The stimulus package approved by Congress this week will result in much more than $1,400 checks for many Americans.
Millions of dollars in federal aid is also coming to Alachua County and its cities as part of the stimulus package, which will help governments balance budgets and citizens who have suffered through the coronavirus pandemic.
The $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill includes $350 billion in relief to states, localities, tribes, and territories.
Here is the local breakdown:
Alachua County government: $52.2 million
Gainesville: $33.9 million
City of Newberry: $2.62 million
City of High Springs: $2.6 million
City of Hawthorne: $640,000
City of Archer: $500,000
City of Waldo: $420,000
Town of Micanopy: $270,000
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Above: Listen to a version of this story by Jessica Seldner that aired on WUFT-FM.
Some six thousand miles separate the cities of Gainesville, Florida, and Duhok, Kurdistan, Iraq, but the two are ready to reignite a long-distance friendship.
The two cities are participants in a program called Sister Cities International and on Monday morning signed a renewed sister city agreement.
Gainesville Mayor Lauren Poe and Ali Tatar, the governor of Duhok, signed an agreement that establishes mutual friendship and collaboration between the public and private sectors in both cities.
Gainesville and Duhok have been linked since 2006, when previous mayors Pegeen Hanrahan and Tamar Fattah established the sister city partnership.
The Gainesville Sun Editorial Board
People who have been incarcerated face challenges to reentering society. Having a criminal record can be a barrier to employment, housing and general acceptance. Difficulties in getting a job and having stability only make recidivism more likely.
“What ends up happening is that every sentence becomes a life sentence,” said Lindsay Kallman, executive director of the Gainesville nonprofit Community Spring.
Community Spring hires people who are experiencing poverty as “fellows” who develop ways to address factors contributing to poverty in their communities. Its 2020-2021 class of fellows has focused on helping former prisoners after their release.
The city of Gainesville has hired a consulting firm to review its zoning rules and come up with ways city officials can create more affordable housing and help balance racial inequalities.
But a growing number of residents are concerned the review could lead to the ruin of single-family neighborhoods by allowing multifamily student rental housing and all of the problems that go with it to creep into established neighborhoods.
It’s a controversy revived after being debated a couple of years ago.
In November 2018, residents packed City Hall to protest a plan called “GNV Rise” that would have allowed multifamily developments into existing neighborhoods, some of which would be “affordable” rental units.