All Alachua County Articles

Purple background with gold state of Florida and red and off white red cross graphics
News

The Affordable Care Act (ACA), passed into law in 2010, was designed to improve the health of Americans. A key strategy in the law is improving access to health care which, in America, means providing affordable high quality health insurance. Florida Medicaid eligibility is limited to specific populations like pregnant women and children, but the ACA offers the opportunity to expand Medicaid to low-income adults. Florida is one of only 10 states that has not expanded Medicaid, so it should not be surprising that it ranked 47th in the percentage of residents with insurance and 48th in the nation for access to care. This paper presents a summary of just a few of the many studies describing the reasons Florida should expand Medicaid.

News

Two big changes will be coming to GRU in May, one from the Governor and one from the Gainesville City Commission. Read on to learn more...

Photo collage of 4 photos from the Moms Panel Discussion
News

Moms Demand Action Alachua County and BeSmart hosted a panel discussion focusing on the importance of secure gun storage. LWVAC's VP and Gun Violence Prevention and Safety Chair, Gwendolyn Saffo was one of seven panelists. In addition to advocating for laws that require secure storage of firearms in homes and vehicles, Moms Demand Action uses the Be SMART framework to have conversations with parents and caregivers about keeping children from accessing loaded firearms. The goal of this event was to discuss the strategies each group is using to promote secure gun storage and explore ways these organizations can increase our reach and effectiveness, both individually and in collaborative initiatives.

Four clip art hands of various sizes with heart cut outs over text
News

Volunteers are the heart and soul of any volunteer organization, and the League of Women Voters of Alachua County (LWVAC) is no exception.

Stop Gun Violence red text on black background with gun covered in chain and lock
News

After several Listen and Learn sessions, the Gun Violence Prevention and Safety committee met to brainstorm next steps for the committee. The discussion included a summary of what we're already doing as well as what we could do on our own as well as to augment other efforts in the community. Want to get involved with the League's efforts? Contact committee chair Gwendolyn Saffo.

Janice holding sunflower
Blog Post

Dear Members,
It’s an exciting time to be a League member. The stature of the League shows itself at the national, state and local levels. One of my proudest moments, both personally and as League president, was speaking before the city commission on March 21, citing the breach of democracy and home rule when the state imposed the GRU Authority on our city. I stated “We have an opportunity to regain democratic processes and home rule in Gainesville. Let's do this...

Title Slide for Media Literacy presentation
News

At their April 9th meeting, the Oak Hammock Committee heard from April Hines, the UF College of Journalism and Communications librarian, who presented a program on Media Literacy: Evaluating and Finding Quality News. A recording is now available.

News

At our March 21st meeting the City Commission voted to move forward with putting the GRU Authority on the ballot for a full repeal this year. This came after a packed room of community members from the League of Women Voters, NAACP, the AFL-CIO, Labor Coalition and the Sierra Club came to the meeting asking for the voters to decide.

Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRU) Sign brown background with gold logo and brick base with gold letters
News

On March 21, 2024, I was privileged to represent the LWV of Alachua County at an important city commission meeting. A coalition of local leaders and organizations, including the League, the Alachua County Labor Coalition, Gainesville Residents United and unions worked together to pose an ask of the city commission. As the LWVAC president, I made the initial speech and asked the commissioners to create a referendum that would repeal Article VII, thus returning governance of GRU to local leadership.

Photo collage of 9 photos from the Spring Party
News

On Friday, March 22, LWVAC members gathered at Jon Reiskind’s home in Gainesville to celebrate the Spring Equinox and our 2023 accomplishments. While the weather thwarted plans for a holiday party last fall, the Spring Equinox party went off without a hitch.

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