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The top stories near you
• With just about 500 reported dog bites last year in Alachua County, a Gainesville city commissioner admits, "We have to change what we’re doing because it doesn’t work." County commissioners tomorrow night are discussing an ordinance regarding irresponsible pet owners. (WUFT News)
• Factions are beginning to form in the debate over a Suncoast Parkway extension, with some people in rural areas unsure of its benefits and road builders ready to get to work. (GateHouse/Gainesville Sun)
• Beware the April prediction of a below-average hurricane season. As the National Hurricane Center director says, "Because even if you have one hurricane, if it hits your area, it was a busy season... It shouldn’t change your preparedness whatsoever." (Florida Storms)
• The old Williston high school's days are numbered, so several hundred toured it one last time this weekend. (WCJB)
• Corrine Brown, who once represented the Gainesville area in Congress, is still awaiting word from an appeals court in Atlanta to overturn (or not) her conviction and prison sentence, and her attorneys made a recent filing that cites an opinion from U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. (News Service of Florida)
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Around the state today
• The Fort Myers News-Press worked to obtain emails from those involved in trying to understand and solve last summer's algae crises in South Florida.
• Here's the latest on the fight over reproductive rights in Florida. (Florida Phoenix)
• Virgin Trains USA wants to build a rail line between West Palm Beach and Orlando destinations like Disney World and the city's international airport. (WMFE)
• Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried is working to have the legislature fund more Hurricane Michael relief. Hospitals in Michael's destruction path, meanwhile, could see another hard hit if the legislature reduces Medicaid reimbursement rates. (News Service of Florida, Tallahassee Democrat)
• An endangered blue-eyed black lemur was born late last month at the Jacksonville zoo. (Florida Times-Union)
• Florida could potentially have more Wawa stores than New Jersey or Pennsylvania in about two years. (Orlando Weekly)
• “Yeah, in Miami, those pumps, and those raised roads, that’s like their big move... But it’s just kind of cosmetic.” A reporter from the website Popula visited Miami to report on the unwanted water already there and that which is still to come.
News from NPR
• Politics: Behind The Departure Of Homeland Security Secretary Nielsen
• World: As Violence Escalates In Libya, U.S. Pulls Troops Out
• National: 14-Year Oil Spill In The Gulf Of Mexico Could Go On For Decades
• National: Baylor Beats Notre Dame To Win NCAA Women's Basketball Championship
• Education: How Students May Be Cheating Their Way Through College
• Health: Hospital Closure Hurts A Town's Ability To Attract Retirees
• Science: Big Cities, Bright Lights And Up To 1 Billion Bird Collisions
• Science: Japan (Very Carefully) Drops Plastic Explosives Onto An Asteroid
• Books: In 'Working,' Writer Robert Caro Explains His Process — And What Drives Him
About today's curator
I'm Ethan Magoc, a news editor at WUFT. Originally from Pennsylvania, I've found a home telling Florida stories. I’m part of a team searching each morning for local and state stories that are important to you; please send feedback about today's edition or ideas for stories we may have missed to emagoc@wuft.org.