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The top stories near you

• WUFT News: Familiar Faces Vie For Newly Open District 3 Alachua County Commission Seat. "The District 3 candidates for county commission may be separated by party lines, but they are tied together by their commitment to the community. Both Anna Prizzia, a Democrat, and Joy Glanzer, a Republican, came to Alachua County for school at the University of Florida and decided to never leave. Neither woman subscribes to today's party polarization, and each wants to foster a stronger sense of community. Both said they’re dedicated to criminal justice reform, increasing affordable housing, growing the local economy and getting the county to prosper through the pandemic."

• WUFT News: Gainesville Band Sister Hazel Wants To Hold A Drive-In Concert In Newberry. "Newberry’s planning and zoning board will decide Wednesday whether to approve Sister Hazel’s bid for a drive-in concert on the site of an abandoned mine in the city on Oct. 23."

• WUFT News: Alachua County Schools Continue Fire Drills Amid COVID-19. "Despite COVID-19 pushing half of Alachua County public school students online, fire drills are still on the agenda. Like every school in Florida, Alachua County schools must each complete four fire drills – the first occurring in the initial 30 days of classes – according to an executive order that Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis signed in August."

• Citrus County Chronicle: M-CORES groups set to review recommendations. "M-CORES — Multi-use Corridors of Regional Economic Significance — is the study of three major toll road expansion projects. Two — the Suncoast and turnpike extensions — include Citrus County representatives on the task forces. M-CORES became state law in 2019 and sets an ambitious goal: All three roads are to start construction 2022 and be finished by 2030."

• WCJB: Gilchrist County residents fight back against proposed RV park. "The permit is for a proposed RV park off of SR 47 in High Springs of 120 acres with 347 RV sites, a swimming pool and more."

• WUFT News: Families Adapt Parenting Styles To Pandemic Circumstances. "Parenting on its own is a tough job. It becomes tougher when you have to do it alone. What happens when a global crisis is added to this struggle? It’s an experiment that’s played out around the world in the past six months, including in Gainesville."

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Around the state today

• Associated Press: Florida Governor Seeks New Penalties For Violent Protesters. "Backed by sheriffs, police chiefs and the incoming Senate president and House speaker, DeSantis said the state is going to get tough on anyone who participates in disorderly protests that cause property damage or injury."

• Politico: ‘It’s dog-whistle base stuff’: DeSantis launches Trump-styled protest crackdown. "The announcement amplifies Florida’s role in a polarizing national fight Trump and other Republicans are waging against Joe Biden and Democrats, who argue the GOP is using small pockets of violence to punish all forms of protest and critics of police misconduct."

• WFSU: Fried Hosts Meeting Highlighting Topics Left Off Cabinet Agenda. "The Florida Cabinet meets this morning for the first time since May. Yet, topics like voting rights, unemployment, and an update on the coronavirus aren’t on the agenda. Cabinet member and state Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried requested those issues be added on but she says Governor Ron DeSantis decided to leave them off. So Fried hosted what she calls a ‘cupboard’ meeting Monday to discuss them."

• St. Augustine Record ($): City sees worst nor'easter in decades. "A nor'easter that's still blowing through St. Johns County looked more like a brush with a hurricane in some areas over the weekend and on Monday."

• Pensacola News Journal ($): Homeowners struggle to reach Skanska as new aerial images show at least 20 barges displaced by Hurricane Sally. "Imagery compiled Friday and Saturday by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration show at least 20 barges scattered across the region. Some are lodged on the properties of homeowners near Pensacola Bay and others are in Milton, Gulf Breeze and many other spots across the greater Pensacola area."

• WUWF: Escambia Schools To Open Wednesday. "Five days after Hurricane Sally came ashore on the Florida-Alabama Gulf Coast, dumping more than 20 inches of rain, schools in Santa Rosa, Okaloosa and Walton counties reopened (Monday). However, Escambia County schools remain closed until Wednesday."

• WUFT News: How Schools In Florida’s Top School District Are Trying To Stay Safe During COVID-19. "St. Johns County is rated the number one school district in Florida for academics, and it has worked to provide a similarly positive example for safety as schools reopened during the past three weeks."

• WLRN: Proposed Miami-Dade Property Buyouts Come To Unexpected Places. "Unlike buyouts in the Florida Keys, where all the properties are within a short walk to the shoreline, nine out of the 10 proposed buyouts in Miami-Dade lie west of South Dixie Highway, the main thoroughfare that runs north to south along South Florida’s coastal ridge. Properties slated for buyouts due to repetitive flooding in Miami-Dade extend miles inland."

• WMFE: What Does It Mean Now That Bethune Cookman University Is Off Probation? "Bethune Cookman University is finally off probation from its accrediting agency, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission. It’s a big step forward for the university after almost 2 years of financial issues."

• Associated Press: Florida decision likely clears Patriots owner of soliciting sex. "Florida prosecutors said Monday that they won’t appeal a court’s decision blocking video that allegedly shows New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft paying for massage parlor sex, making it likely the charges against him will be dropped."

From NPR News

• Investigations: Gasping For Air: Autopsies Reveal Troubling Effects Of Lethal Injection

• Science: CDC Publishes — Then Withdraws — Guidance On Aerosol Spread Of Coronavirus

• Politics: Trump Plans To Announce Supreme Court Nominee By The End Of The Week

• Race: Black Protest Leaders To White Allies: 'It's Our Turn To Lead Our Own Fight'

• Business: Rural Hospitals Teeter On Financial Cliff As COVID-19 Medicare Loans Come Due

• National: Step Aside Election 2000: This Year's Election May Be The Most Litigated Yet

• National: Ohio Dad Figures Out Socially Distant Trick Or Treating

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.