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The Point, April 13, 2021: What Hawthorne's Industry Park Could Mean For The Small City

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The top stories near you

• WUFT News: Hawthorne Industry Park Moves A Step Closer To Boosting City’s Economy, Workforce. "The Hawthorne Industry Park, annexed by the city in 2015, is a 634-acre plot of land off U.S. Highway 301 and State Road 20, that city officials hope will bring much-needed jobs to the area."

• Mainstreet Daily News: What's up with those caterpillars everywhere? "If you spend any time outdoors at all these days, a caterpillar—or two or three—will probably end up crawling on your arm, your head, your shoe or your car. According to local experts, these caterpillars that come in shades of gray, yellow and other colors are future tussock moths and they are abundant this year."

• WUFT News: Citrus County Water Use Averages Decrease With Watering Restrictions. "Citrus County implemented watering restrictions in response to high irrigation demand in June 2020. Months later, water use averages are down, nearing compliance with the county’s water use permit goal."

• WUFT News: After 10 Years, Gainesville’s Heartwood Subdivision Completes First Home. "Daniel Gil, the project manager, said the Heartwood subdivision shows a lot of promise for what could be done in the east side of Gainesville."

• The Alligator: UF student in coma after being hit by car. "Wolverton will require facial reconstructive surgery, CAT scans, MRIs and other procedures to recover, according to a GoFundMe page created by Wolverton’s fraternity, Beta Theta Pi."

• Gainesville Sun: Citations, speeders increase on University Avenue. "STEP data for University Avenue from last week show that drivers received 34 more warnings, eight more citations and two more speeders than the week prior. For the first time since the program began, all categories saw an increase." 

• WCJB TV20: Teachers & K-12 support staff push back against bill over concerns about pension security. "They believe Senate Bill 84 will cause them to lose something they were promised, their defined benefits pension. Instead, new employees would have to enroll in a 401(k) style retirement plan."


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Around the state today

• WFLA: Decrease in Johnson and Johnson vaccine shipments expected to impact Florida this week. "The country is bracing for a slowdown with Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccine shipments this week after 15 million doses of the vaccine had to be tossed out due to an ingredient mix-up."

• Florida Politics: Report: Florida home to three-quarters of U.S. property insurance lawsuits. "Insurance Commissioner David Altmaier said the trend is not new.
A new report from the state’s Office of Insurance Regulation found Florida accounted for over 76% of all homeowners’ litigation in the United States in 2019."

• WFTS-Tampa Bay: City of Tampa among 18,000 targets of SolarWinds hack; exposing government data, personal info. "The list of SolarWinds customers includes 425 of the U.S. Fortune 500 companies, the 10 largest telecommunications companies, all five branches of the military, the office of the U.S. President and hundreds of universities."

• WJCT: Federal Aid Available To Help Pay For Funerals Of Those Who Have Died From COVID-19. "Under the program, up to $9,000 in federal aid is available for COVID-19 related funeral expenses incurred after January 20, 2020."

• Orlando Weekly: Amway Center hopes to be open at 100% capacity in August. "The Amway Center is the latest space to announce its working toward a fully post-pandemic operation in the next few months. The arena claims it hopes to be back at 100% capacity by the end of August."

• News Service of Florida: Policing Changes Stalled As Florida Legislative Session Winds Down. "After the Florida Legislative Black Caucus rolled out a slew of policing reform bills in February, many of the measures have not been heard in committees as time winds down on the 60-day legislative session."

• NPR: Without Cruise Ships, Key West Residents Are Enjoying A Quieter, Clearer Harbor. "In Key West, Fla., which has been long dependent on tourism, local officials have noticed cleaner water and fewer crowds."

• CBS Miami: Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried Issues Warning After 110 Card Skimmers Found At South Florida Gas Stations. "Fried said Florida has the highest rate of fraud per capita, citing 251 skimmers found in the state. Of those 251, 110 were found in South Florida."

• Herald-Tribune: DeSantis blasts YouTube for taking down COVID-19 video over misinformation concerns. "The YouTube take-down gave DeSantis, whose star is rising nationally in Republican politics, his second opportunity in as many weeks to turn his anger on major media."

• Politico: DeSantis continues to pull in millions for reelection campaign. "He has raised more than $11.3 million over the last six-and-a-half months — but about half of it flowed in since state legislators started their work."

• WFSU: Environmentalists Say Bill To Boost Communities' Resiliency To Sea Level Rise, Flooding Could Be Conversation Starter On Climate Change. "Environmentalists say the bill is a step in the right direction but say more needs to be done to address the root cause of climate change."

• WTSP Tampa: Environmentalists Say Bill To Boost Communities' Resiliency To Sea Level Rise, Flooding Could Be Conversation Starter On Climate Change. "Environmentalists say the bill is a step in the right direction but say more needs to be done to address the root cause of climate change."

• CBS Miami: Wynwood Comes Alive On First Night Countywide Curfew Is Lifted.  "A party bus full of people, with drinks in hand, pedaled down NW 2 Avenue. Hordes of people walked the streets – most of them tourist. At first glance, it would appear that some things never changed."


From NPR News

• National: Officer Who Fatally Shot Daunte Wright With 'Accidental Discharge' Is Identified

• National: Chauvin Trial Judge Denies Request For Jury Sequestration After Police Shooting

• National: WATCH: George Floyd's Brother Testifies In Derek Chauvin Trial

• National: Would You Use An App To Verify Your Vaccine Status? The Idea Is Here To Stay

• National: 'What Is That In The Sky?' Floridians Catch Meteor's Close Brush With Earth

 

About today's curator

I’m Sky Lebron, a multimedia producer and Morning Edition newscaster at WUFT. I’ve lived in Florida my entire life, originally hailing from Broward County before eventually moving up here to attend UF. I believe Florida is a reporter’s dream, because there are so many fantastic stories to tell. From state politics, to the environment, to character-driven stories, this state has it all, and I think it’s a great honor to help curate these stories for our audience. If you have any feedback about today’s edition or ideas for stories we may have missed, contact me at slebron30@ufl.edu.

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