As 2025 comes to an end, members of the Mainstreet Daily News editorial staff have rounded up what they feel are some of the outlet’s top feature stories of the year. The articles range from a guilty plea in a $7 million fraud case and a centennial anniversary to the renovation of two historic buildings for new purposes. 

Without further ado, here are Mainstreet’s top feature stories of the year. 

Gainesville police sting results in guilty verdict for $7 million fraud case 

Brian Oliver, an 84-year-old Gainesville resident, found himself in the middle of a fraud scheme costing him around $200,000 in gold coins. A Gainesville Police Department sting operation ended with the arrest of a courier accused of more than $7 million of fraud. The case showed the prevalence of fraud, even in Gainesville. According to the FBI, there was a 46% increase in fraud complaints from 2023 to 2024, along with a 43% increase in losses from those complaints. 

New owners restoring 135-year-old McCreary House into bed and breakfast 

Built in 1890, the McCreary House (815 E. University Ave.) was purchased for $1 before being hoisted onto a truck in 1975 and rolled several blocks east of downtown Gainesville. The plan was to renovate and reopen the historic home. But documents show the costs exceeded expectations, and after some initial work, the building remained unfinished and unused for the past 50 years. In August, fiancés Steven Lara and Jianne purchased the 135-year-old house with the goal of opening it as a four-unit bed and breakfast. 

The Frazer School launches second year with 50% growth 

After nearly three decades teaching at Buchholz High School, Will Frazer made the difficult decision to leave his job last year and partner with James Schrader, founder and principal of Gainesville Christian Community School (GCCS), to become the founder and director of a new private school that would bear his name: The Frazer School. The third- through 12th-grade school for competitive academics opened in the fall of 2024 with just over 300 students enrolled. Almost a year later, the school had already outgrown its first building and was expecting to host around 450 students when it began its second year in August.  

UF to celebrate centennial birthday of Andrew Anderson Memorial Pipe Organ 

This year marked the 100th anniversary of UF’s pipe organ located in University Auditorium, with celebratory events and concerts scattered throughout the year. Philanthropist Andrew Anderson donated $50,000 to build the organ, which opened to the public in 1925. The school’s first university organist, Claude Murphree, performed a concert on the organ for the first-ever radio broadcast in Gainesville. 

Anew celebrates 13 years fighting sex trafficking and helping survivors heal 

Formerly known as Created Gainesville, Anew has provided over 4,000 women recovering from sex trafficking and exploitation with residential survivor care, and outreach and prevention programs to the community since its founding 13 years ago. Founder Alison Ungaro said the organization is necessary in North Central Florida, with easy access to I-75 and around 500 to 800 sex ads published online every 24 hours between Gainesville and Ocala. Ungaro said 100% of Anew’s graduates have not returned to the dangers they previously endured in trafficking.   

118-year-old church turned museum keeps Hawthorne’s history 

For a long time, Hawthorne’s New Hope Methodist Episcopal Church met in a small, steepled building. Built in 1907, it was the first church building the congregation constructed, but the members had met since 1870 in a cabin, founding Hawthorne’s first African American church. Pastor Gene Herring said the cabin is long gone, but the wooden church building still stands and now serves the purpose of keeping Hawthorne’s history alive as a historical museum and cultural center. 

Gainesville para track athlete to compete at 2025 outdoor championships 

Sayers Grooms, a 20-year-old Gainesville native, represented Team USA at the U.S. Track and Field Outdoor & Para National Championships in frame running, a sport she’s helped make an Olympic sport. Grooms was diagnosed with ataxic cerebral palsy, limiting her balance, coordination and speed. Determined to run, Grooms abandoned her walker on the first day of elementary school and never looked back. Grooms is now one of the most decorated frame runner athletes in the sport’s history. 

Junior newspaper carriers gain life skills one delivery at a time 

The Gainesville Housing Authority’s (GHA) Junior Newspaper program launched this spring, giving young residents an opportunity to deliver Mainstreet Daily News newspapers to GHA doorsteps. According to staff from the organization, giving the volunteers a way to serve their community with the deliveries has helped them gain connection and a sense of purpose and responsibility with their neighbors, who, in turn, staff said have become more informed through the news roundup and engaged with one another. The deliverers are also improving literacy skills as they practice reading the stories in the paper. 

Gainesville issues demolition permit for home, owner disagrees with process 

Cindy Bevilacqua thought she’d found the perfect retirement plan – a small, pie-shaped parcel in southeast Gainesville and a nearly-demolished home to renovate. After two years and $60,000 to $70,000 in sunk costs, Bevilacqua was left with a parcel that the city of Gainesville wanted to remain vacant and an unrenovated home with a demolition order hanging over it.  

Beyond Florida combines rural history with (ir)responsible development 

Recently returned from Guatemala, Sam Johnson was between jobs and needed to satisfy his creative itch. As he traveled into rural North Florida to help with his wife’s work, Johnson kept finding historic gems, like the old opera house in Waldo and abandoned shops across from county courthouses. Always a history buff, Johnson decided to document these sites. He decided to focus his documentation on both rural history and responsible development – especially aimed at environmental impacts – and launched “Beyond Florida” on social media.  

Lincoln High School alumni celebrate completion of memorial wall 

In March, dozens of Lincoln High School alumni, former faculty and staff, and Alachua County school board and community members put on their Lincoln reds and whites and gathered at the entrance of Lincoln Middle School – the site of the former LHS – to celebrate the LHS Memorial Wall’s final installment. The LHS Alumni Association’s Memorial Wall project was spearheaded by Albert White, a 1962 graduate, and had been 15 years in the making.  

Gainesville’s Pryor enters US Chess presidency through personality, training 

Mainstreet’s Associate Editor Seth Johnson interviewed Kevin Pryor, who balances being a “chess doer” and player as he serves as president of the U.S. Chess Federation, leads a weekly chess club at Perkins in Gainesville and keeps up his own rating with competitive games. 

“The Other Book” series to explore Black history in Alachua County 

In January, a lecture series called “The Other Book: Black History in Alachua County” kicked off with its first of four lectures focused on the transatlantic passage enslaved Africans experienced on their way to America. The series was hosted over the course of four months at four venues, with a different theme set to match the venue.  

Aging Matters: Making Gainesville more accessible 

This piece, reported by correspondent Ronnie Lovler with her Aging Matters series, covered an exclusive event with the Alachua Conservation Trust (ACT) and the Florida Trail Association (FTA) to show just how accessible our trails can be for visitors with mobility issues. The event showcased various all-terrain wheelchairs available from the organizations, such as the EcoRover and Joëlette.