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The Point, Oct. 27, 2020: U.S. Senate Confirms Amy Coney Barrett To Supreme Court

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Today's top Florida stories

• Ocala Star-Banner ($): Here's the latest on the plane crash that killed Ocala Police Chief Greg Graham. "The funeral is scheduled for 10 a.m. Friday at First Baptist Church of Ocala. Details are still being arranged. On Tuesday, Graham's body will be taken from the Medical Examiner's Office in Leesburg to the Hiers-Baxley Funeral Home in Ocala. There will be a police escort every step of the way."

• WUFT News: ‘Rocky Horror Picture Show’ Returns To A Struggling High Dive. "After closing for six months due to COVID-19, High Dive, a music venue in Gainesville, is back open with its seventh annual production of 'Rocky Horror Picture Show.'"

• Gainesville Sun ($): ACPS chooses 40 organizations that will receive 'retired' bus. "The Alachua County Public Schools district office has completed its draw to select 40 organizations out of 150 applicants who requested one of the “retired'' buses that will be given away to either churches, nonprofits or governmental entities."

• WUWF: Mayor: Keep An Eye On Zeta. "With the Gulf Coast bracing for Hurricane Zeta, Pensacola Mayor Grover Robinson used part of his weekly news conference to urge residents to be on their guard."

• Pensacola News Journal ($): Pensacola begins removal of Confederate monument Monday. "An 8-foot statue of a Confederate soldier that overlooked Pensacola for 129 years is no longer atop the 50-foot monument to Confederate soldiers and leaders, and the rest of the monument will soon also be removed."

• Florida Politics: Rick Scott says tourists won’t come back to Florida until virus is in check. "The comments come as cases are on the upward swing in Florida and nationwide. On Monday, nearly 3,400 more cases were registered in Florida, with 20 more confirmed deaths from the pandemic, which has taken 16,449 lives."

• WJCT: St. Augustine's Fish Island Preserve Expected To Open To Public This Year. "Clean-up crews have collected five dumpsters' worth of trash and debris at Fish Island Preserve since the city took over management of it."

• St. Augustine Record ($): Castillo de San Marcos attendance lower than normal after reopening. "The inside of the fort has had about 500 visitors a day on weekdays and had about 800 on Saturday, said Steven Roberts, chief of interpretation, education and visitor service at the Castillo de San Marcos and Fort Matanzas National Monument... During its busier times of the year, the Castillo can see 5,000 visitors or more in a day inside, Roberts said."

• Sarasota Herald-Tribune ($): Parents sue Sarasota County School Board over requirement that students wear masks. "A group of Sarasota County parents has sued the Sarasota County School Board, arguing that its policy requiring children to wear masks while at school denies them their right to an equal education."

• Lakeland Ledger ($): Police: Polk man stole bulldozer, dug up yards to destroy Biden campaign signs. "A sea of political signs has flooded the Oakland community in Haines City after James Phillip Blight plowed through yards in a stolen front-end loader Saturday to rip up the Biden-Harris campaign signs that had been placed there."

• Sun Sentinel ($): Feeling the rage over COVID and politics: Nurses and teachers take a sledgehammer to their stress. "Since its debut in early October, the Smashit House has attracted stressed South Floridians — including a steady stream of medical workers, teachers and first responders — eager to pick up hammers and bats to assault small electronics, glass bottles and a life-size rubber figure named Bob."


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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.

Contact WUFT News by calling 352-392-6397 or emailing news @wuft.org