The Point

The Point, Aug. 6, 2019: Are Florida Shark Attacks On The Rise?

WUFT | By Jasmine Dahlby

Published August 6, 2019 at 11:36 AM EDT

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The top stories near you

• In the wake of the country's two most recent shootings, President Trump has postponed his visit to The Villages, which was scheduled for today. (Ocala Star-Banner)

• Residents living where Northwest 37th Street dead-ends in Gainesville are concerned that park-goers may park their vehicles too close to their homes and backyards when visiting the first trail in the new Four Creeks Preserve. Although the longterm plan for the property is still in the works, that first trail is set to open Sept. 28. (WUFT News)

• Gilchrist Blue Springs has been renamed Ruth B. Kirby Gilchrist Blue Springs State Park after its former owner. (Gainesville Sun)

• After a Gainesville woman's posed photos of a toad went viral online, WJXT Channel 4 News invited the pair to come on air. “He hangs out on my porch all the time, and I thought it’d be funny to take a picture of him sitting on the couch,” said 23-year-old Savannah Mikell. “It got so many likes and shares [on Facebook] that I kept it going.”(The Alligator)

• Of the 26 attorneys and judges who applied to fill the former positions of Judges Allen Winsor and T. Kent Wetherell on Florida's First District Court of Appeal, three of them are from Alachua County and two more are from Lake City and Trenton. (Gainesville Sun)

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Around the state today

• Three people were bitten by sharks in New Smyrna Beach over the weekend, making a total of 18 suspected Florida shark attacks in 2019. However, it may have something to do with more people being in Florida's water during the sharks' migratory season than anything else. (Orlando Sentinel)

• A 31-year-old man from Gibsonton was arrested Sunday after the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said he threatened to shoot-up the Walmart where his mother works just one day after two mass shootings left 29 dead. According to the sheriff's office, Wayne Lee Padgett is unemployed with no criminal history and does not own any firearms. (USA Today)

• The Florida Board of Medicine has been fielding questions after a new Florida law passed that requires doctors to focus on opioid alternatives before providing anesthesia or prescribing Schedule II controlled substances. It's left many doctors confused. Only the Florida Department of Health can provide clarification on the law that was signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in June. (Florida Politics)

• At an average of 20 cents per gallon less than last year, summer gas prices in Florida are the lowest they have been in two years. This may be partially due to oversupply and tension in the U.S.-China trade war. (WJCT)

• The owner of a Pinellas County greyhound-kennel is suing the state over Amendment 13, which will shut down greyhound racing in Florida by Dec. 31, 2020, for the loss of value to his property. (News Service of Florida)

• Agricultural Commissioner Nikki Fried is backing Sen. Lauren Book's joint resolution for an amendment to Florida's constitution that would only make it possible for abortion laws to be passed if half of the members of each legislative chamber are women. (Florida Politics)

• Although the federal government transferred all migrant teenagers from the Homestead detention center Monday after a weather disturbance was detected in the Atlantic Ocean, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said the facility will remain in “warm status” in case there is no space at other detention centers. (Miami Herald)

• Attorney General Ashley Moody opposes the citizen initiative banning assault weapons, saying that the language is defective. “This particular amendment would mislead voters thinking they were banning a specific type of firearm when in fact they were banning virtually every long gun,” Moody said. (Florida Politics)