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The top stories near you

• It was another casualty of Hurricane Irma, but the Gainesville Job Corps Center's problems extend further back than the 2017 storm. One of our reporters spent the better part of the past year digging into its history, its environmental problems, and what local politicians are trying to do to see a job training center like it reopened. (WUFT News)

• A Gainesville church is one of 10 plaintiffs suing the governor and state attorney general over the new Florida law banning sanctuary cities. (The Alligator)

• City commissioners appear set to raise Gainesville's electric rates, property taxes and fire assessment fee during a vote tonight at city hall. (Gainesville Sun)

• A Florida Storms meteorologist explains why El Niño's weakening could signal more tropical developments in the coming weeks.

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Around the state today

• The NPR affiliate in Jacksonville published an extensive series called "ADAPT" about the ways certain communities are trying to prepare for 6.6 feet of sea level rise in the next 80 years.

• The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating a July 5 homicide at Florida State Prison. (First Coast News)

• Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried didn't appreciate U.S. Sen. Rick Scott's attack on Democrats earlier this week ("They’ve become the anti-Semitic party now, and so that’s wrong," he said). She called his remark "insulting, false and dangerous."  (Florida Politics)

• With a higher number of manatee deaths by boat strike this year, state wildlife officials are increasing water patrols. (WMFE)

• Three pilot whales died this week at St. Simons Island, despite efforts to try to push them back into the ocean. (Florida Times-Union)

• Attorneys for the confessed Parkland shooting said in court yesterday they won't be ready to begin his trial in January. The state is pursuing a death penalty case against him. (WLRN)

• West Palm Beach city officials are so against homeless people sleeping at a city pavilion that they've begun looping a pair of children's songs on a loudspeaker. (Palm Beach Post)

From NPR News

• World: WHO Declares Ebola Outbreak In Congo An International Health Emergency

• Health: LGBTQ Americans Could Be At Higher Risk For Dementia, Study Finds

• Health: If We All Ate Enough Fruits And Vegetables, There'd Be Big Shortages

• Science: Spacesuit Worn By Neil Armstrong Continues To Inspire

• Science: Scientists Desert USDA As Agency Relocates To Kansas City Area

• National: Prosecutors Drop Criminal Charges Against Actor Kevin Spacey In Sexual Assault Case

• National: Federal Judge Awards Jewish Woman $14 Million In Case Against Neo-Nazi Trolls

• Politics: Trump Attacks Congresswomen At N.C. Rally, As Crowd Chants 'Send Her Back'

• Politics: 2nd Democratic Primary Debate: See Which Candidates Made The Cut

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.