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The top stories near you

• WUFT News: Gainesville LGBTQ Advocacy Groups Hold Transgender Day Of Remembrance Vigil. "With quaking voices and gripping handfuls of paper on the Bo Diddley Plaza stage in Gainesville, Jami Claire and Teresa Mercado slowly recited the names of 356 transgender people whose lives were lost to violence in the past year."

• WUFT News: After A Pandemic Delay, Gainesville City Commission Nears Approval Of Electric Scooter Sharing Program. "The Gainesville City Commission is nearing approval of an ordinance regulating the use of a  new e-scooter sharing program nearly two years after it was  first proposed."

• Associated Press: Florida pauses hoops over virus. "The Gators will not play this week’s scheduled games against UMass Lowell and No. 4 Virginia in a tournament at the Mohegan Sun resort in Connecticut."

• The Alligator: UF plans to provide students and staff with free COVID-19 vaccines when they’re widely available. "When a vaccine is approved for public use, experts say frontline workers and vulnerable populations will likely receive it first, as it will be in limited supply. But once it’s more widely available, UF plans to provide the vaccine to students and staff on an appointment-only basis, wrote UF Health spokesperson Ken Garcia in an email."

• The Alligator: Thousands of UF students travel home for Thanksgiving, doctors warn of the consequences. "Despite this, at least thousands of UF students are traveling home for the holiday and hundreds partied in groups over the weekend. A group of UF Health doctors staged a demonstration to pass out masks and raise awareness of the dangers of COVID-19 to bargoers."

• WUFT News: Gainesville Opportunity Center, Using 'Clubhouse' Model To Combat Mental Illness, Opens New Facility. "The Gainesville Opportunity Center focuses on helping adults with severe mental illness. They are known there as members – and are preparing to more readily reenter the workforce. The center has been around since 2007, but last week it held a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate its new facility on Northwest 14th Avenue. After renting space on Northeast 10th Avenue, funding increases enabled it to buy its own 3,038-square-foot facility."

• WUFT News: Reopening of Gainesville Fine Arts Association Helps Struggling Local Artists. "After temporarily closing due to the pandemic, the Gainesville Fine Arts Association is now open and local artists can physically display their work."

• WUFT News: Marion County Announces 2021 Principal And Assistant Principal Of The Year. "The principal of Liberty Middle School in Southwest Marion County, Melissa Forsyth, was named the 2021 Marion County Principal of the Year. ... Marion Oaks Elementary’s assistant principal, Rebecca Miller, was named the county’s Assistant Principal Of The Year for 2021. "

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Around the state today

• Associated Press: Florida’s Sen. Rick Scott Has Coronavirus, ‘Very Mild Symptoms,’ Tells People To ‘Wear A Mask.’ "He’s the second senator, along with Iowa’s Chuck Grassley, and at least the eighth member of Congress to announce a positive test this week."

• Florida Politics: Court puts halt on local conversion therapy bans in Florida. "A three-judge panel at the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 decision ruled the ordinances were 'content-based regulations of speech that cannot survive strict scrutiny.'"

• New York Times ($): Fatal Shooting of 2 Black Teenagers by Florida Deputy Is Under Investigation. "Relatives are demanding answers about the shooting deaths of Angelo Crooms, 16, and Sincere Pierce, 18, by a sheriff’s deputy in Cocoa, Fla."

• Tampa Bay Times ($): DeSantis and Bondi disappear as Trump’s election challenges grow desperate and chaotic. "As Trump’s legal efforts have been defeated in court, repeatedly, DeSantis has been silent. His Twitter feed instead includes announcements about the coronavirus vaccine and an extension of the state’s red snapper season."

• Sarasota Herald-Tribune ($): Pandemic prompting Florida leaders to look to online sales for tax cash. "Florida’s finances are in their worst shape since the Great Recession. But an effort gaining strength at the Capitol could help plug a gaping budget hole by demanding that online sellers begin collecting Florida sales tax and turning it over to the state."

• Tallahassee Democrat ($): Results of first-ever online Florida bar exam are in. "The test given last month had to be delayed several times as scheduling and technical glitches were worked out."

From NPR News

• Health: Public Officials Campaign To Keep People Home For Thanksgiving

• Health: 1,000 U.S. Hospitals Are 'Critically' Short On Staff — And More Expect To Be Soon

• National: 'Slow Down,' 'Don't Quit': Advice From 7 Women Who Overcame Their Pandemic Struggles

• National: Farmers Are Warming Up To The Fight Against Climate Change

• National: Ice Bucket Challenge Co-Creator Dies At 37

• National: Ben Carson Says He Was 'Desperately Ill' With The Coronavirus

• Politics: Trump Appointee Unconstitutionally Interfered With VOA, Judge Rules

• Politics: Pennsylvania GOP Sen. Toomey Says Trump Should Accept Election Loss

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.