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The top stories near you

• WUFT News: ‘It’s Green’: Progress Slows As Newnans Lake Cleanup Efforts Continue. "Nearing four years after Alachua County commissioners gave the go-ahead for the Newnans Lake Improvement Initiative in an expansive effort to improve the impaired lake's water quality, water restoration efforts remain underway."

• Gainesville Sun ($): School board hopes to give teachers relief. "Since school started 15 days ago, the emails have reached board members from teachers and parents, and the tone of those emails has only gotten more heated. Whether it be hyflex — in which teachers lead both in-person class as well as an online class simultaneously — or dealing with class sizes that make social distancing a pipe dream, teachers and parents are stressed."

• Fresh Take Florida: Florida Changing Rules To Allow Philosophy Majors To Teach Social Sciences In Public Schools. "To be, or not to be – a teacher? Florida is changing its state rules to allow philosophy majors – for decades the targets of ruthless jokes about the usefulness of their college degrees – to teach social sciences in public schools."

• The Alligator: UF now requires face-coverings while outdoors. "The only exceptions to the policy are private offices, workspaces and outdoor spaces where a physical distance of 6 feet can be maintained at all times..."

• News Service of Florida: Florida Regulator Says Bars, Breweries Will ‘Do A Better Job.’ "(Halsey)Beshears added that a lot of the responsibility to prevent bars from losing liquor licenses rests on customers."

• WUFT News: 2021 Spring Arts Festival Canceled Due To COVID-19 Pandemic. "Santa Fe College and the Santa Fe College Foundation announced the cancellation of the 2021 Spring Arts Festival Wednesday morning, calling off an annual event that often draws over 100,000 guests to downtown Gainesville."

• WUFT News: School Bus Involved In Three-Vehicle Crash, No Students On Board. "Gainesville Fire Rescue crews responded to a crash involving three vehicles Wednesday morning that left one vehicle in flames, a school bus damaged and one driver in critical condition. No students were on the bus at the time of the incident."

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Around the state today

• WUWF: Sally Gone — Cleanup Begins. "Sixteen years to the day Hurricane Ivan slammed into Gulf Shores, Alabama, Hurricane Sally did the same early Wednesday – also as a Category-2 storm. Along with unleashing 105 mile an hour winds on the Panhandle, a slow-moving Sally deluged the Gulf Coast with up to 30 inches of rain from Pensacola Beach westward to Dauphin Island, Alabama -- causing dangerous flooding along the coastline and well inland in the days ahead. Now, the cleanup begins."

• New York Times ($): Hurricane Sally Slams the Florida Panhandle With Deluge of Rain. "Through the downtown streets of Pensacola water gushed like a river, the flooding at one point reaching higher than five feet. A portion of a major bridge spanning the bay was wiped out. And more than 400 people were rescued from across Escambia County, which includes the city of Pensacola."

• Pensacola News Journal ($): Hurricane Sally shocks Pensacola area with surprising strength, heavy wind and floods. "Pensacola sat squarely in the eyewall for nearly 12 hours, taking the worst of the storm's wrath."

• Northwest Florida Daily News: Walton deputies and good Samaritan rescue man from flooded home near Nick's Seafood. "'He was on the second floor hunkered down,' Sheriff's Lt. Paula Pendleton said. 'But he was on oxygen and quickly running out.'"

• WFSU: DeSantis: No Deaths Reported From Hurricane Sally As Of 5 p.m. Wednesday. "With further flooding possible in the coming days, DeSantis says, the need could arise for people to evacuate certain areas. He’s asking residents of areas with a heightened flood risk to remain vigilant."

• Miami Herald ($): One name is left on the hurricane list, and it’s only September. Why so many storms? "Two things are relatively clear, or in scientist speak, connections they have 'high confidence' in. Rising temperatures and sea levels mean more storm surge and rainfall during storms, which can lead to the kind of historic flooding predicted for Hurricane Sally this week or, in a more dramatic example, seen in Hurricane Harvey in 2017."

• Bay News 9: Florida Jobs Agency Ending FEMA-Supported Pandemic Lost Wages Program. "The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity is ending an additional federal benefits program to help those in need, less than a month since word came that the checks would be going out."

• WMFE: Universal Orlando Announces Extended Furloughs For 5,400 Workers. "Universal Orlando said it doesn’t expect the furloughs to be permanent but did warn it could take until next year to recover from the economic loss."

• Lakeland Ledger ($): Polk was hotbed for the Ku Klux Klan for more than 100 years; last KKK appearance in 1995. "Very little could strike more fear in Black people than seeing a gang of men dressed in white robes and hoods or a cross burning in the night. Those things happened in Polk County with regularity throughout the 20th century as the Ku Klux Klan operated nearly unfettered for more than 100 years, with their last local public appearance in 1995 in front of Auburndale High School."

• Tampa Bay Times ($): Should Florida raise tuition at state universities? It’s being discussed. "Talk of a tuition hike comes as many students complain that they already are not getting enough value for their money because of steps taken to limit the coronavirus’ spread. Many classes are held online, students services have been curtailed and campus activities have been sharply reduced. Some students have filed lawsuits seeking refunds."

• Florida Politics: Pandemic spurs Marco Rubio, Rick Scott to renew push for Daylight Saving Time extension. "Scott, who signed a bill in 2018 signaling Florida’s enactment of permanent DST, invoked the summer lockdowns as a reason to keep the clocks where they are this fall."

• WTSP: Neighborhood dog treat box violates city code, officials say. "In July, St. Petersburg Code Enforcement received a complaint from a neighbor about the 'ugly pink treat box.' A codes investigator found the neighborhood dog spot was in violation of city code."

From NPR News

• Politics: Contradicting The CDC, Trump Says COVID-19 Vaccine Could Be Ready By End Of Year

• Health: How 1 Maine Wedding Caused Hundreds Of Coronavirus Cases And 7 Deaths

• Race: Most Children Who Die Of COVID-19 Are Minorities, CDC Report Shows

• Science: What Are The Costs Of Climate Change?

• Science: Scientists Say A Mind-Bending Rhythm In The Brain Can Act Like Ketamine

• National: Big Ten Conference Will Play Football After All

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.