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Today's top Florida stories

• News Service of Florida: Florida’s governor downplays the Jan. 6 assault on U.S. Capitol. "The governor said people should be held accountable for rioting, but he dismissed labeling people who stormed the Capitol as terrorists and rejected descriptions of the events as an insurrection. Trump supporters forced their way into the Capitol to try to prevent Congress from voting to confirm Democratic President Joe Biden’s win over Trump in the November 2020 election."

• Tampa Bay Times ($): No need to test for COVID-19 if asymptomatic, Florida health department says. "Thomas Unnasch, a distinguished professor at the University of South Florida’s College of Public Health, said the state’s approach would make sense but for one key detail: There are not enough effective treatments to go around right now to help vulnerable people infected with COVID-19."

• WUFT News: UF veterinary oncologist works to take medicine to new heights with melanoma vaccine, model airplane hobby. "From an early age in South Africa, model airplanes have been a go-to pastime for Rowan Milner, the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine’s small animal clinical sciences director. At the same time, Milner has been on a quest to develop a vaccine proven to extend and even cure the lives of some dogs with melanoma."

• WLRN: After Surfside, a major national condo reform is quietly going into effect. "It’s coming from Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, the federal government-sanctioned companies that buy mortgages from banks. Both companies will now require home lenders to collect a broad array of information about building maintenance records and needed repairs for new mortgages in buildings that have five or more units."

• WMFE: DeSantis suspends two Sumter County commissioners charged with perjury. "Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended Sumter County commissioners Gary Search and Oren Miller on Thursday. The men, both 71-year-old residents of The Villages, were charged last month with committing perjury during an investigation into possible Sunshine Law violations."

• Lexington Herald-Leader: ‘A tremendous mistake.’ Former NFL running back gets prison time for Lexington fraud. "(Gainesville native) Clinton Portis, one of 15 former NFL players involved in the multimillion-dollar fraud scheme, was sentenced Thursday by U.S. District Judge Karen K. Caldwell. Portis admitted that he conspired with other former NFL players to submit false expense claims to a fund which was intended to help retired football players pay for medical expenses not covered by insurance."

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From NPR News

• Science: What we know about the symptoms — and the severity — of the omicron variant

• Health: COVID testing FAQ: When to test, what kind of test to use and what your results mean

• Health: Experts say these changes could help the U.S. live with COVID

• World: For many Afghans, winter is forcing a cruel choice of whether to eat or stay warm

• Politics: President Biden blasts Trump for 'spreading a web of lies' in a Jan. 6 speech

• Politics: Republicans criticize Ted Cruz for calling Jan. 6 a violent terrorist attack

• Politics: How the narrative of the Jan. 6 insurrection has changed in the last year

• Business: An Uber rider who got stuck in the Virginia traffic jam ended up with a $600 bill

• National: The Western megadrought is revealing America's 'lost national park'

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.