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The top stories near you

• WUFT News: Gainesville Will Build A New Road Paralleling I-75 In The Coming Years, But First It Needs The Land. "The path to a new north-south corridor on Gainesville’s western edge is, for the moment, paved with land acquisition hurdles. The Florida Department of Transportation and City of Gainesville plan to construct a new road that will extend Southwest 62nd Boulevard to Clark Butler Boulevard. It is currently scheduled to begin in the winter of 2021 and be completed in early 2023. The project also includes the repaving of 62nd Boulevard between Newberry Road and Southwest 20th Avenue, set to begin in the first quarter of 2021."

• WUFT News: UF Researchers Turn To Sewage To Monitor COVID-19 On Campus. "A new research project could allow university and city officials to trace asymptomatic individuals with – you didn’t guess it – feces and urine sampling. University of Florida researchers are testing wastewater samples for the presence of the virus that causes COVID-19, potentially helping to identify hotspots of the virus on campus — even among asymptomatic people. But nearly six weeks into the semester, cases on campus are too widespread for the results to provide a clear indicator of where exactly hotspots are developing."

• Gainesville Sun ($): Gainesville homicide, shootings on the rise. "Violent crime — homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated assault — is up 9.82% from the same period last year. Within that category, rapes have been fewer. Homicides are especially startling — six this year compared with one last year. Property crimes have decreased 9.3% overall including home burglaries and theft. But auto theft and car burglaries are up."

• Ocala Star-Banner ($): Campbell, Conrad face off to fill Marion school board seat. "Ocala businesswoman Allison B. Campbell, owner of A&A Campbell Group, says there are too many educators on the school board, which needs diversity ... Teacher Lori Conrad, a 25-year veteran Dr. N.H. Jones Elementary School teacher, says her frontline experience in the classroom during the COVID-19 pandemic will be needed as the district navigates in-person and online instruction for the rest of 2020-21."

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Around the state today

• Associated Press: Server Configuration Caused Florida Voter Registration Crash. "Florida’s chief information officer said Wednesday that misconfigured computer servers were to blame for the crash of the state’s voter registration system as the deadline approached for enrolling to cast ballots in next month’s presidential election."

• WPLG: Florida passes 15,000 deaths from COVID-19, reports 2,582 new cases. "Florida reported an increase of 2,582 cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, along with 137 additional residents’ deaths."

• Sun Sentinel ($): Danger Road: Politicians leave Florida’s busiest highway unprotected. "Legislators and a host of governors have long ignored the danger on I-95, while the state approved dedicated patrols for other highways, including Florida’s Turnpike and Alligator Alley on Interstate 75. Even the less deadly Interstate 4 in Central Florida got its own unit of troopers 16 years ago."

• Politico: Florida and FBI huddle to game worst-case Election Day scenarios. "The tabletop exercise came less than 48 hours after Florida’s registration portal crashed under the weight of heavy traffic hours before an Oct. 5 deadline. An initial review did not show any outside interference or 'malicious activity' affecting the site, (Secretary of State Laurel) Lee said in a statement Tuesday."

• The 19th: In Florida, a $15 minimum wage amendment could benefit women the most. "In Florida, 1.4 million women would benefit from a minimum wage hike, compared to 1.1 million men, according to  an analysis by the Florida Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank. Passing Amendment 2 could help narrow the gap between what men and women are paid — in Florida, women earn  85 centsfor every $1 men earn, a little better than the national average of 82 cents on the male $1."

• Bay News 9: Disney World to Lay Off 8,800 Part-Time Union Workers. "However, as part of the agreement, 5,299 full-time workers who were set to be laid off will get to keep their jobs."

• Tampa Bay Times ($): Training on LGBTQ awareness is coming to private schools taking state money. "Equality Florida will team up with Step Up For Students, a nonprofit that helps administer five such programs, to teach the schools how to create a culture of inclusion and diminish the bullying, harassment and other factors that LGBTQ youth often encounter. The four-year initiative will be supported by $1 million in private donations."

• Palm Beach Post ($): Principal who refused to call Holocaust a fact is rehired, given back pay. "Board members voted 4-3 to reinstate former Spanish River High School principal William Latson and give him $152,000 in back pay, accepting a recommendation from an administrative law judge."

• Sarasota Herald-Tribune ($): Sarasota School Board ramps up security after recent protests at meetings. "After two Sarasota County School Board meetings where opponents to district policies have shown up in large groups, the board voted Tuesday night to give the superintendent authority to install greater security measures."

• NPR News: 'Let My People Vote' Tells Of One Man's Journey To Getting 1.4 Million Back A Voice. "Desmond Meade's 'Let My People Vote: My Battle to Restore the Civil Rights of Returning Citizens' is a compelling story about one man's rise from addiction, homelessness, and prison to run a successful campaign to re-enfranchise more than one million Florida voters."

• Miami Herald ($): South Florida rapper accused of buying Ferrari with federal COVID-19 relief money. "For his part in one of the country’s largest coronavirus relief schemes, South Florida rapper and reality star Diamond Blue Smith has been charged with fleecing more than $1 million from a federal loan program for struggling businesses and buying a $96,000 Ferrari with the proceeds."

From NPR News

• Politics: 4 Takeaways From The Mike Pence - Kamala Harris Vice Presidential Debate

• Politics:The VP Debate Is Over. What’s Next?

• Science: Ironic Twist: In Spring Trump Halted Research Key To COVID-19 Drug He's Now Taken

• National: Trump Back In Oval Office As Doctor Says His Vitals Remain Stable

• Health: Latest COVID-19 Vaccine Timetable Doesn't Include Election Day

• Health: Could The Live Flu Vaccine Help You Fight Off COVID-19?

• Business: It's Not Goodbye, But Not Good Either: Ruby Tuesday Declares Bankruptcy

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.