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Today's top Florida stories

• WUFT News: UF Health is mandating its employees to be vaccinated. "The announcement was sent out to hospital employees in an internal memo sent Wednesday morning. In response to President Joe Biden’s September executive order mandating vaccines for all federal contractors, employees have until Dec. 8 to receive either both doses of Moderna or Pfizer or the single Johnson & Johnson shot, unless exempt for religious or medical reasons on file."

• Gainesville Sun ($): Alachua County Public Schools Superintendent Simon 'appalled' by state withholding money. "The district learned Wednesday morning that the state has deducted $164,505 from its October allocation. About $16,786 of that is the monthly salary of school board members, Simon said. The rest represents money that equals a federal Project SAFE grant sought by the district for efforts to prevent spread of the virus."

• WUFT News: The Gainesville City Commission wants to hire a climate change officer. "Commissioner Adrian Hayes-Santos said they are preparing to answer questions like: What does a climate change officer look like? What do they do? How could one fit with the goals of the city to reduce climate impact?"

• Mainstreet Daily News: (Alachua) County vaccination incentive falls short of goal. "The BOCC wanted to increase the number of recipients by 45,000 which would have brought the vaccination rate up to 81 percent. But as of Tuesday, Paul Myers, the Alachua County Health Department administrator, reported that the county's COVID-19 vaccination rate jumped just three points to 69 percent as the gift card incentive deadline approaches Sunday."

• Spectrum News: Florida rancher says beef prices may be up, but cattle profits are down. "Despite the price increase you may be seeing at the grocery store for your favorite steak or cut of meat, Central Florida cattle ranchers say they aren’t seeing any of those profits."

• Associated Press: Ethics panel recommends $20K fine for SD 37 sham candidate. "A state ethics panel has recommended that a sham candidate for the Florida Legislature convicted of participating in a vote siphoning scheme in last year’s election be fined $20,000 and formally reprimanded."

• Tallahassee Democrat ($): Florida's surgeon general: What does the surgeon general actually do? "Florida's Surgeon General is the leader and senior spokesperson of the Florida Department of Health, which is an executive branch agency. He reports to the governor. According to the FDOH website, his role is to be the state’s leading advocate for wellness and disease prevention. His role is the state equivalent of the Surgeon General of the United States. He is considered the state's doctor."

• News Service of Florida: Florida is facing a class-action lawsuit on juvenile solitary confinement. "A federal judge has cleared the way for a class-action lawsuit against the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice about the use of solitary confinement for minors, including children with disabilities."

• WUFT News: Halloween isn’t the only day in costume for these dystopia role players. "Set in a post-apocalyptic world with 20 branches across the U.S – including Georgia, Florida and Texas – 50 to 120 members travel from across the state every month to camp together in the fictional town of Gatorland for a weekend. Here, they role-play as characters they’ve created — even when they sleep."

• The Alligator: UF freshman arrested on campus for refusing to leave RTS bus. "A UF student was arrested for refusing to leave a Regional Transit System bus Monday afternoon near Marston Science Library after choosing not to comply with masking rules."

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From NPR News

• Climate: How decades of disinformation about fossil fuels halted U.S. climate policy

• Health: Cigarette sales went up last year for the first time in 20 years

• Health: Fox anchor Neil Cavuto urged viewers to get vaccinated. Then came the death threats

• National: The U.S. issues the first passport with a nonbinary gender 'X' option

• National: Why some alleged Capitol rioters are acting as their own attorneys

• National: District attorney says it's too early for charges in 'Rust' shooting

• Politics: How the proposed tax on billionaires would actually work

• Business: How the delta variant and supply chain problems smothered the economy's sparkle

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.