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The top stories near you
• Spend time with Haddie Peebles, a young teacher at Ocala's Oakcrest Elementary School, which is in danger of state-mandated closure or conversion into a charter school after consecutive years of poor performance. Peebles is among 90 or so teachers and staff who worked tirelessly this year to prevent that from happening. (WUFT News)
• If you rent out a property through Airbnb or similar online sites, the Alachua County Tax Collector's Office wants you to know there's local tax owed on that income. (Gainesville Sun)
• People living in Newberry will pay an estimated extra 50 cents per month on their utility bills to help cover solar power the city is planning to purchase. (WUFT News)
• Marion County commissioners have added a line to their comprehensive plan to help guard against the state unanimously deciding where a new toll road would go through its borders. (Ocala Star-Banner)
• U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio is going to join his former colleague Bill Nelson at a forum about bipartisanship at the University of Florida on July 2. (Gainesville Sun)
• Noted: Eight of the 19 counties in Florida still using corporal punishment in schools (as of 2017-18) are in our region. (Florida Phoenix)
• Splinter describes Santa Fe College as a "hotbed of organizing" for adjunct professors who want more pay for the courses they teach.
• Fans of either one-person plays or Louis Armstrong won't want to miss this one at Actors' Warehouse. (Gainesville Downtown)
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Around the state today
• A U.S. representative from South Florida is worried about the worst happening to the Homestead facility where migrant children are housed: A major hurricane hits. For that reason, Debbie Mucarsel-Powell wants a copy of the emergency plan that would keep them safe. (Miami Herald)
• The University of Central Florida's and UF's misspending scandals got more attention over the past year, but funds at Florida A&M University were also misspent, an audit found. (Tallahassee Democrat)
• The reactions vary wildly in Tampa over the governor signing a law that lifts restrictions on where electric scooters could ride. (Tampa Bay Times)
• Weird one from Riviera Beach: City council there this week voted to pay 65 Bitcoin (about $600,000) following a cyber attack on its computer systems in May. (WLRN)
• This map from the National Low Income Housing Coalition shows workers need to earn at least $22.86 an hour to afford a two-bedroom rental home in Florida. (Digg)
• "Good lord, I hope there’s a little bird down there that’s on the endangered species list." This is the not so unserious government plan in The Keys to help end a terrible littering problem on one Islamorada beach. (FLKeysNews)
• The Palm Beach Post continues its excellent series on Florida hurricane history with this one on Hurricane Andrew. Somehow, only 15 people died in what is still one of the strongest storms to hit the state.
• Still looking for summer vacation destinations within the state? This list of different Florida museums is worth exploring. (TCPalm)
From NPR News
• World: Iran Shoots Down U.S. Drone. U.S. Says It Was In International Airspace
• Race: 72 Philadelphia Police Officers Placed On Desk Duty Over Offensive Social Media Posts
• Business: Putting A Price On Chat: Slack Is Going Public At $16 Billion Value
• Business: How 1 Farmer Navigates California's Strict Limit On Groundwater
• Science: The Threat Of ‘Deepfakes’
• Politics: Who In The House Is Calling For Impeachment?
• National: U.S. Women To Take On Their Biggest Opponent Yet With Game Against Sweden
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.