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The top stories near you
• Prepare for the upcoming August primary election by following our candidate coverage this week, beginning with the races in Alachua and Bradford counties. (WUFT News)
• WUFT News: GRU’s Switch From Coal To Cleaner Natural Gas At Deerhaven Unit 2 Would Cost Upwards of $12M. "Members of the Gainesville Utility Advisory Board signaled their approval to make the local utility provider’s largest power generator burn cleaner and cheaper energy."
• WUFT News: Gainesville City Commission Votes To Discuss Shifting School Resource Officer Funding. "The total cost of school resource officers is more than $2.1 million and the school district covers $1.2 million of that amount from a budget more than three times the size of the city’s, Commissioner Gail Johnson said. She first pushed for this change in a Facebook post a week ago and then again in the Thursday meeting. The school board receives a sizable chunk of money to pay for the school resource officer mandate from the state legislature, although the city does not. Commissioners want to see the city’s $900,000 spent on other initiatives."
• The Alligator: Former UF resident assistant sexual assault case postponed. "Ian Milaski was arrested in August 2019 after a female student told police he tried to sexually assault her. He was released from Alachua County Jail in September after a judge reduced his $125,000 bond because he was a 'high achieving' student leader."
• Suwannee Democrat: Suwannee County adds 25 COVID-19 cases in past week. "After weeks of new COVID-19 coronavirus cases being few and far between in Suwannee County, the numbers have spiked once again in the past week."
• Gainesville Sun ($): Gainesville’s first Wawa opens Wednesday. "Wawa, a Pennsylvania-based chain of convenience stores and gas stations, will open its first Gainesville location at 2373 Archer Road on Wednesday. The store will open at 8 a.m. — in time for many to grab a freshly brewed coffee or a breakfast sandwich before starting up the workday."
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Around the state today
• Tallahassee Democrat ($): Supreme Court discrimination ruling addresses issue Florida leaders ignored. "The Florida Competitive Workplace Act had the support of the state’s leading businesses for most of the past 11 years since it was first proposed. But the measure has rarely even earned a hearing in Tallahassee."
• Florida Storms: An Unusual Dry Air Mass Is Moving Into Florida. "The drop in humidity will be most noticeable in the mornings and evenings, as temperatures are allowed to fall faster and to lower levels because of the drier air. Overnight lows across inland areas of the Florida Panhandle and much of North Florida will dip well into the 60s through at least Wednesday morning."
• Lakeland Ledger ($): Lakeland Electric cuts power to dozens before COVID-19 plan deadline. "It’s the first day the utility has resumed disconnection for non-payment since the coronavirus pandemic struck in mid-March."
• Florida Today ($): Florida's young test positive for coronavirus at almost twice the rate. "A new report by the Florida Department of Health shows less than 5% of the Floridians who tested positive for the novel coronavirus were under the age of 18. But that younger age group tested positive at almost twice the rate as the state as a whole, according to FDOH's new pediatric COVID-19 case report released June 12."
• WTSP: Scientists say sea turtle conservation efforts are working. "We’re six months into sea turtle nesting season, and experts say there have been an increase of the animal on Tampa Bay beaches in recent years."
• FLKeysNews ($): A cold murder case in the Keys has been solved 29 year later. No charges will be filed. "...the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office says no suspects have been charged in the rape and strangling of 18-year-old Wanda Deann Kirkum, of Hornell, New York. The killer, Robert Lynn Bradley, 31, has been dead for years. He was killed in Tarrant County, Texas, in April 1992."
From NPR News
• National: Supreme Court Rules Federal Law Protects LGBTQ Workers From Sex Discrimination
• National: Trump Executive Order To Focus On Tracking Misconduct, Nonviolent Interactions
• Health: FDA Withdraws Emergency Use Authorization For Hydroxychloroquine
• World: Russian Court Convicts An American Of Spying
• World: Philippine Journalist Maria Ressa Found Guilty Of Cyber Libel
• Business: Jeff Bezos May Testify Before Congress For The First Time This Summer