The Point

The Point, Jan. 24, 2019: Five Shot Dead In Florida Bank

WUFT | By Amy Nelson

Published January 24, 2019 at 12:36 PM EST

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The top stories near you

• Alachua County will no longer use labor from Florida state prison inmates, and the county commissioners are seeking ways to reform the use of the practice. (WUFT News)

• This morning'srain may carry into the day and will bring colder weather to most of the state. (Florida Storms)

• Yesterday, protests in Venezuela against the country's president ended with the opposition party's leader, Juan Guaido, declaring himself interim president. The U.S. backed Guaido, and three of Florida's leaders released statements on the issue. Meanwhile, Gainesville's Venezuelan community rallied at Bo Diddley Plaza to show support for Guaido. (NPR, WUFT News, The Alligator)

• “If I can’t win, I’m not going to do it.” John Kasich told an audience of about 800 students at the University of Florida yesterday that he is not running for president again. (The Alligator)

• The Peaceful Paths Domestic Abuse Network is expecting to lose between $60,000 and $90,000 a month during the government shutdown. (Gainesville Sun)

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Around the state today

• Five people were killed yesterday in a shooting in a Sebring bank, making it Florida's seventh mass shooting in less than three years. (Highland News-Sun, Florida Today)

• “We will not get rid of red tide.” Florida Politics reports that Florida paid more than $17.3 million in emergency funding in 2018 to deal with red tide and the blue-green algae. Florida Gulf Coast University requested more than $9 million for research, but, for now, state agencies recommendlimiting nutrient pollution to help prevent toxic algae blooms. (Orlando Weekly, TCPalm)

• The federal government shutdown is taking a toll on people across the state. Volunteers at the Treasure Coast Food Bank are packing meals for furloughed employees in the area. A Transportation Security Administration employee in South Florida is questioning whether she will be able to keep her home. And a local effort in New Smyrna Beach is attempting to keep local Coast Guard and TSA agents on their feet. (TCPalm, WLRN, Daytona Beach News-Journal)

• A 31-year-old from Miami plans to walk the Miami Marathon with 30 pounds of trash on his back to bring awareness to the amount of trash in mangroves and other natural spaces. (Miami Herald)

• If you plan to attend Gasparilla in Tampa this weekend, this is how you can recycle beads so they don't end up in the trash or in the bay. (Tampa Bay Times)

• “It’s the equivalent of a jumbo jet full of people dying every single month." You may want to use caution when walking, as Florida was just named the most unsafe state in the country for pedestrians. (Miami Herald)

• Hurricane Michael brought the end to a cruise liner named El Dorado, but it's now beingrepurposed as an artificial reef in the Gulf. (NWF Daily News)

• For an irreverent and slightly profane but important history lesson about Marjory Stoneman Douglas' instrumental role in protecting the Everglades and how the students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas Highschool are carrying on her legacy, check out this week's episode of Drunk History by Comedy Central. (Orlando Weekly)