The Gainesville Iguana

Veterans for Peace will display more than 6,959 tombstones on 8th Avenue just east of 31st Street from dawn on Saturday, May 25 through dusk on Memorial Day, May 27. The display is part of their Memorial Day Weekend event to remember soldiers who have died in the wars in Afghanistan since 2001 and in Iraq since 2003.

The tombstones will line the street where the Solar System Walk is located. This is the eleventh year VFP has set up the display. In 2008 they crossed over to the north side of 8th Avenue due to the continuing number of deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan.

A new anti-immigrant bill is making its way through the Florida legislature and aims to outlaw sanctuary cities in this state. While there are no sanctuary cities in Florida, SB 168 sends a harmful message to immigrants.

Immigrants are not a threat to this country’s safety or economy. That divisive rhetoric is spin pushed by the president. SB 168 goes against every fundamental American value. It would create lasting damage to businesses and industries in this state and make law enforcement more difficult and demanding.

Friday, April 19 marked a milestone in the life of Dr. Zoharah Simmons, as she was honored with a retirement party at the Keene Faculty Center, co-hosted by African American Studies, Center for Women and Gender Studies, and the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program.  

That list alone shows how involved she was at UF, but it doesn’t scratch the surface of her life experience as a Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee volunteer in the 1960s, her activities in the broader civil rights and peace movements in the 70’s, and later with the American Friends Service Committee and academia. 

by Olysha Magruder and Tyler Foerst

Porters Quarters is a small but historic community in the center of the Downtown Gainesville area. The residents of Porters are working class people, many of whom are African American and whose families have lived here for generations. Indeed, one neighbor, Olivia said, that the house and land she and her husband own in Porters is their legacy.

Porters has felt the pressure of UF’s ever-expanding campus and the cry for urban density, especially in the past couple of years. The need for student housing and office space is huge for such a large university and the Innovation District of our City. 

Satchel’s Pizza, and the adjoining Lightning Salvage, have a special place in Gainesville, After rebuilding from a big fire a couple years ago, they have come roaring back better than ever.  

The gift shop, kinda barren when they first reopened, is again chock full of the weird novelty items you never see anywhere else. They are pioneering early evening music, with live music running from 6 to 9 most nights. They treat their employees well, too, setting a high standard for other Gainesville businesses.

They are cash-only, which means their ATM gets a workout, and Satchel donates that fee to one or another nonprofit organizations every month. May’s organization is the Civic Media Center, so go get some money out of that machine, get yourself a calzone or pizza, maybe a big salad, and enjoy. 

By Fred Sowder, WGOT Station Coordinator

It’s been a busy couple of months at your community radio station. WGOT recently had a blast at our most recent benefit concert at Loosey’s Downtown. Thanks to Ricky Kendall, Dolce Kings, VOWLS, Leaning Trees, and members of Captive Eddies for loaning their time and talents to our cause; Danny Hughes for offering up his venue; and to everyone who attended. You put community in community radio every day and are the reason we do what we do. We also express gratitude to all who made our first year in “The Amazing Give” a successful one.

We’ve also moved forward on a leap of faith and have begun streaming worldwide. Visit wgot.org for details or, if you have the TuneIn app on your mobile device, search for WGOT. We’re still ironing out technical details, but for the most part, you can now take us with you to hear our great variety of local and national music and talk programs no matter where you are. We’re still short about $1,000 of our streaming GoFundMe campaign goal, so please consider donating to help put us over the top. We’ve also applied for local grants so we can continue to stream while hoping to hear good news from those efforts. 

by Jeffrey Solius, WellFlorida Council

The High Impact Prevention (HIP) project by WellFlorida Council aims to decrease the spread of HIV and link HIV-infected individuals to prevention and care services in Alachua, Bradford, Columbia, Lake, Marion and Putnam counties. The program is currently offering free HIV testing, condoms and educational materials at local events and participating businesses. 

Everyone’s Doing It promotes condom use and HIV testing throughout the six counties. Testing is confidential, and teens do not need parental consent to be tested for HIV. Locate HIV testing sites and events at EveryoneStopAIDSNow.org. WellFlorida provides free HIV testing Monday through Friday by appointment only. WellFlorida is located at 1785 NW 80^th Blvd., Gainesville. Call 352-313-6500 ext. 134 for more information.

If you are ready to quit, join our next Tools to Quit Tobacco group on Tuesday, May 7 from 5:30 to 7:30 pm at Newberry Branch Library or Thursday, May 9 from 6 to 8 pm at The Cancer Center of North Florida Regional Medical Center. 

This free one time, two-hour group will give you tips on how to deal with triggers, withdrawal symptoms and prevent relapse. You will also receive up to four weeks of free nicotine patches, gum or lozenges. 

This group more than doubles your chance of quitting for good. Pre-registration is required. Call 866-341-2730 to reserve your spot.

The 2019 Fight Toxic Prisons Convergence is taking place June 14-17 in Gainesville and will include speakers, panels, workshops, protests and cultural activities exploring the intersections of anti-prison and environmental struggles. 

The Convergence is always free, they just ask for a sliding scale donation ($25 – $50) to help cover costs, primarily to provide assistance with transportation, food and housing to make the event broadly accessible to people hit hardest by repression, criminalization and toxicity. 

For more information, check out fighttoxicprisons.org and https://gainesvilleiguana.org/2019/articles/fight-toxic-prisons-convergence-coming-to-gainesville-in-june/.