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Downtown Hawthorne receives grant for rain gardens Alex Carter GAINESVILLE, Fla. (WCJB) - Downtown Hawthorne is about to get a makeover. The city recently received a $500,000 grant from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection that allows them to put in rain gardens downtown. Mayor Matt Surrency says this project has been in the works for a long time, and that, “It really does good for the environment and the city at the same time instead of just sending the runoff out to the lake and draining it out in the wetlands. We’re actually using it to beautify the city and to treat it before it goes down into the stormwater system.” ....
Using video conferencing technology that’s become all too familiar for many Alachua County residents, Rep. Kat Cammack, R-Gainesville, on Wednesday discussed with about a dozen county and municipality leaders plans to expand high-speed broadband services to the county’s rural areas. “My hope is that we have this conversation on a regular basis as we work to increase broadband throughout the county,” she said at the virtual roundtable. A lack of internet access, especially in rural parts of the county in Hawthorne, High Springs, Newberry, Waldo and unincorporated areas, impacts at least 36,000 residents, according to data from the Federal Communications Commission. ....