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Today’s top Florida stories

• WUFT News: UF/IFAS cuts the ribbon on its new extension office. “Roughly the size of four football fields, the city of Newberry granted to the county the land where the new extension office sits. It will replace the old extension office located in Jonesville, which was over 45 years old. Cynthia Sanders, the UF/IFAS Alachua County Extension Director, said she and her team had well outgrown it.”

• Tampa Bay Times ($): At UF, someone used ‘critical’ and ‘race’ in a sentence. Trouble ensued. “(Chris) Busey alleges in the complaint that he was threatened with discipline if he used ‘critical race’ in his curriculum and program design, an apparent reference to ‘critical race theory.’ Discussion of the theory, an academic framework examining the impact of America’s racial history, was banned earlier this year in Florida’s K-12 classrooms after some parents complained and Gov. Ron DeSantis took up the issue as a frequent talking point.”

•  WFSU: Most Florida homes are selling at pre-recession prices. “According to William O’Dell, director of the University of Florida’s Shimberg Center for Housing Studies, many Florida homes are selling for the same price they were before the Great Recession, making it difficult for first-time buyers to find an affordable home. O’Dell was one of many presenters (Wednesday) that gave a legislative committee an update on the state of affordable housing.”

• Florida Politics: Joe Gruters dines with Sydney Powell, hears out election integrity claims. “Republican Party of Florida Chairman Joe Gruters met last week with controversial lawyer Sidney Powell in Sarasota. While not embracing specific accusations Powell has made against election officials around the country, he characterized his conversation as informative.”

• News Service of Florida: HCA announces plans to build three hospitals in Florida. “HCA Healthcare, which operates 47 hospitals in Florida, said Tuesday it will build additional hospitals in Gainesville, The Villages area and Fort Myers.”

• Mainstreet Daily News: GPD improving body camera procedures. “The Gainesville Police Department (GPD) has increased the number of body cameras by more than 200 percent and is improving the way it reviews video from those cameras, a police official told the city’s Audit and Finance Committee on Tuesday.”

• Gainesville Sun ($): Alachua County Public Schools prepares to vaccinate children ages 5-11. “Starting Tuesday, Alachua County Public Schools will begin its next round of vaccination clinics, this time being able to inoculate children ages 5-11 with parental consent.”

• WUFT News: ‘Farmers don’t get rich’: This Marion County couple decided to become farmers for their retirement. “Marion County resident Yvonne Hart was on the hunt for an ulcer remedy when she discovered a potential solution: goat milk. Along with her husband, Alan Hart, the couple decided to become farmers for their retirement.”

• USA Today Network ($): These Florida holiday lights displays are worth the trip. “Florida’s downtowns, small towns, neighborhoods and historic cities light up during the holidays every year. … Each is unique and worth a trip to see the ones near where you live or where you’re visiting this holiday season.”

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From NPR News

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