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Today's top stories
• It's one of the last undeveloped stretches of coast in St. Augustine, and it's going to stay that way. The Florida Cabinet yesterday voted in favor of the state buying Fish Island for $6.5 million. “In many ways, it was a miracle,” the president of the North Florida Land Trust told the St. Augustine Record. “I think that might be one way to describe it, to be able to pull this off." (News Service of Florida)
• Florida law enforcement agencies face a difficult road now in trying to distinguish between the possession of hemp, which recently became legal, and marijuana, which is not. (WFSU)
• The Gainesville City Commission's desire to improve renting conditions through more regulation received pushback yesterday from a few landlords in attendance at City Hall. (Gainesville Sun)
• Ronald Rubin's tenure as Florida's financial regulator lasted less than two months, and the Cabinet yesterday opted to fire him, even as a legal mess swirls around the entire situation. (Tallahassee Democrat)
• Three Florida Department of Corrections employees at Lake Correctional Institution were fired and arrested this week in the fallout from a video showing a prisoner being beaten at the facility. (Florida Times-Union)
• U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist, D-St. Petersburg, is targeting the scourge of robocalls and sponsored a section of new federal legislation that could help end them. (WFSU)
• Jacksonville city officials are getting serious about defending the city against sea-level rise. They're using a $75,000 state grant to help fund what's known as a "resiliency analysis." (WJCT)
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From NPR News
• Science: Small Towns Fear They Are Unprepared For Future Climate-Driven Flooding
• Health: 76 Billion Pills, 6 Companies And An Opioid Trial For The Ages
• Education: Millions Of U.S. Children Go To Racially And Economically Segregated Schools
• Books: Life Of Black Cyclist Major Taylor Chronicled In New Book 'The World's Fastest Man'
• World: Trump Vetoes Bills Intended To Block Arms Sales To Saudi Arabia
• National: Muslims Over-Represented In State Prisons, Report Finds
• National: Puerto Rico Rep. Jenniffer González Colón Discusses The Future For The Island
• National: DOJ Could Resume Executions In The Federal Prison System As Early As December
• Health: Want To Feel Happier Today? Try Talking To A Stranger
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.