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The top stories near you
• WUFT News: Alachua County Public Schools Turn to HyFlex Learning During Pandemic. "The Alachua County PTA’s back-to-school survey found that social interaction and class involvement is a key concern. Teachers, families and students agree that the HyFlex model isn’t as successful, because teachers must split their attention between in-person and online."
• WUFT News: Alachua County To Receive Next $9M CARES Act Funding Wave. "Alachua County will receive $9 million more in state-provided COVID-19 funding, a sum on top of the $11 million it has had to work with since March."
• WUFT News: Alachua County Commission Votes To Dim Solar Plant Proposal. "With arguments ranging from considerations of environmental justice, wildlife impacts and even the possibility for sinkholes, affected residents pushed the county to deny the exception."
• WUFT News: UF Students Hold Protest Demanding Name Change For The Reitz Union. "Julius Wayne Reitz, the building’s namesake, served as UF’s fifth president, from 1955 to 1967, a 12-year period when the student population grew from 9,000 to 20,000. Reitz has been accused of racism due to his stance as a segregationist. He also allowed the Florida Legislative Investigating Committee, known by many as the Johns Committee, to accuse UF faculty and students of 'homosexual behavior.'"
• The Alligator: UF plans to hold more in-person classes in Spring. "In a Faculty Senate town hall Tuesday, UF Provost Joseph Glover committed to offering at least as many in-person class sections in the Spring as were offered in Spring 2020. The goal, he said, is to cater to student demand for on-site learning and move the university to a sense of normalcy."
• News4Jax: Federal judge eases limits on Corrine Brown pending appeal. "A federal judge granted a motion Tuesday to allow former congresswoman Corrine Brown to return to the same restrictions on her movements as before she was convicted of 18 charges of fraud and tax evasion in and sentenced to five years in prison."
• Florida Politics: Neal Dunn takes on ‘liberal extremists’ in his first ad of the 2020 cycle. "Florida’s 2nd Congressional District, which spans from Washington County to Levy County and includes part of Tallahassee, is a safe Republican seat."
• Reuters: More than 4 million Americans have already voted, suggesting record turnout. "The shift has been driven by an expansion of early and mail-in voting in many states as a safe way to cast a ballot during the coronavirus pandemic and an eagerness to weigh in on the political future of Trump, said Michael McDonald of the University of Florida, who administers the project."
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Around the state today
• NPR News: Florida Governor Extends Deadline After Voter Registration Site Crashes. "In a statement, Florida Secretary of State Laurel Lee said the state's online registration portal experienced 'unprecedented volume and traffic' of 1.1 million requests an hour Monday evening."
• WUSF: Florida Nears 15,000 COVID-19 Deaths, Positivity Rate At Almost Two-Week High. "(5.26%is ) the highest single-day level since Sept. 23. It's also the first day above 5%, a key reopening threshold agreed on by global health experts, since Sept. 30."
• Florida Storms: Hurricane Delta updates. "Hurricane Delta is hitting Cancun and Cozumel this morning as a compact, category 3 storm. By the time it reaches the U.S. Gulf Coast, it will likely be much larger in size and potentially spreading some indirect impacts as far east as Pensacola."
• WUFT News: 2020 Human Trafficking Summit Highlights Florida’s Ongoing Battle. "The number of human trafficking cases reported in Florida more than doubled from 2015 to 2019."
• Associated Press: FSU President Tests Positive For Virus, Isolating At Home. "John Thrasher received his test result Tuesday after his wife, Jean, was tested due to unrelated medical treatment, the Tallahassee-based university said in a statement. Both are feeling well, the school said."
• Panama City News Herald ($): Bay County approves borrowing additional $50 million for Hurricane Michael repairs. "The money will help the county continue its repair work while Federal Emergency Management Agency funds make their way here. With the new bond, the county has borrowed $300 million for recovery expenses since Michael devastated the area two years ago."
• Florida Politics: Wilton Simpson announces Tampa General contract for Session COVID-19 plan. "In an update to Senators on the chambers’ COVID-19 precautions for the upcoming Legislative Session, Senate President-Designate Wilton Simpson said Tampa General Hospital is developing a safety plan in collaboration with Senate staff."
• Sun Sentinel ($): School Board demands psychiatric records from Parkland parents. "The demand, contained in documents filed in lawsuits blaming the Broward school district for failing to identify and stop the threat posed by gunman Nikolas Cruz, has families of the victims enraged."
• Miami Herald ($): Trump tweets that he’s ‘looking forward’ to the Miami debate as he battles COVID-19. "It remained unclear Tuesday whether or how the Miami debate will be held. The event is scheduled as a town hall forum at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, with undecided voters at the venue asking questions directly of the president and the former vice president."
• Pensacola News Journal ($): 'You don't get a second chance': Local officials put Skanska on notice ahead of Hurricane Delta. "In a six-sentence emailed statement sent to the News Journal on Monday afternoon, Skanska said they were monitoring the storm but wouldn't go into details about how they were going to ensure they don't have a repeat of Sept. 16, when 23 of their barges broke loose during Hurricane Sally and ran aground in locations throughout Pensacola and Escambia bays."
• FLKeysNews ($): Key West’s police chief had ‘a lapse in judgment’ on moving day, the city manager says. "Key West’s police chief has been disciplined for having on-duty officers help him move into a new home in July 2019, the city manager said Tuesday night."
From NPR News
• Business: Fed's Jerome Powell Calls For More Economic Aid, Warning 'Weakness Feeds On Weakness'
• Politics: Trump Puts An Abrupt Halt To Coronavirus Relief Bill Talks
• Health: White House Adviser Stephen Miller Tests Positive For The Coronavirus
• Health: Secret Service Agents Frustrated With Trump's Unnecessary Coronavirus Risks
• Science: FDA Releases Long-Awaited COVID-19 Vaccine Guidance
• Science: Amid Global Troubles, MacArthur 'Genius Grant' Winners 'Provoke And Inspire'
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.