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The top stories near you

• WUFT News: Alachua County School District Scrambles To Provide Digital Assistance. "The Alachua County Public School District has given out electronic devices and hotspots to families as their children return back to school. So far, the district has met the majority of these families’ connectivity needs, but it is unable to provide for everyone."

• WUFT News: Gainesville Activists Want Shift In City Budget Priorities, But Will Likely Have To Wait A Year. "They have a group of city commissioners receptive to their demands. They have a nationwide moment of civil reflection on spending priorities. They seek immediate change at a time when that’s seemingly more possible than ever. What they don’t have is time."

• WUFT News: Change Of Plea Delayed For Former Alachua County Jail Guard Accused Of Attacking Inmate. "Jerome Ulrich reached an agreement with the State Attorney's Office for the Eighth Judicial Circuit. It could drop his obstructing justice charge — a third-degree felony — in exchange for a guilty plea on his battery charge — a first-degree misdemeanor — said Adam Stout, Ulrich’s attorney."

• Citrus County Chronicle ($):County urges the public to avoid foreclosure, eviction with CARES Act funds. "The county has $440,000 in CARES Act funds to help residents whose jobs were lost or scaled back due to the pandemic. The grants, which do not have to be repaid, are to avoid eviction or foreclosure."

• Gainesville Sun ($): Golden retriever rescued from 40-foot sinkhole in High Springs. "Using an extension ladder and rope system, ACFR Lt. Brian Ferguson descended into the sinkhole to rescue the retriever, Sammy, who officials said was frightened at first but unhurt. Sammy and his owner, who called for help, were reunited immediately."

• WCJB: Parking blocked off in front of midtown bars for businesses to use for space. "The City of Gainesville has teamed up with the Florida Department of Transportation to block off some parking spaces in front of Midtown bars to give people more room to drink safely. The lane closest to the bars in midtown is closed off on West University Avenue."

• The Alligator: Norman Hall electrical room catches fire Monday night. "A Monday night fire at Norman Hall is under investigation — only two days after a maintenance tractor caused a fire at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. The fire lasted about 30 minutes and left no injuries or structural damage, University Police Lieutenant Jake Pruitt said."

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Around the state today

• Florida Storms: Hurricane Warning Issued for Pensacola Ahead of Sally. "Due to Sally’s slow forward speed, persistent heavy rainfall is expected to last through at least Thursday, with western locations in the Panhandle forecast to receive between 10 and 15 inches of rainfall with locally higher amounts possible."

• FLKeysNews ($): That was some storm. Florida Keys drying out from Sally’s heavy rain and flooding. "Duval Street in Key West is usually busy with tourists, but over the weekend, business owners raced to place sandbags at their entrances to keep water from seeping inside. The Southernmost City got more than 11 inches of rain, according to the National Weather Service."

• Bay News 9: DeSantis Names Jamie Grosshans to Florida Supreme Court. "Before Grosshans was an appeals court judge, she was an assistant state attorney in Orlando, and then went into private practice, specializing in family law."

• Florida Politics: Andrew Gillum comes out as bisexual. "Gillum sat down for an interview with Tamron Hall in which he discussed at length the incident in a Miami Beach hotel room where he was found, drunk and nude, in the same place where an acquaintance was being treated for a drug overdose."

• WLRN: Key West Stayed In Union Hands During The Civil War. So Why Does It Have A Confederate Monument? "(Micki McElya, a historian at the University of Connecticut:) 'The United Daughters of the Confederacy's number one mission in pretty much all aspects was the reconstruction of historical truth to be a story that would support their versions of the past and their version of themselves.'"

• Politico: ‘This is f—ing crazy’: Florida Latinos swamped by wild conspiracy theories. "The sheer volume of conspiracy theories — including QAnon — and deceptive claims is already playing a role in stunting Biden’s growth with Latino voters, who comprise about 17 percent of the state’s electorate."

• New York Times ($): A Tight Trump-Biden Race in Florida: Here’s the State of Play. "In an era of polarization, where swing voters are scarce, elections in Florida are won by driving up turnout among the faithful and running up margins in favorable terrain while losing more closely in hostile precincts."

• Lakeland Ledger ($): Slave descendants recall youth in Black settlement of Bealsville. "This is the second part in a weeklong series examining racial issues and their history in Polk County. The project by The Ledger staff is titled 'Black In Polk.'"

• WUSF: Tampa Man Exonerated After 37 Years Behind Bars. "Robert DuBoise was exonerated Monday after serving 37 years in prison for a rape and murder he didn't commit. It came after new testing was done on old evidence."

From NPR News

• Politics: Court Rules Government Can End Humanitarian Protections For Some 300,000 Immigrants

• Science: A Possible Sign Of Life Right Next Door To Earth, On Venus

• World: Disney Faces Backlash Over Live-Action Remake Of 'Mulan'

• Science: 'I Don't Think Science Knows': Visiting Fires, Trump Denies Climate Change

• Health: Some Urban Hospitals Face Closure Or Cutbacks As The Pandemic Adds To Fiscal Woes

• National: For 'Ike,' A Monument Unlike Any Other: Eisenhower Memorial Is Dedicated In D.C.

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.