The Point, July 30, 2019: President Trump Is Scheduled To Visit The Villages Next Week

July 30, 2019 The Point

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The top stories near you

• After numerous health complications, Carole Sumner decided to face her final days with courage in the company of friends, the comfort of her sister, the devotion of her pets and a caring relationship with hospice. Sumner decided to focus on the quality of her life instead of its length. (WUFT News)

• The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity gave $16.2 million to 24 small and rural communities around the state, including Archer, Micanopy and Putnam County, to improve infrastructure and rehabilitate homes. (Gainesville Sun)

• UF Health Shands will open its newly renovated $30 million burn and wound care unit in August. “The renovated ICU is a major step forward in state-of-the-art patient care,” said Brad Pollitt, Shands’ vice president of facilities. (The Alligator)

• President Trump is scheduled to visit The Villages one week from today to discuss his administration’s progress on improving Medicare. Florida is a key battleground state, and this upcoming rally puts Trump in front of an important demographic for him. (Tampa Bay Times)

• The Alachua County Commission is looking for its first-ever poet laureate who will write poetry for various county-sponsored events, such as ribbon-cutting ceremonies. The qualifications include Alachua County residency, a love for poetry and a desire to be part of community affairs. (The Alligator)

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Around the state today

• Florida’s attorney general, Ashley Moody, requested the state Supreme Court disqualify a proposed ballot measure seeking to ban assault weapons, which would outlaw the possession of all semi-automatic long guns. Supporters of the proposed constitutional amendment say they have collected more than 100,000 of the 766,200 signatures required to qualify the issue or the 2020 ballot. (Sun Sentinel)

• Flagler County is partnering with the Army Corps to renourish Flager Beach. The Flagler County Coastal Storm Risk Management Project will focus on an area of the beach that was affected by Hurricane Matthew in 2016 and Hurricane Irma in 2017. (WJCT)

• After finding thousands of dead bees, a beekeeper near DeLand believes his bees were poisoned, and millions of them could be in danger of the same fate. He’s offering a reward of $30,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever is poisoning his bees. (Daytona Beach News-Journal)

• Some hotels in Florida have charged customers hidden fees for decades, and now two state attorneys general are suing them over the practice. “Marriott reaped hundreds of millions of dollars in profit by deceiving consumers about the true price of its hotel rooms,” said District of Columbia Attorney General Karl A. Racine. (Orlando Weekly)

• After a Florida Power & Light contractor drilled into a main water line at Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport, which feeds the city’s Five Ash water treatment plant, the city was put on a boil-water order. For Las Olas Isles, the order has been extended until Wednesday after the system failed to pass bacteriological tests. (Sun Sentinel)

• Broward and Miami-Dade transit planners are creating a proposal for a monorail that would connect the two counties. (WLRN)

• People in Florida charged with certain crimes are able to apply to have their records sealed or expunged, but not many of those who are eligible take advantage of this. The Miami-Dade program “Second Chance, One-Stop,” organized by the Miami-Dade state attorney’s office, hopes to change this by guiding candidates through the application process. (WLRN)

• In Orange County, two lightning strikes started fires within yards of each other only minutes apart. According to Orange County Fire and Rescue spokesman Mike Jachles, this was an extremely unlikely occurrence. (Orlando Sentinel)