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Today's top stories
• The Gainesville City Commission took action on a pair of legal and public safety matters last night, first approving a contract for school resource officers for the coming year that's about $200,000 more than what it paid last year. Commissioners also voted to monitor the litigation over Florida's sanctuary cities law, though not formally join in that lawsuit. (WUFT News)
• An organization called Muslim Youth Gainesville this summer held a weekly summer camp, the only Muslim faith-based camp in the area. We spoke with the founder and a few parents who have been involved about their goals for the camp: "I hope they will learn some Islam but mostly that Muslims are their friends and their best support system." (WUFT News)
• Services for local World War II veteran Bob Gasche have been set for next week. (WCJB)
• This is Florida's tax-free weekend for back-to-school shopping. (Florida Today)
• It's going to be a rainy weekend in southeast Florida due to the approaching tropical wave, and there might be flooding. (WLRN)
• Tampa has had more than a quarter-million electric scooter trips in the two months since the program began. (Tampa Bay Times)
• Universal Orlando announced a major expansion to the south of its current parks near Interstate 4. (WMFE)
• "Nobody was injured or in danger of being injured," says the attorney for the woman who pleaded guilty to throwing a drink earlier this summer at U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, but she could still face up to a year in prison. (Pensacola News Journal)
• See the work of Gainesville blacksmith artist Leslie Tharp in this story or, most recently, at Green Acres Park. “There’s something similar to yoga and meditation that I find with being a blacksmith,” she says. (WUFT News)
• A correction from yesterday's newsletter: A Washington Post story on Jeffrey Epstein was misattributed to the Sun Sentinel after it republished the piece.
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From NPR News
• Business: Federal Reserve Says A Slow In Manufacturing Is 1 Reason It Cut Interest Rates
• World: China's New Recycling Policy Could Give U.S. An Opportunity To Rethink Its Process
• World: U.S. Quietly Waives Some Sanctions To Allow Key Part Of Iran Nuclear Deal To Continue
• Politics: Texas Rep. Will Hurd, House's Only Black Republican, Won't Seek Reelection In 2020
• National: Puerto Rico's Governor Plans To Resign Friday, But No One Knows Who Will Replace Him
• Health: $2,733 To Treat Iron-Poor Blood? Iron Infusions For Anemia Under Scrutiny
• Science: This Remote Corner Of Nevada Is One Of The Darkest Places In The World
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.