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The stories near you

• Gainesville Sun ($): Developer backs off plans to develop community grocery store in East Gainesville. "Mayor Lauren Poe said the hope is that another grocer will eventually take on the project. 'We will continue to work on efforts to bring healthy food options to East Gainesville,' he said in a text message on Tuesday. 'It is disappointing to be where we are, but I am confident we will be able to put together a deal that works for our neighbors.'"

• Mainstreet Daily News: Two dozen Alachua County employees COVID positive. "'We are approaching the point where County services (such as trash pickups and road maintenance) may be impacted,' county spokesman Mark Sexton wrote in a statement emailed out Tuesday afternoon."

• Naples Daily News ($): DeSantis urges healthy, asymptomatic Floridians to forgo COVID-19 testing even as omicron case count skyrockets. "Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo said Tuesday they don't want Floridians who aren't showing COVID-19 symptoms to get tested and that they are overwhelming already overcrowded test sites."

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Around the state

• WUSF: Omicron is affecting Florida differently than delta. A USF Health expert explains why. "Coronavirus hospitalizations have increased dramatically, up to 6,914, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services update on Tuesday afternoon. But they are nowhere near as high as they were during the height of delta."

• Florida Politics: Nearly 2% of all Floridians had COVID-19 in the past week. "Florida’s COVID-19 winter surge added more than 372,364 new confirmed cases last week — meaning 1.7% of the state’s population was confirmed to have COVID-19 in one week, according to the latest federally-posted data."

• WJCT: Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry tests positive for COVID-19. "In a statement, Curry said he is fully vaccinated and will isolate at home all week. The city said Curry experienced "mild cold-like symptoms" and tested positive in an at-home COVID test."

• USA Today Network: Powered by money and politics, Florida's election-year legislative session set to start. "Florida lawmakers open the two-month legislative session Tuesday ready to spend from a state treasury brimming with budget cash while advancing a host of ideas heavily shaded by election-year politics."

• WJCT: Activist Ben Frazier arrested after disruption at DeSantis press conference. "Jacksonville activist Ben Frazier was arrested on a trespassing charge Tuesday after disrupting a press conference planned by Gov. Ron DeSantis — an event that devolved into bedlam and touched off a wide-ranging debate about free speech."

• Sarasota Herald-Tribune ($): Insurrection's toll evident in Florida a year later as fraud claims color political debate. "Florida had the most arrests stemming from Jan. 6 and the most members of two far right extremist groups arrested in connection with the insurrection, but there has been no effort to address extremism."

• Miami Herald ($): Florida AG wants tougher sentences for smash-and-grab thefts. Critics say it barely exists. "Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody stood outside of Hialeah City Hall on Tuesday, calling for beefed-up retail theft sentencing guidelines to deter a crime she acknowledged hadn’t really taken hold in Florida. At least not yet."

• WFLA-Tampa: Tampa to be 2022’s hottest housing market, Zillow says. "Zillow  released its rankings for the top 10 hottest housing markets in the United States, and Tampa is number one. Two other Florida cities are in the top 10, bringing the housing heat to the Sunshine State."

From NPR News

• Health: Things seem grim now. But America's COVID situation could get better in 6-8 weeks

• Health: These are the numbers health officials are watching at this point in the pandemic

• Health: More than 1 million Americans were diagnosed with COVID over the long holiday weekend

• Health: Late-night hosts Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers test positive for COVID-19

• Health: The CDC resists pushback and says a test to get out of COVID isolation is not needed

• Sports: The Washington Football Team will have a new name next month

• Business: Perfect Storm: The last 2 weeks have been rough for the airline industry

• Climate: In coastal areas, rising seas can also mean failing septic tanks

• Books: After his son's suicide and the Jan. 6 attack, Rep. Jamie Raskin is not giving up

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.