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The Point, April 29, 2019: Fracking Ban Likely To Fail In Florida Legislature During Last Week Of 2019 Session

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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.

Contact WUFT News by calling 352-392-6397 or emailing news @wuft.org