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The top stories near you

• WUFT News: Employers Struggle To Fill Openings As Florida Unemployment Benefits Continue Until The End of June. "Beginning on June 27, Florida will no longer provide the Pandemic Unemployment Benefits of $300 per week. Under the new rules established on May 30, those collecting this type of unemployment must search for jobs weekly and submit these searches to the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity. Despite these changes, many employers are still struggling." Listen to today's episode of our podcast for an interview with the reporter behind this story.

• WMFE: UF Hospitals In The Villages And Leesburg Revert To Paper Records After Cyberattack. "A spokesman says they’ve gone back to the days before digital records and are focused on 'people taking care of people.' The University of Florida itself and its other hospitals were not affected."

• Gainesville Sun ($): Rezoning plans on hold as schools focus on influx of federal money. "When Alachua County School's Carlee Simon became superintendent, the first task on her agenda was to rezone the school district. However, due to the expectation that some $90 million in federal money is coming to the county school system, she's shelving that task — at least for another year, if not longer."

• WUFT News: Resolution Reached In 2019 Shooting At Butler Plaza Walmart Parking Lot. "Almost two years later, the botched drug-deal-turned-shooting that took place at the Walmart at Butler Plaza in Gainesville has concluded with four sentencings."

• CBS4: Patient died at Malcom Randall VA after "Deficient" care, federal investigation finds. "A patient had surgery at the Malcom Randall VA last summer. According to the report, the 10th day after surgery, the patient called reporting abdominal pain. It says he arrived to the Emergency Department on the 15th day after surgery, was triaged, and returned to the waiting room. 'Just over an hour after the patient arrived at the facility's Emergency Department, the patient fell forward out of a chair and a code blue was initiated,' the report says. The patient died later that day."

• Ocala Star-Banner ($): Marion County's property value hits a record high of $24.14 billion. "A commercial and residential construction boom, which continued during last year despite the pandemic, helped boost Marion County’s 2021 property value to the highest level ever, according to a preliminary estimate released Wednesday."

• Atrium Magazine: A Misfit And His Mustang: One Florida Cowboy Takes His Horse From Wild To Winner. "Joseph Richards (of Fort White) was 16 years old when he trained his first mustang. The boy and his horse had much to learn in a short amount of time. In just 90 days, Joseph had to transform the wild horse — entirely unfamiliar with humans — into a winner at his first mustang training competition.”

• WTSP-Tampa Bay: FHP: Driver accused of hitting man walking a road in Weeki Wachee, dumping his remains at back of bait shop in Spring Hill. "A pedestrian, identified as a 32-year-old man from Spring Hill, was walking in the road when 28-year-old Joseph Charles Strickland hit him with his red 1995 Mazda MX-6, according to a release. Troopers say Strickland drove the man's remains to the back of the Dixie Lee Bait shop on Evanston Street in Spring Hill."

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Around the state today

• NPR News: Confederate Names On Schools Are Flashpoints. Here's One Community's Story. "In the wake of the upheaval and protests sparked by the murder of George Floyd, passionate debates ignited in American communities about what to do with the remnants of the Civil War. One such debate has left Jacksonville, Fla., divided."

• News Service of Florida: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Signs 24 Bills Into Law. "The new laws include the creation of a 10-member task force to study unmarked and abandoned African-American cemeteries (HB 37); an effort to crack down on 'swatting' by establishing felony charges for falsely reporting a crime in which a police response results in death or great bodily harm (HB 371); and a requirement that school districts notify parents they can exempt children from lessons on reproductive health or any disease, including HIV/AIDS (HB 545)."

• CBS Miami: 3 Dead, At Least 5 Hurt When Gunmen Open Fire On Graduation Party In Kendall. "Sunday morning’s shooting comes on the heels of a recent rash of shootings in Miami-Dade County. Memorial Day Weekend was one of the most violent in recent history."

• Orlando Sentinel ($): Orange County Mayor Demings ends state of emergency: ‘We are back on course to destination greatness!’ "With the threat of COVID-19 fading, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings opened his third annual state-of-the-county address Friday by announcing the official end to the state of emergency he imposed March 13, 2020 to help fight the spread of coronavirus."

• Associated Press: Florida Gov. DeSantis Signs Military-Friendly Bills. "Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed two bills Friday aimed at helping veterans transition to the civilian workforce and a third that helps children of active military members adjust to new schools."

• News Service of Florida: Florida courts to drop mask, distancing requirements. "The order came as COVID-19 case numbers have subsided and vaccinations have become readily available."

• WTSP-Tampa Bay: City commissioner arrested, accused of removing 11-year-old from home, threatening child with gun. "A Lake Wales city commissioner has been arrested after deputies say she removed an 11-year-old child from his home without permission and threatened him with a gun."

From NPR News

• Health: A New Type Of COVID-19 Vaccine Could Debut Soon

• Health: Want To Mix 2 Different COVID-19 Vaccines? Canada Is Fine With That

• Race: The USDA Is Set To Give Black Farmers Debt Relief. They've Heard That One Before

• World: The Ship Sinking Off Sri Lanka Looks Like A Lasting Environmental Disaster

• World: Normandy Commemorates D-Day With Small Crowds, But A Big Heart

• World: Meghan And Prince Harry Welcome Their Second Child, Lilibet 'Lili' Diana

• National: How UFO Sightings Went From Conspiracy Theory To A Serious Government Inquiry

• Business: Trump Suspended From Facebook For 2 Years

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.