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Today's top Florida stories
• Fresh Take Florida: Florida Police Raid Home Of Pandemic Whistleblower In Investigation Of Illicit Message Transmitted Over Government Network. "Escalating a simmering political feud over Florida’s handling of the pandemic, state police seized computers inside the Tallahassee home of a self-described health department whistleblower as part of a criminal investigation into whether she transmitted an unauthorized warning over a government message service."
• WTSP: Can I be forced to get the COVID-19 vaccine by my employer? "Employers can host vaccine events as they do for flu shots, encouraging all employees to get them and legally could require it, although employees can file exemptions for many reasons."
• Spectrum News: New UF Study Finds Fewer COVID-19 Complications in Patients With Flu Shots. "What (researchers) found was that people who weren’t up to date on their flu vaccine were two and a half times more likely to go to the hospital from complications from the virus."
• WUFT News: Texan With Lots of Small City Government Experience Is High Springs’ New City Manager. "Ashley Stathatos says she was drawn from Texas to High Springs because of its downtown area, and because she believes its city leaders already have great ideas in place for moving forward. ... The High Springs City Commission recently hired Stathatos to replace Joel DeCoursey Jr. as city manager."
• WJCT: Report: Florida Has Second Highest Risk Of Evictions In Nation. "A new report finds 15.6% of Florida’s renting households are at risk of eviction in the next two months. That compares to a national risk of eviction rate of 8.4%, according to AdvisorSmith, a small business research website."
• Miami Herald ($): Miami Herald names Monica Richardson first Black executive editor in paper’s history. "Monica R. Richardson, currently the senior managing editor of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, will join the Miami Herald Jan. 1 as its top editor, according to a McClatchy news release. Richardson will be the first Black executive editor in the Herald’s 117-year history."
• Florida Politics: Cynthia Chestnut throws her hat into the ring for Florida Democratic Party chair. "The Gainesville Democrat currently serves as Democratic Party of Alachua County chair. She has held a number of public offices through the years as well, and was the first Black woman elected to the Gainesville City Commission and as Mayor-Commissioner there. She was also the first Black state Representative for Alachua, Marion or Putnam counties and the first Black woman elected to the Alachua County Commission."
• WCJB: Fundraisers set up for family of mother, infant shot and killed in Gainesville. "Community leaders have set up fundraisers to help cover the funeral costs of Shelby Mathis, 26, and her three-month-old son, Gideon. Mathis and her infant son were shot and killed in Northeast Gainesville on Friday."
• NPR News: With Fall Graduation Off, But Football Still On, Students Question College Priorities. "A Florida State University petition suggests a venue change: 'All 2020 football season, FSU has been hosting limited-capacity games. Less than 3,000 students will be graduating from Florida State University in December 2020. Doak Campbell Stadium can hold 79,560 occupants. This is more than enough space to safely host a commencement ceremony for our graduates.'"
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From NPR News
• Health: What Changes Minds About Masks? In This Small Town, It Was A Child's Death
• Politics: Biden Expected To Nominate Gen. Lloyd Austin As Defense Secretary
• Politics: Biden Names Massachusetts Doctor To Lead CDC
• National: Pilot Chuck Yeager Dies At 97, Had 'The Right Stuff' And Then Some
• National: Michigan Secretary Of State Says Armed Protesters Descended On Her Home Saturday
• Business: U.S. Judge Halts Trump's TikTok Ban, The 2nd Court To Fully Block The Action
• Education: 'Fauci Effect' Drives Record Number Of Medical School Applications
• World: 'Emotional But Rational': Ikea Discontinues Its Long-Running Catalog
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.