florida State Prison in Raiford. He had requested to hold it because he does not plan to offer any final words on Thursday.

To read the rest of this article, click here.

Alachua’s Downtown Area Developing And Changing Amid Growing Competition For Small Businesses

Locals poured into Popovers on Main at 11:37 a.m. The just-opened café went from having one table occupied to a full house within five minutes. Fall leaves, pumpkins and baskets lined all four walls, giving the impression that this little shop was picked up from the Adirondacks at the peak of fall and placed in the small Florida town of Alachua.

Side by side, small businesses like hair salons, restaurants, clothing stores, quilt shops and cafés line Alachua’s Main Street. The town itself is home to minimal chains of any sort, so the amalgamation of small businesses creates a very unique, friendly neighborhood atmosphere.

“What Main Street is really known for is the way it looks and the way it feels when you go downtown,” assistant city manager Adam Boukari said. “There’s a quaintness to it.”

To read the rest of this article, click here.

Santa Fe Spring Arts Festival Continues Despite Weather

The Northeast Historic District of Downtown Gainesville hosted the Santa Fe Spring Arts Festival on Sunday, April 3.

Although the usually two-day event was cut down to only Sunday after storms all day on Saturday, the 47th annual festival went on. Artists from all over the country came together to display and sell all kinds of art such as sculptures, paintings, pottery and textiles.

Attendees browsed and purchased art, and kids created their own art, climbed a rock climb wall and played on inflatables. Two stages, which had live music and ballet theatre, were set up downtown where families sat together to enjoy the performances. Various food tents gave people a chance to sample the local grub.

To read the rest of the article, click here.