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The stories near you

• WCJB: City of Gainesville audit shows problems with transparency and accountability, debt problems in GRU. "The official state audit of the city of Gainesville is complete, and the five findings include lack of transparency and oversight, cost-effectiveness and a lack of transparency with other non-profits."

• Gainesville Sun ($): Gainesville City Hall shakeup cuts 3 top jobs, reorganizes departments. "Three assistant city managers for the city of Gainesville were notified Monday that their jobs have been eliminated as part of a sweeping reorganization of top-level staff and city departments."

• NPR News: Speed skater Erin Jackson lost a chance at gold — until her teammate stepped in. "(Brittany) Bowe and Jackson both grew up in Ocala, Fla. where they each started their inline skating careers. They both eventually switched to skating on ice."

• WTSP-Tampa: Autopsy: Citrus High School football player died of heart condition. "Antonio Hicks was 16 years old when he collapsed on Sept. 28. He was rushed to Citrus Memorial Hospital, where he died. During his funeral, family and friends remembered Hicks as a football star who died too soon."

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Around the state

• News Service of Florida: Florida GOP Immigration Proposal Emerges. "The proposal would expand a 2019 law that bans so-called “sanctuary cities” in Florida and would crack down on transportation companies that bring undocumented immigrants into the state. The proposal would bar the state and local governments from contracting with such companies 'if the carrier is willfully providing any service in furtherance of transporting an unauthorized alien into the State of Florida knowing that the unauthorized alien entered into or remains in the United States in violation of law.'"

• WUSF: Staff shortages and surging coronavirus cases are straining Florida hospitals. "Florida Hospital Association president Mary Mayhew says staff having to isolate due to the virus and workers taking lucrative travel jobs are posing challenges for hospitals amid the omicron surge."

• Miami Herald ($): Florida sent scarce COVID-19 therapy to a private Broward clinic before Jackson Memorial. "Florida shipped a scarce new COVID-19 monoclonal antibody drug to treat the most vulnerable of patients — those with cancer or organ transplants whose immune systems don’t respond well to a vaccine — to a private clinic in Broward County before sending the therapeutic to Miami’s Jackson Memorial Hospital, which runs the largest solid organ transplant center in the Southeastern United States and provides follow-up care to thousands of immuno-compromised patients."

• WFLA-Tampa: 98 children drowned in Florida in 2021, a record number, according to state data. "In 2019, there were 65 child drowning deaths in Florida, and 69 drowning deaths occurred in 2020."

• WLRN: Florida lawmakers will soon meet for first time in a post-Surfside world. Will they change any laws? "Starting on Tuesday,  the Florida Legislature will begin its 2022 session. As of the time of writing, no bills that would implement any condo law reforms have been filed yet. The only bill filed that expressly mentions the Surfside condo collapse is a resolution by Miami’s Republican State Senator Ileana Garcia that would express 'gratitude' to first responders who worked the disaster scene."

• WJCT: Activist Ben Frazier threatens lawsuit against DeSantis and Sheriff's Office. "Jacksonville activist Ben Frazier is threatening to sue Gov. Ron DeSantis in federal and state court if a trespassing charge stemming from his high-profile arrest last week isn't dropped."

• St. Augustine Record ($): Bob Saget provided 'abundance of laughter' in last show in Ponte Vedra. "It was the first time Bob Saget had played the Ponte Vedra Concert Hall and by all accounts, he put on a great show at the local venue Saturday night. Less than 24 hours later, the 65-year-old comedian was pronounced dead."

• NPR News: Pro baseball is about to have its first ever female manager in the minor leagues. "With years of work in professional baseball under her belt, Rachel Balkovec has already broken multiple barriers. Now, she's about to do it again, this time as the first female manager in the history of the minor leagues. According to a report in The Athletic, the New York Yankees plan to name Balkovec, 34, as manager of their Low-A squad, the Tampa Tarpons."

From NPR News

• Health: How to get insurance to pay for at-home COVID tests, according to the White House

• Politics: The idea of another American Civil War is now mainstream, as divisions grow within states

• Climate: U.S. greenhouse gas emissions jumped in 2021, a threat to climate goals

• National: The poet Maya Angelou is the first Black woman to be featured on a U.S. quarter

• National: A plane crashed, then was smashed by a train. Its pilot was rescued just in time

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.