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The stories near you
• WUFT News: Heavy Rain Is Flooding Wildlife Trails In Alachua County. "After Hurricane Elsa in July, Alachua County Preserves faced flood damage including uprooted trees and debris on some trails. Portions of Barr Hammock Preserve and Turkey Creek Preserve remain closed due to hazardous conditions. Throughout the summer, heavy rains created issues for preserves and parks like San Felasco Hammock Preserve State Park. In July alone, Gainesville received 13.99 inches of rain, which is 7 inches above average..."
• WUFT News: High Springs Monoclonal Antibody Treatment Site Reaches One-Month Mark. "The monoclonal antibody treatment infusion center in High Springs treats an average of 140 to 150 people per day. The center had served a total of 2,225 people as of Thursday."
• Ocala Gazette: School COVID-19 cases continue to fall. "MCPS recorded 256 new cases for the week of Sept. 11 – Sept. 17. ... The figures, released Monday afternoon, are down from the 367 cases reported on Sept. 13, and 539 cases reported on Sep. 6."
• WMFE: Ocala Voters Pick Mayor, 4 Of 5 Council Members On Tuesday. "All but one of the elected positions in Ocala city government are on a city-wide ballot Tuesday."
• The Alligator: Wayne Fields’ stories share a slice of East Gainesville’s history. "East Gainesville will always be Fields' home — even as university development continues to erode its Black history."
• Florida Politics: Florida International University leads Bar passage rates. "Nearly 89% of the 116 law students from FIU to take the exam passed. ... UM’s 82.5% was good for second place in the state, just ahead of the University of Florida College of Law‘s 81% passage rate."
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Around the state
• WFSU: Florida Senate Lays Out Map-Drawing Rules Aiming To Prevent Partisan Gerrymandering. "Florida lawmakers will follow a new set of rules when drawing the state’s legislative and congressional district maps."
• Associated Press: Officers Remove Boxes And A Car In A Search Of The Home Of Gabby Petito's Boyfriend. "(Brian) Laundrie and Petito had been living with his parents at the North Port home before the road trip on which she died. The young couple had set out in July in a converted van to visit national parks in the West. They got into a fight along the way, and Laundrie was alone when he returned in the van to his parents' home on Sept. 1, police said."
• WLRN: Study Says Vaccinating Teachers, And Cutting Class Sizes In Half, Could Help Curb COVID Spread. "Vaccinating teachers and cutting class sizes in half would go a long way toward curbing the spread of COVID-19 in schools, according to a new study from the University of Miami. The study, which has been submitted for publication and is not yet peer reviewed, lends further support to policies like vaccine requirements and physical distancing in schools. According to the research, halving class sizes led to a 13.1% drop in infections, and vaccinating teachers led to a 12.5% drop."
• News Service of Florida: Florida Hospital Administrators Ask Lawmakers For Help Amid Staffing Crisis. "Hospital administrators on Monday gave House committees a glimpse into the challenges facing health care professionals, describing efforts to re-imagine how care is delivered amid a nursing shortage and sizable financial hit from the COVID-19 pandemic."
• Tallahassee Democrat ($): Florida State confirms theft of nearly 5,000 rare items from special collection at Strozier Library. "The Florida State Universities Libraries has a real whodunit on its hands. Sometime between March 17, 2020, and Feb. 10, someone stole nearly 5,000 items from the Robert M. Ervin Jr. Collection housed by FSU Special Collections & Archives at Strozier Library, the university confirmed Friday."
From NPR News
• Health: COVID Vaccine For Kids Ages 5 To 11 Is Safe And Effective, Pfizer Says
• World: The Man Whose Heroism Inspired 'Hotel Rwanda' Is Convicted On Terrorism Charges
• Politics: White House Says Vaccinated Foreign Nationals Will Be Allowed To Fly to The U.S.
• Business: A Chinese Real Estate Company Is Walloping Your Stocks. Here's Why
• National: The Biden Administration Is Fighting In Court To Keep A Trump-Era Immigration Policy
• National: The Supreme Court Sets A Date For Arguments In Case That Could Challenge Roe V. Wade
• National: Here's Why Firefighters Are Wrapping Sequoia Trees In Aluminum Blankets
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.