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Today's top Florida stories

• Florida Politics: Special Session on Seminole Compact: How we got here. "Another Special Session starts Monday, to try to sort out decades of disputes over gambling in Florida that has many billions of dollars on the line. The pot keeps building, and this year the stakes have never been higher."

• WFTS-Tampa Bay: Publix ends mask requirement for vaccinated people, per CDC guidance. "People who are not fully vaccinated are required to use face coverings over their noses and mouths while inside any Publix store. How the grocery franchise plans to enforce the change or check for vaccination status remains unclear."

• Associated Press: Florida’s Amusement Parks Loosen Mask Wearing. "Visitors to Walt Disney World and Universal Studios-Orlando were allowed Saturday to remove their masks when outdoors, except when on attractions, in line or riding transportation."

• WUFT News: ‘I’m Leaving Behind Some Good Works’: Rev. Milford Griner Retiring After 37 Years. "A longtime community activist, Griner, 62, of Northeast Gainesville, is retiring as pastor of Freedom United Methodist Church after 37 years in service to the faith community."

• Gainesville Sun ($): Ralph Turlington, former Speaker of House, education commissioner, dies at 100. "He represented Alachua County for 24 years in the state Legislature and along with state Sen. William Shands and state Rep. Osee Fagan secured a huge prize for their hometown: the initial funding for a medical center at the University of Florida — now the statewide system known as UF Health."

• WUFT News: Rebekah Jones And The Consequences Of Whistleblowing. "She took a job as a geospatial analyst at the Florida Department of Health in 2018, soon rising to be a geographic information systems manager integral to tracking Hurricanes Matthew and Dorian. But soon, a new disaster emerged." Hear from the reporter behind this story in today's episode of our podcast.

• WFSU: Corcoran, Pittman Out; Blouin, McCullough, Piedimonte Advance In FSU Presidential Search. "Florida State University’s Presidential Search Committee is advancing three finalists for the job and none are lobbyists, politicians or currently employed with the school. Heading into Friday and Saturday’s candidate interviews, the search committee received a warning by the school’s accrediting agency that FSU could risk its accreditation if it advanced unqualified candidates or those with conflicts of interest—such as Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran, who has a spot on the Florida Board of Governors which oversees Florida’s public universities and has final say over university presidents."

• WUSF: Florida Is Getting Hotter And Wetter, According To New Climate Normals. "Every 10 years, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Center for Environmental Information updates what are called 'climate normals.' They're used as the basis for comparing today's weather to what we would normally expect to happen based on the past 30 years."

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From NPR News

• Health: Confused By CDC's Latest Mask Guidance? Here's What We've Learned

• Health: Vaccines In, Masks Off: Does This Mean It's Time To Go Back To The Office?

• Health: Walmart Drops Mask Mandate Following New CDC Guidelines

• Health: How Do We Know Whether People Without Masks Indoors Are Vaccinated?

• World: Israeli Airstrikes On Gaza Continue After Global Pro-Palestinian Protests

• Politics: House Lawmakers Reach Bipartisan Deal On Panel To Investigate Jan. 6 Attack

• Politics: Biden Dissolves Controversial Trump Orders On Race And Culture

• National: Inflation, Gas Shortage Highlight Peril That Could Threaten Biden's Agenda

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.