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Today's top Florida stories
• News Service of Florida: Trump Points To Being ‘Flexible’ On Convention. "President Donald Trump pointed Tuesday to being 'very flexible' when asked if increasing coronavirus cases could affect his desire for a big nominating convention next month in Jacksonville."
• Florida Politics: With RNC planning underway, Jacksonville’s safety net hospital is running out of ICU space. "Of the 100 adult ICU berths at the hospital’s main campus on 8th Street, at the western edge of Springfield, just two are open as of Wednesday morning, with 98 ICU patients accounted for."
• WUFT News: Alachua County Tourist Development Council Discusses Future Amid Coronavirus Pandemic. "A statewide drop in tourism contributed to a 66% sales tax revenue decrease at this point in 2020 compared to the same time in 2019, the largest of any Florida industry, according to Alachua County Tourism Manager Jessica Hurov. In Gainesville, sales tax revenue dropped 49%, though Gainesville and Tallahassee have the lowest tourism unemployment rate at 8.7%."
• News Service of Florida: Lake County Commission reverses decision on where to move Confederate statue. "Seeking to unify their community, Lake County commissioners want Gov. Ron DeSantis to find a museum outside of their county to house the statue of a Confederate general who has represented Florida in the U.S. Capitol for nearly a century."
• Politico: Florida Democrats return PPP money amid scandal. "The party immediately applied for the loan after Congress first passed the $670 billion Paycheck Protection Program, known as PPP, even though there was discussion at the time that the money should go to neither lobbyists nor political causes."
• The Alligator: UF students, professors work to outmaneuver new ICE regulation. "Members of the UF community have come forward to show their support for international students in the days following the announcement. So much so, that students and a professor have brainstormed ways for them to remain in the U.S. in the Fall, in spite of ICE’s new regulations."
• Florida Politics: Former Florida Gov. Wayne Mixson dies at 98. "His proudest achievement, spoken in characteristic good humor, was: ‘I wanted to be known as the governor who did the least damage to Florida.'"
• WLRN: Trump, Florida Leaders Urge School Reopening. Local Superintendents Say It's Not Likely. "The driver makes sure Malik is wearing a face covering when he boards the bus. He arrives at school at about 7:35 a.m., and before he can pick up his breakfast in the cafeteria, he washes his hands. When he arrives in homeroom, he’s with only about a dozen other children, their desks spaced six feet apart. Broward County Public Schools administrator Valerie Wanza walked the school board through a day in the life of this fictional fourth grader, as the nation’s sixth largest school district prepares to reopen amid a raging pandemic."
• Tallahassee Democrat ($): Florida law schools teaming up to address social, racial injustice. "The deans of the state’s law schools have created the Florida Law Schools’ Consortium for Racial Justice, an initiative designed to leverage the schools’ resources in working with community organizations already in the forefront of seeking change."
• Sun Sentinel ($): Father, 3 sons, charged with selling fake COVID-19 cure as FBI raids their “church.” "A 62-year-old Bradenton man and his three sons are facing federal charges in Miami for peddling a toxic bleach as a cure for COVID-19."
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From NPR News
• Health: Top Pediatrician Says States Shouldn't Force Schools To Reopen If Virus Is Surging
• World: 'I couldn't believe my eyes': International Students Blindsided By ICE Rule Change
• Politics: Supreme Court Undercuts Access To Birth Control Under Obamacare
• Politics: Justices Rule Teachers At Religious Schools Aren't Protected By Fair Employment Laws
• Politics: Vindman, Key Impeachment Witness, Retires Over 'Bullying, Intimidation' By Trump
• National: Michael Drake Will Be The First Black President In U.C. System's 152-Year History
• Science: To Come To The Rescue Or Not? Rats, Like People, Take Cues From Bystanders
• Business: Report Slams Facebook For 'Vexing And Heartbreaking Decisions' On Free Speech
About today's curator
I’m Katie Hyson, a journalist at WUFT. Originally from Lutz, Fla., I’m obsessed with true stories, creatively told. I graduated from UF with a master's degree in mass communications and am part of a team searching for local and state news each week that’s important to you. Please send feedback about today’s edition of The Point or ideas for stories we may have missed to khyson@ufl.edu.