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The top stories near you
• The City of Newberry has installed a memorial honoring the "Newberry Six" lynchings that took place 113 years ago. (WCJB)
• One of our reporters caught up with the mental health clinician and Gainesville police officer who comprise the city's first co-responder program, begun about a year ago. Their goal? To help people with mental illness avoid this: “They get out, and they’re not receiving treatment in jail, and then they’re coming out, committing the same crimes and then going back into jail.” (WUFT News)
• Gainesville Regional Utilities ratepayers could see slightly higher bills in the coming months thanks to a fuel adjustment charge increase. (Gainesville Sun)
• Ballots in Spanish will be available in Alachua County for next year's elections. (WUFT News)
• John Watzke, 62, has helped Ocala's drive-in theater survive during the past 16 years, a period when a quarter of the nation's remaining drive-ins were forced to close. Here's how he has done it. (WUFT News)
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Around the state today
• This is the final week of Florida's legislative session, and Florida Politics has a helpful list of the dozen-plus issues still to be addressed.
• The opening of the 2019 Atlantic hurricane season is about a month away, but there's a key change coming to the National Hurricane Center's forecasts this year with the addition of two extra days. (Palm Beach Post)
• A statewide ban on fracking — a controversial process of drilling for oil and natural gas — does not appear likely to pass this session. (News Service of Florida)
• There's a strange and disturbing trend in Sarasota County schools with more teachers apparently being injured by students. (Sarasota Herald-Tribune)
• Port Canaveral is spending $74 million on a new cruise terminal, which is actually slightly less than the original projected cost. In other construction-by-the-water news, the St. Pete Pier project went from a $50 million to an $87 million budget. (Florida Today, Tampa Bay Times)
• Thanks to Hurricane Michael's damage, archaeologists in Franklin County are actually uncovering portions of "Negro Fort," which was known as "a haven for escaped slaves." (Tallahassee Democrat)
• Click through to watch some very large cats enjoy a small waterfall and pool at Catty Shack Ranch in Jacksonville. (Florida Times-Union)
• The legislature appears ready to give the governor a slight upgrade for his plane to travel the state. (Miami Herald)
News from NPR
• National: 1 Dead In San Diego Synagogue Shooting
• National: Perspective From Pittsburgh After Another Synagogue Attack
• National: Judge Damon J. Keith, Judicial Giant And Civil Rights Icon, Dies At 96
• National: Richard Lugar, Longtime Indiana Senator And Foreign Policy Leader, Dies At 87
• Health: Measles Shots Aren't Just For Kids: Many Adults Could Use A Booster Too
• Books: Melinda Gates On Marriage, Parenting, And Why She Made Bill Drive The Kids To School
• Business: The Record-Breaking Box Office Of 'Avengers: Endgame,' By The (Huge) Numbers
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.