Monday, June 13, 2022

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www.alligator.org

We Inform. You Decide.

VOLUME 116 ISSUE 37

MONDAY, JUNE 13, 2022

Not officially associated with the University of Florida

Published by Campus Communications, Inc. of Gainesville, Florida

Gainesville residents join national March for Our Lives protest

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

Taking Charge: Kelly Rae Finley brings Florida women’s hoops back to glory

ABOUT 300 PEOPLE RALLIED IN RESPONSE TO THE MASS SHOOTING IN UVALDE, TEXAS

THE FLORIDA WOMEN’S BASKETBALL HEAD COACH MENDED A POSTNEWBAUER ENVIRONMENT

By Namari Lock

By Brenda Bogle

Alligator Staff Writer

Jackson O’Neill turned 13 a month before the Parkland shooting. Instead of an assembly to attempt to address the tragedy that took place four hours south at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School his school conducted an unannounced fire drill. Everyone was in a panic, he said. None of his classmates left the room. “All of us were paralyzed by the fear that it might be our last day alive,” O’Neill said. They knew, just 24 hours earlier, how the Parkland shooter lured students into the hallway with a fire alarm. The threat of a school shooting became tangible for him that day. Four years later, that reality persists. About 300 people marched from Bo Diddley Plaza to Depot Park Saturday for the March for Our Lives protest in response to the May 24 Robb Elementary School mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas. The march, advocating against nationwide gun violence, followed last weekend’s We Wear Orange campaign and a southwest Archer shooting that killed a 16-year-old girl Tuesday. “Protect our kids, not guns” could be heard filtering down South Main Street as attendees raised their signs high. Rachel Wolfrey, a 21-year-old UF political science senior, arranged Gainesville’s March for Our Lives event with her organization Florida Forward. Gainesville’s tight-knit community of progressive organizations made it easy to find people who wanted to get involved in the rally, Wolfrey said. “Hopefully it was informational, but also impactful because it's the only way that we're going to be able to continue to make change,” Wolfrey said. O’Neill, a Gainesville High School senior, attempted to conduct his own march before he heard about the March for Our Lives’ event. When organizers like Wolfrey heard about his permit request, they invited him to help plan the march routes and speak at the rally.

SEE PROTEST, PAGE 7

SPORTS/SPECIAL/CUTOUT Two former Gators vie for NBA title

Story description finish with comma, Either Al Horford or Chris Chiozza will pg# be the latest Florida alum to win an NBA. Read more on page 11.

Sports Writer

Redshirt sophomore Joseph Fahnbulleh at the ​​SEC Indoor Track and Field Championships Feb. 27, 2021. He led the Gators men’s track and field team to a 2022 NCAA Outdoor National Championship Friday, taking home the 100-meter and 200-meter titles for himself. Alex de la Osa // UAA Communications

Driver who killed UF student in hitand-run sentenced to 6 years in prison Alligator Staff Writer

The driver charged for the hit-and-run that killed UF student Margaret “Maggie” Paxton will serve six years in prison, a judge ruled Friday. Joshua Figueroa, a 32-year-old Gainesville resident, must also pay a restitution of $3,428.95 to the Paxton family, serve 15 years of felony probation and complete 120 hours of community service in a trauma center or hospital, Judge Phillip Pena ruled. He will lose his driver's license for 10 years and complete a victim impact panel or a driver’s improvement course after his sentence. No sentence would equal what happened to Paxton, Pena said. Paxton’s death was one of three student pedestrian deaths along University Avenue in the last three years. Sophia Lambert, a UF freshman, was hit and killed one month later. Denise Griffiths, another UF student, was hit while walking in a crosswalk in January 2020. She died in

“Your heart aches a little bit when you care so much about each other,”

- Coach Kelly Rae Finley

Figueroa was driving on West University Avenue Dec. 9, 2020, when he struck Paxton, who was crossing the intersection of West University Avenue and Gale Lemerand Drive. He left the scene without giving

Finley’s first time leading the team through a tumultuous season was driven by the care and joy she infused in her team. Using her experiences as a college player to relate to and guide her players through adversity, Finley orchestrated a historic season for the Gators that culminated in their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2016. Finley knew first-hand how devastating an injury like Smith’s can be to a college player. As a freshman at Northwestern, she was relegated to a sideline spectator after breaking her right leg during the 2004-2005 season. She took the challenge and adapted. “I learned how to be a great teammate,” she said. ”And I think that's probably where I learned that hard doesn't necessarily mean bad.” Finley took over the program in July following the toxic environment and abuse players said they endured under former head coach Cam Newbauer's leadership. Along with the scrutiny and media attention that came with Newbauer’s exit and reputation, Florida lost its first two games of conference play to Georgia and Ole Miss. The Gators also lost an essential offensive weapon when junior Lavender Briggs, already injured for the rest of the season, entered the transfer portal and

SEE PAXTON, PAGE 6

SEE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL, PAGE 11

Joshua Figueroa must pay more than $3000 restitution to Margaret “Maggie” Paxton’s family By Jackson Reyes

Tears rolled down head coach Kelly Rae Finley’s face. She sat in front of a microphone minutes after Florida women’s basketball’s comeback win over Vanderbilt March 3 in the Southeastern Conference Tournament, but her team lost graduate student Kiara Smith for the rest of the season after a knee injury late in the fourth quarter.

the hospital days later. The series of deaths evoked community outrage over a need for better safety for pedestrians. “Florida Not One More,” a student group advocating to make University Avenue and other roads in Gainesville safer, was founded January 2021, and The Alligator published Crossing Gainesville, a project analyzing the impact of crashes, programs and enforcement, April 2021. Figueroa’s sentence would help bring some resolution to the family, said Darry Lloyd, the chief investigator for the State Attorney’s office, but it will be a challenging time.

“Nothing that happened today is going to bring Maggie back,”

- Darry Lloyd, chief investigator

Gainesville parlor offers free genderless haircuts Sunday

Goldenrod Parlor held the Sunday event in honor of the sixth anniversary of the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, pg. 4

FOLLOW US ONLINE FOR UPDATES

GAU still unhappy with latest UF wage proposal

If the university and Graduate Assistants United don’t reach an agreement by June 28, they reach an impasse, pg. 5

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