Subscribe to The Point, arriving in your inbox Monday through Friday at 8 a.m.

The stories near you

• WUFT News: Gainesville City Commissioner Gail Johnson Announces Her Resignation. "Commissioner Gail Johnson announced her intention to resign from office at a special city commission meeting on Monday afternoon, saying she no longer wishes to be associated with the decisions of the commission or of City Manager Lee Feldman. She intends her last commission meeting to be the budget vote on Sept. 23."

• Ocala Gazette: COVID-19 keeps pummeling Marion County. "Locally, numbers released by the Florida Department of Health on Friday showed there were a total of 2,840 new cases in Marion County last week ... The positivity rate also jumped to 30% locally, compared to 19.8% for the state. Both are all-time highs for the area since the start of the pandemic."

• WMFE: Marion County Gets Another Drive-Through COVID-19 Testing Location. "The Marion County Health Department has announced a second drive-through COVID-19 testing location as cases continue to surge and demand has more than doubled at the existing test site."

• Citrus County Chronicle: Citrus County COVID vaccinations on slow rise, infections stall, for now. "Audrey Stasko, spokeswoman for the Department of Health in Citrus County, said vaccinations are up as 'people are continuing to heed the warnings ... and learning about the Delta variant and how quickly it’s spreading.' But Stasko warned that people should not let down their guard because of hopeful infection data during just one week."

• WFLA-Tampa: ‘Dire situation’: Nature Coast EMS concerned COVID, low pay could interrupt service. "A combination of COVID and poor compensation is taking a toll on EMS workers in Citrus County. That’s why administrators with Nature Coast EMS, the county’s non-profit ambulance provider, say they plan to ask the county for more federal dollars to bring EMS workers’ salaries more in line with others in the area."

• The Alligator: Former ACPS teacher accused of touching students still employed by district. "In August, social media posts sharing the teacher’s disciplinary record circulated around the Gainesville and Alachua County community. Many elementary school parents believe justice hasn’t been served."

• WCJB: “I think it is coming up out of the ground”: Dixie County homes & roads continue to flood. "Dixie County commissioners said they are working to mitigate the issues related to the extensive flooding in parts of the county, which includes creating a task force to clean out waterways to help the water flow freely."

Today's sponsored message

We focus our legal attention on these practice areas: • Family Law • Business law • Estate Planning • Probate • Guardianship

Visit  lawyergainesville.com or call 352-373-3334 today to learn more.

Around the state

• WFSU: Day 1 Of School Mask Trial Focuses On Delta Variant Transmission. "DeSantis’ administration has sought to stop school districts from mandating students wear face coverings amid growing concern about kids — once thought largely immune to the virus — becoming sicker."

• WUSF: Florida Records 726 COVID Deaths In Weekend Report From CDC. "Florida recorded 726 deaths due to complications from COVID-19 over the weekend. That brought the state's overall total to 42,716. While the deaths were recorded on Saturday and Sunday, they may have occurred in previous weeks or months."

• WINK-Fort Myers: 22 teachers out of one school after being exposed to COVID-19. "Now, a few classrooms are closed and parents are saying no one from the district let them know. Pelican Elementary School in Cape Coral currently has 22 teachers in quarantine. This is more than a third of all teachers at the school."

• WLRN: Fort Lauderdale's Mayor On The Tesla Tunnel That Could Be Coming To The City. "WLRN spoke with Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis about why he believes the futuristic project is what the city needs, who would pay for it, and why he thinks it won't be 'the Wave Streetcar 2.0.'"

• FOX35 Orlando: Union Disney employees required to get vaccinated. "On the same day that the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine was given full approval by the FDA, Disney announced it is now requiring union employees to get vaccinated."

From NPR News

• Health: Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID Vaccine Gets Full Approval From The FDA

• Health: Mississippi Is Pleading With People To Stop Using A Livestock Drug To Treat COVID-19

• World: The Taliban's Rise Is Complicating Biden's Efforts To Close Guantánamo's Prison

• National: Capitol Police Officer Who Fatally Shot Rioter Ashli Babbitt Will Not Be Disciplined

• Politics: An Impasse In The House Threatens To Derail A Part Of Biden's Domestic 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.