Subscribe to The Point, arriving in your inbox Monday through Friday at 8 a.m.
The top stories near you
• Concerns about rental affordability notwithstanding, a new apartment complex received a special use permit approval from Gainesville's City Plan Board last night. That allows the redevelopment of The Swamp Restaurant site to proceed. (WUFT News)
• A stretch of U.S. 441 through Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park has become a popular roadside fishing spot following Hurricane Irma. It's not the safest place to fish, with cars often speeding past at 60 mph or more, so Alachua County is seeking funding sources for a $3 million linear park that would be separated from the road. (WUFT News)
• A jury in Ocala chose life in prison over the death penalty for a man convicted of two counts of first-degree murder. (Ocala Star-Banner)
• The recent ransomware attack in Lake City and two other Florida cities should have local governments everywhere backing up their data, according to a criminal justice professor at Michigan State University. (AP)
• The Palm Beach Post has a column about the literary and historical importance of Cross Creek, which author Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings helped make famous.
• "Rainbow Springs is a beauty, created beneath deep waters, made only by the hands of God." An audio recording exists in state archives from one of the 1950s tour guides at Rainbow Springs, once a Florida attraction known for its "scenic submarines" that weren't really submarines. (Florida Memory Blog)
Today's sponsored message
There's no denying the importance of a good education.
Millhopper Montessori is one of only two area private schools accredited by FCIS, due in part to our highly-credentialed teachers and STEAM-enhanced curriculum. Millhopper’s unique methods allow each preschool through middle school student to explore and learn, all in a safe and secure environment. Millhopper students develop into poised, compassionate and creative leaders who are prepared for the next level. Call 352-375-6773 or visit <a href="http://millhopper.com" target="_blank" link-data="{"link":{"attributes":[],"linkText":"millhopper.com","target":"NEW","url":"http://millhopper.com","_id":"0000018b-8bbc-d33b-ab8b-fffc978d000b","_type":"ff658216-e70f-39d0-b660-bdfe57a5599a"},"_id":"0000018b-8bbc-d33b-ab8b-fffc978d000c","_type":"809caec9-30e2-3666-8b71-b32ddbffc288"}">millhopper.com</a>today to schedule your tour.
Around the state today
• The past three years' hurricanes led to a greater focus on the need for underground utility lines in Florida. Gov. Ron DeSantis made law a bill that allows utility companies to charge customers for storm-protection projects like the buried lines. Proponents say it will save everyone money in the long term. (News Service of Florida)
• The Sun Sentinel analyzed seat belt citations to gauge whether Florida's new texting and driving law might lead to more racial profiling. Some cities had a discrepancy between the percentage of black residents of the city's total population compared to the percentage of seat belt tickets given to black people in that city. Among the cities with the worst discrepancies? Gainesville.
• New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio was one of 20 Democratic presidential contenders to visit Florida this week and became the only one to make a gaffe quite this foolish. (Florida Politics)
• Gainesville isn't the only Florida city studying a possible municipal broadband network. Lakeland is also doing so. (Lakeland Ledger)
• Can bacteria actually help clean some of Jacksonville's water bodies? The city intends to find out. (WJCT)
• University of Florida alumnus and journalist Rob Hiaasen was killed a year ago today in a shooting at a newsroom in Maryland. Some of his columns are now being published in a book. (Palm Beach Post)
• The governor is no fan of the Tampa Bay Rays playing half their games in Canada and half in Florida: "I mean Montreal? I don’t understand that." (WUSF)
From NPR News
• Politics: Democratic Presidential Debate, Night 2: Fact-Checking And Analysis
• Politics: Harris Takes On Biden's Record On Race At Democratic Debate
• Politics: Voters In Battleground State Of Florida React To Democratic Debate
• Politics: Supreme Court Rules On Citizenship Question, Partisan Gerrymandering
• National: Major Police Body Camera Manufacturer Rejects Facial Recognition Software
• Science: Hidden Brain: How Private Prisons Affect Sentencing
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.