Local News
How could pro-Palestinian rallies impact Florida universities?
The protests and rallies sweeping across university campuses nationwide have left some members of the public concerned about how it may impact Florida students.
WPTV reporter Joel Lopez spoke with students at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton who said things were calm on campus.
“It’s OK to have your side, pick a side, maybe see both sides, but I think as long as everyone is safely protesting, that’s fine,” FAU freshman Cooper Ross said. “But when you get violent with it or somebody makes threats, that’s when it goes too far.”
Ross said he has previously seen protests break out at FAU but didn’t see any on Wednesday.
“I say keep it out of the university, honestly,” Ross said. “I say maybe you can rally somewhere near but not at the university or anywhere on the university grounds because that’s for school. It shouldn’t be for like protesting or any other political matters.”
WPTV contacted FAU officials and asked about protests on campus but did not hear back.
“What you worry about in situations like this is are there people who are not students who are coming onto campus, who are being agitators in the situation,” Richard Friedman, the chair of the Palm Beach County Center to Combat Antisemitism and Hatred, said.
He said the organization consults and advises universities like FAU.
“In the last couple of days, we’ve seen a much more volatile situation at Columbia and Harvard and other universities across the country,” Friedman said. “This is coordinated. It’s not random.”
One of his concerns is the upcoming graduation season.
“There’s going to be a big watch on the graduation speeches on whether or not they’re using graduation speech for political purposes,” Friedman said. “We all worry it’s going to escalate. We’re much more in a defensive mind.”
The tension is also felt among college hopefuls who are applying to colleges and universities.
“The students on all of these campuses have a right to protest,” college counselor Samia Ferraro said. “As long as they don’t infringe on the rights of any other students, and as long as other students don’t feel personally threatened.”
She’s an independent college counselor who works with students in Palm Beach and Martin counties.
“Part of our goal is that they’re safe on a campus,” Ferraro said. “We have been almost scrambling to figure out which places are safe, which administrators and universities are making sure that all students are heard but don’t feel threatened or don’t feel as though there’s a sense of violence around them.”
She said the recent climate on campuses has played a factor in guiding students applying to colleges and universities.
Other universities like the University of Florida confirmed some of their students protested on Wednesday.
The school released the following statement:
“The University of Florida will always protect speech and uphold the law. Peaceful protests are constitutionally protected. Camping, putting up structures, disrupting academic activity, or threatening others on university property is strictly prohibited. The University has clearly communicated this to our students and explained that they can exercise their free speech rights but breaking the law will result in an immediate trespassing order from UPD and an interim-suspension from Student Life.”
WPTV also received responses from Florida State University, the University of Central Florida and Palm Beach State College who said they did not see protests on their campuses on Wednesday.
By: Joel Lopez
Title: How could pro-Palestinian rallies impact Florida universities?
Sourced From: www.wptv.com/news/state/how-could-pro-palestinian-rallies-impact-florida-universities
Published Date: Thu, 25 Apr 2024 03:20:24 GMT
Local News
‘I have to miss her forever’: Victim’s friend grieves loss after couple killed in Wellington
WPTV is learning more about the Wellington husband and wife who detectives said were gunned down by their neighbor following a dispute over a basketball hoop.
NewsChannel 5 spoke to a close friend of the victims, Taylor and Tara Jones, about the life they built with their four children who are now without their mother and father.
Ashley Newby said the couple moved with their children to Florida from the West Coast in April 2022.
For Newby, it was an exciting reunion that she said was overdue.
“I think we both cried. We cried for like the whole phone call just making plans of them being able to where they were moving to how close it was going to be to us, where the kids were going to go to school, what sports they were going to play,” Newby said. “It just brought our whole life back together that we had missed for so long for her being so far away.”
The friendship between Newby and the Jones family runs deep.
She said she met Tara Jones in 2003 in Florida when they both worked at Ale House. Their decades-long friendship grew from there.
“Tara knew my husband and as soon as we met Taylor he was part of the family too, so it was the four of us a lot,” Newby said. “We did everything together before they moved away, so for them to come back and then meet our kids, because I have three boys, and they’re close to the same age.”
She described Tara Jones as a bright, nurturing soul and said she was there for her through the highs and lows of life.
That included her wedding day and most recently in January when Newby was grieving the loss of her aunt.
“She knew how important she was to me,” Newby said. “I just needed her hug and her comfort because that’s just the energy in the aura she gives off.”
Newby is now grieving the loss of both Taylor and Tara in what has been described as a senseless murder.
Newby said it all hasnt sunken in yet.
“Not at all. I actually texted her phone. I texted her phone and asked her to please just tell me this isnt real because it feels like a nightmare,” she said.
Now all she has left are memories and messages.
“I actually on a cellular level miss you guys,” Newby said reading through Tara’s past text message exchanges. “I said, ‘I miss you too,’ and that was it. I said, ‘Miss you too,’ and now I have to miss her forever.”
Newby said she has nothing but great things to tell the Jones’ four children.
“I would absolutely tell them that your parents lived their life. They lived for you and they loved life, and you have to keep that legacy going to because life is now too short.”
The suspect, Norman Scott, 63, is a licensed aircraft mechanic.
He’s facing charges of two counts of first-degree murder with a firearm and is being held without bond.
The WPTV investigative team found that he had no criminal history before Saturday’s shooting.
By: Chris Gilmore
Title: ‘I have to miss her forever’: Victim’s friend grieves loss after couple killed in Wellington
Sourced From: www.wptv.com/news/region-c-palm-beach-county/wellington/i-have-to-miss-her-forever-victims-friend-grieves-loss-after-couple-killed-in-wellington
Published Date: Tue, 07 May 2024 21:49:42 GMT
Local News
Florida Atlantic University study: Florida rental increase are slowly according to March data
After years of astronomical rent growth, Florida rents are finally settling down compared to the national average, according to researchers at Florida Atlantic University and two other schools.
“I would say 80% of my check goes directly towards the rent,” Laura Guilmain told WPTV.
That’s an unfortunate reality that Guilmain shares with many renters in South Florida.
“You’re always in the negative, if you have credit cards, you’re borrowing against your credit cards to make each month’s meets, you know,” Guilmain said.
According to a new study by FAU, there is some good news on the horizon. Rental increases in Florida are finally starting to settle down, compared to the national average.
End of March data shows a national rent increase of 3.5% but only a 2.7% increase in South Florida.
“It looks like rents are probably going to be under control in terms of, we’re not going to see dramatic rent increases for a while,” Dr. Ken Johnson, FAU real estate expert, said. “As long as we keep up the production of the number of units that we’ve been doing,”
However, Johnson said South Florida’s incomes still have not caught up with the current average rental prices. According to the study, in South Florida, “a household needs to make at least $109,925 to avoid paying more than 30% of their income toward rent.”
“Miami, Miami metro, this tri-county, is still in the most unaffordable areas in terms of rent to live in the country. That’s a big number,” Johnson said.
On top of that, with home prices as high as they are in South Florida, many renters feel buying is still far out of reach.
“We’re in debt trying to purchase. So, you’re not getting approved to purchase. So, you’re stuck in the renters circle,” Guilmain said.
By: Jessica Bruno
Title: Florida Atlantic University study: Florida rental increase are slowly according to March data
Sourced From: www.wptv.com/money/real-estate-news/florida-atlantic-university-study-florida-rental-increase-are-slowly-according-to-march-data
Published Date: Tue, 07 May 2024 21:32:36 GMT
Did you miss our previous article…
https://www.news4palmbeach.com/local-news/new-elementary-school-breaks-ground-in-booming-western-palm-beach-county/
A new elementary school is coming to western Palm Beach County and sooner than expected.
The School District of Palm Beach County broke ground Tuesday on what is known as the “Western Acreage Area School” at least until it gets an official name. The school is located just off Southern Boulevard, west of Seminole Pratt Whitney Road and the Arden community.
The school will become the 183rd in The School District of Palm Beach County.
“Let’s say it, everybody ‘We did it’, ‘We did it,'” cheered School Board Member Marcia Andrews, who represents the area.
This was a moment a long time in the making for the Loxahatchee area.
Superintendent Mike Burke said the taxpayer-funded half-penny sales tax helped make it happen.
And with so much construction in the area, the school board wanted the dirt moving sooner rather than later.
“They saw the need to accelerate this project in our budget by two years because 1,700 homes are now occupied in the Arden community and so the students are attending Binks Forest (Elementary) primarily, and they need their own school,” Burke said.
This is the first of three new schools coming to the western part of the county over the next five years.
“Following that (Western Acreage Area School) we’ll be building an elementary school in the Westlake area, and in a few years it will be time for a high school in this part of the community,” Burke said. “We have the resources and that’s really thanks to the taxpayers who’ve supported us with a penny sales tax and our referendums so that’s critically important and gives us the funds we need to make these projects happen.”
Sheree Smith lives in Arden and has two kids who currently attend Binks Forest Elementary. She’s excited about the new school coming to their neighborhood.
“We’ve been really impressed with Binks so far and now we’re really excited in a little over a year we’ll be able to experience new technology, new teachers, fresh location and it’s right in our backyard,” Smith said.
She made sure her kids were here to witness history in their community, as they shoveled the dirt during the groundbreaking.
“For them to be here and watch the groundbreaking for a school they get to attend, I think it’s just invaluable,” Smith said.
Liz Botts also lives in the Arden community. While her kids are too old to attend the new school, she’s excited to see it be a part of her growing community.
“It’s booming, I think a lot of people have found the western part of Palm Beach County is just the hot place to be,” Botts said. “Overall, I just think it’s going to be really great for the community and especially for the kids.”
She said she enjoys the lifestyle in this part of the county.
“I moved out west because I wanted to get away from all the traffic, so I do notice an increase in the traffic,” Botts said. “It’s not horrible yet but it is getting busier. It is what it is and its good to see new families, I think it’s a positive thing overall.”
The school will be three stories and fit about 970 kids. The design will mimic the modern farmhouse feel of the Arden community with features to match like a hydroponic garden and agricultural laboratory. The school will have the latest security and technology and be built on about 15 acres, which is larger than most elementary school sites.
While the construction gets going there are many more phases to come, like selecting the boundaries for the school, the principal, the school name, colors, a mascot and more. All of that will be developing in the next year and a half before the school opens in August 2025.
By: Stephanie Susskind
Title: New elementary school breaks ground in ‘booming’ western Palm Beach County
Sourced From: www.wptv.com/news/education/new-elementary-school-breaks-ground-in-booming-western-palm-beach-county
Published Date: Tue, 07 May 2024 22:45:32 GMT
Did you miss our previous article…
https://www.news4palmbeach.com/local-news/florida-atlantic-university-study-florida-rental-increases-are-slowing-according-to-march-data/
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