The Gainesville Iguana

by Ashley Nguyen

The world’s leading experts — from the United Nations to the Lancet Medical Journal— have released studies stating that in order to avoid the worst  impacts of climate change, there needs to be a call for the world to limit greenhouse-gas intensive foods through shifts to healthier and more sustainable diets. 

These findings also come amidst growing climate protests led by young people across the country and the world demanding stronger action on climate change. 

It had all come together so well, the date, the speaker, the place. We were in the midst of planning the food when the Coronavirus invaded like little alien ships attacking the humans of Earth. So we had to postpone SpringBoard. And, as well, the CMC has had to postpone all events except the Free Groceries on Tuesdays.

Freedom from Cages is a Public Health Issue: Legal Experts, Healthcare Professionals, and Local Activists Urge Action to Immediately Decrease Alachua Jail Population In Order to Save Lives Amid COVID-19 Crisis.

We, the undersigned organizations and Commissioners, urge the State Attorney’s Office, the Eighth Judicial Circuit Judges, the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office, and law enforcement across Alachua County to significantly reduce the incarcerated population.

Byllye Avery [BA], feminist health activist, was interviewed by Deidre Houchen [H] in May, 2012.

This is the second part of this interview, and 58th in a series of transcript excerpts from the UF Samuel Proctor Oral History Program collection.

Transcript edited by Pierce Butler.

H: How long were you in Atlanta?

BA: About fifteen, sixteen years. It was wonderful. Moving to Atlanta was just incredible.

H: What year was that?

BA: 1981. When I moved to Atlanta, I knew I had to organize Black Women’s Health Project. 

by Carol Mosley

Earth Day, as we know it, was first celebrated in the U.S. in 1970 and brought millions across the globe out of classrooms and work places into the streets to bring environmental concerns to the forefront.

This year on April 22^nd Earth Day will turn 50 years old. We’ve come a long way over the decades in some areas, but have lost ground in others, such as species decline, and we have a long way yet to go.

by Joe Courter

Most people simply knew her as Granny, a tall skinny older woman who had lived on the streets of downtown Gainesville for many years. All of us were shocked, after not seeing her around for a few weeks, to learn she had been killed while on her bicycle on January 30. As it was a hit and run, and she had no family to notify, word did not get out until March 2 when the police ran her picture in the paper trying to track down the hit and run driver who had killed her.

by Dwight Bradley

Dr. Herschel Hugh Elliott passed away at his Gainesville homestead on Feb. 16. He came into the world a century ago, on Feb. 6, 1920, in Connecticut farmhouse. How he arrived turned out to be a predictor of how he lived: the old fashioned way, at home, during a blizzard, without doctor or midwife. Hertha Bogenhagen, his mother, came from a family of German immigrants who homesteaded in Nebraska. Richard Travis Elliott, his father, grew up under rough circumstances on the frontier in South Dakota. But this was an era of great mobility. By the time Herschel came along, his parents were living in a parsonage in Connecticut. Spolier alert: Herschel ended up an atheist.

by Jacob Adams

Gainesville’s music scene has changed immeasurably since the outbreak of COVID-19 led to local guidance, and eventually mandates, that shut down the bars, restaurants and venues where a large portion of shows take place. Even DIY house venues have stopped hosting shows out of an abundance of caution. 

Service industry jobs have evaporated as well, causing many of those who work in the service and entertainment sectors to lose their primary sources of income; the overlap among musicians and service workers is notable. 

by James Thompson

In response to the COVID-19 or “Coronavirus” pandemic, the Alachua County Board of County Commissioners has issued Emergency Order 2020-09 to “Stay at Home and Close all Non-Essential Businesses.” The orders include the towns and cities of Gainesville, Monteocha/LaCrosse, Hawthorne, Alachua, Archer, Waldo, Micanopy, High Springs, and Newberry, as well as the rural and unincorporated parts of the County. Grocery stores, gas stations, banks, auto and bicycle repair, hardware, medical facilities, and other essential services remain open, but with proximity protocols in place.

by Joe Courter

Setting about this task right now is surreal. We are all so off from our life rhythms. The town is so shut down, so a limited press run is in order. You subscribers, and those of you who have picked the Iguana up from wherever, I hope you are staying safe and unscathed from this outbreak of our tiny viral adversaries, facilitated by our fellow humans who assist them into our bodies either inadvertently or with careless disregard.

by Joe Courter

The recent city commission elections in the city came out as hoped with Arreola and Ward retaining seats and Saco joining the commission. As far as the presidential primary, Bernie lost to Biden, but he came in second with over 40 percent, and that was the highest percentage vote for Sanders in any county in the Florida. So it goes …

Looking ahead, the primaries for the November election are contested in August. They will be party-based closed primaries for most offices, and wide open primaries for nonpartisan offices such as school board and judges. It is really important to get the best candidates in to challenge the Repubs in the fall, and worthy of working to register people to vote, as well. 

by Anna Prizzia

The recent COVID 19 crisis has high­lighted that we have been relying on the most vulnerable – the nurse, the food service worker, the factory worker, the janitor, the teacher, the activist, the undocumented, the social worker, the farmer – to keep our economy moving. 

Even though these workers are showing that they are vital to our daily lives, they have often benefited the least, fighting for basic benefits and living wages. 

The April issue of the Iguana is now available, and you can access it here! If you want to get your hands on a hard copy, check out our distro locations here.