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The Point, March 22, 2021: Never Say Never: The Story Of A Double Amputee Golfer In Ocala

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The top stories near you

• Nick Stilwell, of Ocala, became a double amputee because of an accident at 25 years old, but that hasn't stopped him in the dozen years since from becoming an adaptive athlete and avid golfer. The man who helped save his life in the minutes after the accident disappeared that night. One of our reporters helped to reunite them.

• WUFT News: UF Plans For A “Largely Normal” Summer B and Fall. "Life on campus might soon look much like it did before the pandemic. The University of Florida announced on Friday a plan to return to normal for the summer and fall semesters."

• WUFT News: Gainesville Completes Renovations On A. Quinn Jones Museum. "After two years, the plan to renovate the A. Quinn Jones Museum is complete. This week, Project Manager Peter McNiece announced the end of the construction. Wild Spaces and Public Places funded the $300,000 project. Construction took six months to complete."

• Gainesville Sun ($): UF reports detail more research animal mistreatment. "The use of a wrong procedure to cause traumatic brain injuries in mice and the accidental burning of a rat’s face were among the reports of mistreatment of research animals filed by the University of Florida."

• WCJB: Archer residents help restore 85-year-old veteran’s home. "John Cotman’s home was broken into after he was away for seven months. Since January, Brandon Neal and the Archer community have pulled together to make Cotman’s place feel like home again."

• Bay News 9: Governor's Office Sets Up Vaccinate Site for Rural Hernando County Residents. "The goal is to vaccinate as many people as possible, especially in the underserved community. And with help from the governor’s office, 3,000 Johnson & Johnson doses are being administered at the Ridge Manor Community Center."


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Around the state today

• WUSF: Florida Surpasses Two Million Coronavirus Cases. "Florida recorded its one millionth case nine months after the first was reported. It reached the two million mark a little over three and a half months after that."

• Associated Press: A rapid COVID-19 vaccine rollout backfired in some US states. "A surprising new analysis found that states such as South Carolina and Florida that raced ahead of others to offer the vaccine to ever-larger groups of people have vaccinated smaller shares of their population than those that moved more slowly and methodically, such as Hawaii and Connecticut."

• Associated Press: Critics: Doctor’s note for vaccine unfairly penalizing poor. "Gov. Ron DeSantis recently also opened it up for younger people with health conditions to get the jab at other vaccination sites, including pharmacies and community centers, but they’re required to have their doctor fill out a standard state form."

• Miami Herald ($): Black leaders react to South Beach spring break curfew, crackdown: ‘unnecessary force.’ "After weeks of uninhibited partying on South Beach by spring breakers, police turned away throngs of people — many of them Black — from world-famous Ocean Drive with a SWAT truck, pepper balls and sound cannons."

• WLRN: Planners Say Time Is Running Out To Prep South Florida's Aging Flood Control System For Sea Rise. "Planners and water managers took their fight to regional planners Friday as they struggle to update the 70-year-old sprawling flood control system, that stretches from Central to South Florida, to accommodate heavier rainfall and rising seas fueled by climate change."

• Miami Herald/Sun Sentinel ($): Miles of Florida roads face ‘major problem’ from sea rise. Is state moving fast enough? "While simply acknowledging the risk represents a sea change in government leadership in Florida, there are already questions if the state has started too late and whether it can move fast enough to keep up with the rising water."

• News Service of Florida: Florida Democrats Call For New Senate Election; GOP Says No. "Florida Democrats are demanding that a state senator resign and a special election be held after a prosecutor charged a former Republican legislator with fraud related to a razor-thin Miami-Dade County race last year."

• TCPalm ($): Is Donald Trump still president? On some Republican websites across Florida, the answer is yes. "At least 10 local Republican Party websites across Florida continue to show Donald Trump as the current president of the United States, more than four months after he lost the election to Joe Biden."

• First Coast News: St. Augustine museum reveals its own slave secrets for the first time. "A room at the top of the stairs in an old house held secrets that haven’t been told until now. That house is part of the Ximenez -Fatio House Museum."


From NPR News

• National: For Asian American Women, Misogyny And Racism Are Inseparable, Sociologist Says

• National: 4 Proud Boys Charged With Conspiracy Over Jan. 6 Capitol Riot

• Politics: COVID-19 Outbreak Forces Idaho Legislature To Close Its Doors For Weeks

• Health: More Black And Latinx Americans Are Embracing COVID-19 Vaccination

• Health: Coronavirus FAQs: Does Smoking Blunt The Vaccine? What About Painkillers?

• Science: Next Pandemic: Scientists Fear Another Coronavirus Could Jump From Animals To Humans

• Business: After A Year Of Mostly Cancellations, Bookings Are Back For Many Event Venues

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