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The stories near you
• Gainesville Sun ($): Top speed on Gainesville streets 30 mph? That's what the city commission plans. "Speed limits on many city roads and neighborhood streets would be reduced under a proposal endorsed by the Gainesville City Commission on Thursday in response to recent pedestrian deaths."
• Florida Politics: Dennis Baxley, Keith Perry plan to avoid primary showdown in proposed SD 9. "With Senate district maps all but settled, some incumbent senators have held conversations on where to seek re-election. Baxley and Perry, who both live in the planned SD 9, are among a number of sitting senators who will have to make a tough decision for re-election."
• WMFE: Federal lawsuit challenges a Marion County Jail policy referring to ICE any foreign-born inmate. "A certified nursing assistant from Jamaica is suing Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods, saying he was detained illegally under a policy to automatically hold on to and report any inmate born outside the U.S."
• WUFT News: Earth BioGenome Project enters new phase, Florida researcher shares progress. "To combat the endangerment of the 15,521 animal species that are listed as threatened by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, one Florida-based project is developing genomic resources to discover the species still hidden from science."
• WUFT News: Gainesville voters prepare for special election. "The special election for the Gainesville City Commission at-large Seat B is less than a week away. Alachua County Supervisor of Elections Kim A. Barton is optimistic about turnout."
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Around the state
• Politico: Florida GOP-led Senate sets up clash with DeSantis over congressional maps. "DeSantis surprised many last weekend by presenting his own congressional maps that were more aggressively favorable for Republicans. Florida picked up one new congressional seat in 2022 due to population growth, bringing its total to 28. The Senate approved a plan that gives Republicans 16 seats former President Donald Trump would have won in 2020, while the governor proposes a map with 18 Trump seats."
• New York Times ($): Republicans Want New Tool in Elusive Search for Voter Fraud: Election Police. "The most concrete proposal is in Florida, where Gov. Ron DeSantis asked the State Legislature last week for $5.7 million to create a 52-person 'election crimes and security' force in the secretary of state’s office. The plan, which Mr. DeSantis has been touting since the fall, would include 20 sworn police officers and field offices statewide."
• USA Today Network ($): In the dark: Florida lawmakers creating new ways to keep public records private. "The annual assault on Florida’s popular open government laws continues this legislative session — even as the public clamors for greater transparency and access to their elected officials and government as the COVID-19 pandemic enters its third year."
• WUSF: Major League Baseball has turned down the Rays' split-season plan with Montreal. "Following the announcement, mayors for both Tampa and St. Petersburg expressed optimism that a new stadium deal could be worked out to keep the Rays in the Tampa Bay area."
• WTSP-Tampa: Gov. DeSantis awards colleges $2.3M in support of CDL training, nursing programs. "Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Thursday that the state is awarding $2.3 million to six different institutions in support of commercial driver's license training and nursing programs. The State College of Florida will receive $930,000, Manatee Technical College is set to receive $550,000, South Florida State College is receiving $415,000 and North Florida Technical College will receive $100,000."
• WFLA-Tampa: ‘She’s doing well’: First Lady Casey DeSantis finishes last chemotherapy treatment. "The governor’s office announced Casey’s cancer diagnosis in early October stating, 'Casey is a true fighter, and she will never, never, never give up.'"
• News Service of Florida: State agencies across Florida are struggling to fill positions and retain employees. "According to a presentation, many employees are leaving state government jobs because they’re overworked and underpaid."
• WUSF: Study finds employees in Florida pay among the highest rates for health insurance. "Employees in Florida paid more for their health insurance in 2020 than workers in nearly every other state, a new study from The Commonwealth Fund found. The study compared employee health insurance costs, including insurance premiums and deductibles."
• Miami Herald ($): Historic Deauville hotel should be demolished, Miami Beach official rules. "Assistant City Manager Eric Carpenter told the Miami Herald following the announcement that the city wants the demolition to take place prior to the start of hurricane season in June, in line with the recommendation in the engineering report."
• Fort Myers News-Press ($): Looking for golf clubs? North Fort Myers collector has about 5,000 for sale. "When a visitor once walked into John Berg’s home and saw the hundreds of golf clubs he had around his home, she asked, 'How do you live in here?' Berg slyly replied, 'Very carefully.'"
From NPR News
• Business: Home prices rose faster than ever in 2021. The typical home gained $50,000 in value
• Science: Nuclear-test monitor calls Tonga volcano blast "biggest thing that we've ever seen"
• Science: Why humans are losing the race against superbugs
• Politics: District attorney in Georgia asks for a special grand jury for Trump election probe
• Politics: How Biden is trying to clean up his comments about Russia and Ukraine
• Politics: The Jan. 6 panel wants to talk to Ivanka Trump
• National: A jury has been seated in the civil rights trial in George Floyd's death
• World: 19-year-old lands in Belgium, becoming youngest woman to fly solo around the world
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.