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The Point, Feb. 1, 2022: UF researchers study long-term COVID-19 conditions

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The stories near you

• WUFT News: Here’s what physicians have learned about long-term COVID-19 conditions. "Dr. Steven Munger is a professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics at the College of Medicine at the University of Florida. He’s also director of UF’s Center for Smell and Taste at the McKnight Brain Institute. Munger said his team and other medical researchers around the world became aware early on in the pandemic that smell loss, or anosmia, was a common and early symptom. He said anosmia, when compared to other symptoms of COVID-19, is much more pronounced."

• The Alligator: Santa Fe’s Blount Hall nears completion, looks to expand the college’s downtown presence. "The Charles L. Blount Center previously served as the college’s outreach and educational facility in downtown Gainesville. The new $36.5 million dollar Blount Hall has the same location benefits but will expand its services by turning the center into a campus, offering everything a college student needs from their first day of classes until graduation, according to the college’s website."

• WUFT News: Matheson History Museum to open Black Thursday exhibit. "The exhibit 'We’re Tired of Asking: Black Thursday and Civil Rights at the University of Florida' can be viewed on the Matheson’s website or at the Matheson, located at 513 E. University Ave, on Feb. 2. Admission is free and the museum opens Wednesday through Saturday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m."

• WCJB: St. Michael’s Stalemate: Gainesville commissioners and citizens discuss potential projects during workshop. "During a Monday night workshop between Gainesville City Commissioners and residents no consensus was had about potential projects and zoning concerns where St. Michael’s Episcopal Church once stood."


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Around the state

• WMFE: Neo-Nazi demonstrations in Orlando draw law enforcement scrutiny and prompt political controversy. "A small group of neo-Nazis demonstrating in Orlando over the weekend have drawn condemnation from political leaders of both major parties and the attention of law enforcement. On Saturday, 15 to 20 people carrying a banner for the National Socialist Movement stood along North Alafaya Trail with Nazi flags and signs. They saluted Hitler, shouted, 'White power!' and spewed anti-Semitic insults at motorists."

• Politico: DeSantis aide deletes tweet suggesting Nazi protesters were Democratic operatives. "Gov. Ron DeSantis’ press secretary is facing massive backlash after she sent tweets Sunday night questioning whether pro-Nazi demonstrations in Orlando over the weekend were organized by Democratic staffers."

• Florida Politics: Republican legislative leaders denounce neo-Nazi demonstrations in Central Florida. "'Yesterday’s disgusting display of anti-semitism in Orlando does not reflect the values of Floridians,' tweeted Florida Speaker of the House Chris Sprowls. 'These thugs and their hateful messaging are not welcome in this state.'"

• Fresh Take Florida: Small, historically Black Florida town set to lose Black congressman under DeSantis redistricting. "Madison is a rural community with a population of about 3,000 people, almost two-thirds of whom are Black. Its congressman, Al Lawson, is a Democratic former longtime state lawmaker who won his House seat in 2016 and is one of five Black members of Congress from Florida. If DeSantis’ redistricting plan were approved, Lawson wouldn’t represent Madison anymore. He could be vulnerable to losing his next election in the new mostly Republican and white district that would be created."

• WUSF: Some Florida schools are looking for superintendents. It's not an easy task. "Superintendents across the country have been thrown obstacle after obstacle in the past few years – from pandemic shutdowns and online learning to increasingly volatile school board meetings. It’s a tough job and four school districts across Florida – Pinellas, Broward, Lee, and St. Lucie – are searching for their next superintendent."

• Miami Herald ($): Ambush in Sunrise left 2 agents dead. A year later, FBI still reviewing how it went wrong. "It was one of the bloodiest days in the FBI’s history: A year ago, two veteran special agents were shot to death and three others wounded while trying to serve a search warrant in a child-porn case. Inside a Sunrise apartment, a computer programmer with no criminal history had monitored the approach of the agents with a doorbell camera and ambushed them with an assault rifle before later turning the gun on himself."

• WLRN: The storm in Florida's home insurance market is not weather-related. It's fraud and litigiousness. "If you have property insurance in Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade or Monroe counties, odds are your property is insured by Citizens. In South Florida, market share is 40%. That means the insurance is ultimately insured by you since Citizens is the state-backed insurer of last resort. It does not have investors or shareholders on the hook if it has to pay out a monster loss like after a major hurricane. Instead, Florida residents ultimately would have to pick up the tab if the damages are big enough."

• Associated Press: Sole survivor of capsized boat says ‘at least 15’ others tried to hold on. "Juan Esteban Montoya Caicedo, of Colombia, told a Spanish-language news conference in Fort Pierce, Florida that there were also Dominicans, Haitians, Bahamians and Jamaicans among the group of 40 that set out for Florida from Bimini in the Bahamas on Jan. 22. His sister was part of the group but died."


From NPR News

• National: At least 6 HBCUs canceled classes or went into lockdown after receiving bomb threats

• National: Jessica Watkins is getting ready to be the first Black woman to spend months in space

• National: Plea deal in Ahmaud Arbery case is rejected after his parents spoke out against it

• World: U.S. and Russia share tense exchange at U.N. Security Council meeting

• World: From Stalin to Putin, Ukraine is still trying to break free from Moscow

• Politics: Georgia district attorney calls for FBI security help after Trump's rally comments

• Business: Joe Rogan has responded to the protests against Spotify over his podcast

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.

Contact WUFT News by calling 352-392-6397 or emailing news @wuft.org