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The top stories near you
• WUFT News: Conquering The Crisis. The impact of coronavirus stretches well beyond borders. A team of WUFT journalists explored how communities across the world are handling the crisis, detailing all angles and implications of the virus from a global perspective and sharing stories from people in Asia, Africa, Europe, South America, and Australia.
• Suwannee Democrat: 'Suwannee at Home: Spirit Raiser 2020' music festival to be held online. "The Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park has joined with Relix Magazine, Live Oak Music & Arts Foundation and internationally famous festival promoter Paul Levine to present Suwannee At Home: Spirit Raiser 2020 online Friday through Sunday."
• Gainesville Sun ($): Mask requirement in contention but still in force. "The Alachua County Commission on Tuesday discussed benefits and drawbacks of its mask requirement but made no changes to the current emergency order."
• Citrus County Chronicle: School district: Average 95% of students were connected during distance learning. "As the school year ends under a pandemic, an average 95% of Citrus County School District students were able to stay connected to their education from home."
• WCJB: Is the Rodman Dam here to stay? A federal judge dismisses the lawsuit that could remove it. "A federal judge will not reconsider an appeal of an earlier decision to dismiss a lawsuit designed to remove the dam and restore the Ocklawaha River."
• The Alligator: UF student jailed after threatening mass shooting at Virginia Tech. "James Kelly, a 36-year-old business finance student living in Bowling Green, Florida, was arrested by the Bowling Green Police Department Monday for written threats to kill, do bodily injury or conduct a mass shooting or act of terrorism, according to an arrest report from the department."
• Bloomberg: Luxury Dorm Financed With Muni Bonds Falls Into Bankruptcy. "The operator of a student housing complex built for University of Florida students fell into bankruptcy, the latest municipal-bond financed project in fiscal crisis amid the coronavirus fallout."
• News Service of Florida: Florida university students sue for spring-semester refund. "With the coronavirus shutting down state university campuses in March, at least two potential class-action lawsuits have been filed seeking refunds of money that students paid for the spring semester."
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Around the state today
• Tampa Bay Times: What we know — and don’t know — about how coronavirus will affect Florida’s budget. "'We’re going to be short billions and billions of dollars,' said Sen. Tom Lee, R-Thonotosassa. 'We’re not going to recover to current general revenue levels for a long time.' The coronavirus-related shortfalls could cost Gov. Ron DeSantis top priorities — including some that were praised by both Democrats and Republicans."
• Pensacola News Journal ($): East Hill Honey loses beehives, thousands of pounds of honey due to Five Mile Swamp Fire. "Despite an estimated $25,000 loss in projected honey sales as a result of the fire, East Hill Honey owner Tommy Van Horn said he considers himself lucky."
• Sun Sentinel ($): Broward residents dying at home because they are afraid to go to a hospital, new reports show. "Fort Lauderdale and Broward Fire Rescue's newly released numbers confirm what many have suspected: people are afraid to go to an emergency room and are dying at home."
• Florida Politics: Roads less traveled: Empty roads let FDOT speed up work on more projects. "Last month, the Florida department of transportation announced a handful of accelerations, including a rework of Interstate 4 in Orlando. With a third of the normal amount of vehicles on the highway, conditions were safe to close more lanes and advance the project by a month or two."
• Miami Herald ($): Under coronavirus rules, traffic is way down, but speeding is way, WAY up. "The dramatic drop in traffic during the coronavirus pandemic has caused a dangerous surge in speeding. Not just typical, impatient, 5-10-mph-over-the-limit speeding, but severe speeding."
• Florida Today: Florida Tech cuts football program, announces layoffs due to COVID-19 impacts. "Beside the termination of the football program, college officials said in a news release a series of impending staff reductions and furloughs, along with the closure of the Ruth Funk Center for Textile Arts, were necessary to 'meet the financial challenges' caused by the pandemic... officials cited a lack of certainty regarding fall enrollment numbers as the main reason for the cuts."
• Palm Beach Post ($): 2020 Atlantic Hurricane Season: Here are the names. "From Arthur to Wilfred, here are the hurricane names for the 2020 Atlantic season."
• Sarasota Herald-Tribune ($): Sarasota-Bradenton airport traffic down 95%. "Coronavirus has significantly hurt all aspects of the travel industry."
• WLRN: Gov. Ron DeSantis Keeps State Budget On Hold. "Florida’s next budget remains on hold pending another round of federal stimulus money, which could also dictate how state lawmakers readdress the spending plan."
• FL Keys News ($): Key West protesters say the highway checkpoints must go so the economy can come back. "Magnus Nilsson, a charter fishing captain in Key West, says it’s time to reopen the Florida Keys to visitors. That means taking down the two checkpoints at the entrances to the island chain, which the county installed March 27."
From NPR News
• National: Elon Musk Reopens California Tesla Plant, Defying Local Health Officials (Again)
• National: Will Filing For Unemployment Hurt My Green Card? Legal Immigrants Are Afraid
• World: Wuhan To Test All 11 Million Residents After New Coronavirus Cases Emerge
• Business: U.S. Treasury To Borrow $3 Trillion To Finance Pandemic Relief Programs
• Business: In Settlement, Facebook To Pay $52 Million To Content Moderators With PTSD
• Science: When Can We Expect A Coronavirus Vaccine?
• Science: Coronavirus Update: Public Health Experts Testify Before Senate