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Today's top Florida stories
• Panama City News Herald ($): DeSantis: COVID vaccine could be available to all Florida residents in April. "He noted that demand for the vaccine was slowing, indicating that in the coming weeks it could be possible to administer shots to anyone who wanted them."
• Miami Herald ($): Former senator Artiles paid no-party candidate more than $40K, arrest warrant charges. "The details surrounding a political whodunit involving a former Miami GOP state senator, a mysterious no-party candidate and an alleged scheme to sway the outcome of a key Florida Senate race came pouring out Thursday in a 25-page affidavit."
• Washington Post ($): Biden expected to nominate former senator Bill Nelson to be NASA administrator. "If approved by the Senate, Nelson would be the second consecutive NASA chief to come from Congress and would give NASA a leader with close ties to the Oval Office. Nelson was a key Biden supporter during the presidential campaign and has a long personal relationship with the president."
• WLRN: We Use Artificial Intelligence In Our Online Searches, Why Not Use It To Fight Florida's Invasive Plants? "High-wire cameras and eventually drones and satellites could then be used to identify the plants on much larger scales, solving one of the trickiest problems in protecting the inhospitable swamps where vast swaths remain uncharted for invasive plants."
• Florida Politics: Gov. DeSantis defends omission of inmates in vaccine rollout. "'We are focusing obviously on our law-abiding population first,' the Republican governor said. 'As the vaccine becomes more available, that’s something that we’d be happy to look at.'"
• News Service of Florida: Bill Would Give $100 Million A Year To Fight Flooding. "Republican House Speaker Chris Sprowls of Palm Harbor is promoting the bill, which he says will protect three-quarters of the state's residents living along the coasts."
• Mainstreet Daily News: Split school board approves $175K superintendent salary. "A divided School Board of Alachua County (SBAC) voted this week to fast track Superintendent Dr. Carlee Simon from an interim employee to a full-time employee to an employee with a $15,000 raise after three months on the job."
• WTSP: Weeki Wachee Springs State Park re-opening Thursday. "Weeki Wachee Springs State Park announced it was closing in March 2020 when Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered all Florida State Parks to shut down to prevent to spread of COVID-19."
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From NPR News
• National: Hundreds Of Migrant Children Held In Border Detention For More Than 10 Days
• National: FBI Asks Public For Help Identifying Capitol Riot Suspects Seen Attacking Police
• National: Authorities: It Is Too Early To Say If Atlanta Killings Are Hate Crimes
• National: Biden Orders U.S. Flags At Half-Staff In Wake Of Atlanta Spa Shootings
• World: Europeans Are Divided Over The Issue Of Vaccine Passports
• Science: One Of Biden's Biggest Climate Change Challenges? The Oceans
• Politics: Senate Confirms Xavier Becerra To Head Health And Human Services
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.