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The top stories near you

• News Service of Florida: Florida For Two Years Considered Adding More Toll Roads, And Now Much Of That Idea Is Likely Dead. "With little comment, the House Appropriations Committee supported the proposal (SB 100) to do away with much of the plan — dubbed the Multi-use Corridors of Regional Economic Significance, or M-CORES — pushed through in 2019 by then-Senate President Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton."

• WUFT News: Drop The Mask Mandate? Not Until 70% Are Vaccinated And Daily Local COVID Cases Are Under 10, Gainesville City Commissioners Decide. "Paul Myers, administrator of the Florida Department of Health in Alachua County, said he thinks Gainesville is making progress in flattening the curve, despite an increase of cases in January. Since then, hospitalizations have gone down significantly, Myers said, and over 82% of Alachua County’s 65 and older residents have been vaccinated."

• WUFT News: Gainesville City Leaders Now Have Two Years Of Pandemic-Era ‘Neighbor Surveys’ On Which To Base Future Decisions. "By conducting this survey, the city sought to find out how satisfied or not Gainesville residents are with various city services. The information gathered by the survey will be used to further guide the priorities and agenda of the commission and city government as a whole. ... The city spent about $38,000 to conduct this year’s survey."

• WUFT News: Age is Just a Number, At Least for Kathryn “Kitty” Williams. "Before the day begins at St. Francis Pet Care, Kathryn Williams has already performed myriad chores. ... At 75, she stands just about five-feet-tall. She’s slim and wears her hair in a buzz cut. She shuffles around, trying her best to stay out of everyone’s way. She loves animals and is a mother to two cats herself. Chris and Dash."

• Gainesville Sun ($): Police turn to scanning technology to identify suspects. "Critics say such database search technology can be a more invasive version of bad policing. Misidentifications occur, resulting in some people being wrongly arrested with all of the fallout — jail, loss of income, a mugshot that lives forever on the internet."

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Around the state today

• WFSU: School Board Term Limits Heads To House Floor With Uncertain Future. "A plan to term limit local school board members is still moving in the House following an affirmative vote in the chamber’s Education and Employment Committee Thursday. The measure has undergone changes, but that may not be enough to get it to the finish line."

• WFSU: Proposed Police Reform Measure Gets Bipartisan Support In Florida House. "Police reform proposals have been largely stagnant in the Florida Legislature following a summer of social justice protests. However, that has changed."

• First Coast News: Gateway vaccination site to start giving first doses of Pfizer Tuesday amid Johnson & Johnson 'pause.' "Just one week prior to the pause, the site switched over to using J&J shots exclusively. Now, first doses of the Pfizer vaccine will be offered again."

• News Service of Florida: President Biden Taps Former Florida Congresswoman Gwen Graham For Education Post. "President Joe Biden announced Friday that he plans to nominate former Florida Congresswoman Gwen Graham to serve as an assistant secretary in the U.S. Department of Education."

• Sun Sentinel ($): Democrats demand DeSantis set election to replace Alcee Hastings. "U.S. Reps. Charlie Crist, Ted Deutch, Lois Frankel and Debbie Wasserman Schultz said they miss their colleague, who had served more than 28 years before his April 6 death. They and other Democrats also miss his vote in the House, which Democrats control with few votes to spare."

• USA Today Network: Want public records? 'So sue me' seems to be state's attitude, First Amendment experts say. "The DeSantis administration's tactics have already resulted in several lawsuits filed by news organizations, which felt forced to take legal action to make the state comply with its own government transparency laws and provide records in a 'timely manner.'"

From NPR News

• Health: Coronavirus FAQ: You're Vaccinated. Cool! Now About Those 'Breakthrough' Infections...

• National: Oath Keepers Member Is 1st To Plead Guilty In Capitol Riot Investigation

• National: Life In The Roaring 2020s: Young People Prepare To Party, Reclaim Lost Pandemic Year

• Business: Big Union Loss At Amazon Warehouse Casts Shadow Over Labor Movement

• Investigations: A 'Worst Nightmare' Cyberattack: The Untold Story Of The SolarWinds Hack

• World: Prince Philip Is Memorialized In An Intimate Funeral Ceremony

• World: Putin Critic Alexei Navalny 'Could Die At Any Moment,' Doctor Says

• World: Cuba Without A Castro: The Island's Old Guard Exits The Stage

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.