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The Point, Sept. 15, 2021: Alachua County Mask Mandate Extended For Another Week

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The stories near you

• WUFT News: Alachua County Commissioners Vote To Extend Mask Mandate. "There was concern that the Florida Gators' first home game against Florida Atlantic University at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium would be a super-spreader event. At the commission meeting Tuesday, the administrator of the Alachua County Health Department confirmed that was not the case. 'We've been watching that very closely; there was no discernible impact from that game in the community,' Paul Myers said. 'We did have a few days ... where we saw a bit of an increase, but nothing where I could say that's the smoking gun.'"

• Ocala Gazette: Ocala repeals panhandling ordinances challenged by lawsuit. "The city first adopted its Roadway Solicitation ordinance on Feb. 5, 2008, making it unlawful for any person to stand in the street, highway, median or bicycle path and solicit or attempt to solicit from those in vehicles."

• WUFT News: Gainesville Work Camp Could Be Next In North Florida Prison Closures. "The Florida Department of Corrections has not yet released specific information regarding the Gainesville Work Camp, but the plan cited in a press release states that incarcerated people and correctional officers at smaller work camps and annexes will be moved to larger facilities in an attempt to address staffing issues."

• WFLA-Tampa: Citrus County leaders vote to take control of Nature Coast EMS. "Nature Coast EMS currently provides the service, but has been plagued with staffing issues for the past two months. The agency is the lowest paying EMS provider in the Tampa Bay area, and had a plan to increase pay for first responders, but needed the county’s financial backing."


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Around the state

• News4Jax: Governor proposes end for Florida Standards Assessments testing next school year. "The FSA is designed to measure 'education gains and progress' in Florida students in the subjects of English language arts and mathematics, according to the Florida Department of Education website. The governor said he plans to replace the FSA with progress monitoring in which teachers will be able to administer short tests to students to see where they may not be meeting certain scholastic standards."

• WUSF: Hospitalizations For COVID-19 In Florida Continue To Decline. "Hospitalizations continue to decline, with 11,547 people with the coronavirus being treated in the state's hospitals on Monday. That's a decrease of 2,081 from a week ago."

• Orlando Sentinel: How many people are dying of COVID in your Florida county? New White House data releases details. "The state discontinued detailed daily reports on June 5, switching to weekly reports that no longer included information on the race, gender, age and county of those infected and dying. Until now, federal websites reflected incomplete death information for Florida’s counties as well."

• Florida Politics: Disclosures show Florida congressional delegation includes 21 millionaires. "All earn an identical salary of $174,000, but most hold sizable investment portfolios. A few collect millions each year from private businesses in which they own a stake."

• Miami Herald ($): Surfside leaders reject land swap proposal to build memorial on Champlain Towers site. "The Surfside commission on Tuesday rejected a proposal to build a memorial to the victims of the Surfside condo collapse by  trading public land to the eventual buyer of the property where the Champlain Towers South fell. Family members of those who died in the collapse and Surfside residents opposed to the plan packed the town’s commission chambers during an emotional and sometimes contentious meeting."

• Pensacola News Journal ($): Pensacola could see 15 to 20 inches of rain, flooding from Tropical Storm Nicholas. "A flash flood watch is expected to go into effect across Escambia and Santa Rosa counties Tuesday and won't expire until Thursday night, according to the National Weather Service of Mobile, Alabama."


From NPR News

• National: Gov. Newsom Keeps His Seat After A Majority Of California Voters Reject The Recall

• National: An Independent Review Of The 1st 2020 Census Results Found No Major Irregularities

• Health: An Epidemiologist Says At-Home Testing Is Key To Stopping COVID

• Politics: A $3.5 Trillion Question: What Is Budget Reconciliation? Here's An Explainer

• Business: How A Blistering Housing Market Could Be Making Wildfires Even More Dangerous

• Business: Inflation Slowed A Bit Last Month, But Prices Are Still Rising

• Science: Scientists Say They Could Bring Back Woolly Mammoths. But Maybe They Shouldn't

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.

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