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The stories near you

• Gainesville Sun ($): 'We're all leased up.' New apartment complexes west of I-75 in Gainesville are filling up. "The trend, according to planners and developers, is fueled by a short inventory of single-family homes, expensive land and construction costs, cheap access to construction loans, and the continuing influx to Florida of newcomers from states like California, New York and New Jersey."

• Citrus County Chronicle ($): From record rainfall in Citrus County to below average. "'Overall conditions are above average so far for the dry season due to record rainfall last summer,' said Mark Fulkerson, chief professional engineer with the Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD. 'Most of the flooded areas have seen water levels drop significantly.'"

• WUFT News: Loften High school students get a head start at firefighting. "(Former Alachua County Fire Rescue fire marshal Mark) Smith said the program offers the same material taught at an EMT firefighter program at Florida State Fire College or Santa Fe College, but is more informal than a typical high school ROTC. As many as eight former academy students are working for area fire departments, he said."

• Mainstreet Daily News: Gainesville to increase costs for candidates. "The revised ordinance, which would go into effect in 2024, triples that amount, charging candidates 3 percent of the salary of the office. It also eliminates the hardship fee waiver that candidates could request when they filed to run for office."

• WCJB: Lake City City Council continues to search for a new city manager. "The search for a Lake City City Manager starts over as the top choice is choosing to decline. According to Lake City Mayor Stephen Witt, Thomas Thomas told staff on Saturday that he was taking his name out of negotiations."

• WUFT News: ‘We need to connect with our hands’: A Gainesville potter’s passion becomes a lifestyle. "(Kate) Murray, 63, is a self-employed potter. For almost 40 years, she has been creating different ceramic pieces such as pots, jars, cups, vases and plates out of porcelain or stoneware in her studio built behind her home."

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Around the state

• WFSU: Legislation that would change Florida’s rooftop solar industry gets pushback. "Rooftop solar panels may cost more to hook up under a bill moving through the Florida House. It may also have utility companies paying less for extra energy. Opponents say the legislation would hurt the rooftop solar industry and lead to thousands of jobs being lost."

• Politico: Ladapo fires back at former UCLA supervisor who refused recommendation. "(Florida Surgeon General Joseph) Ladapo, who is seeking confirmation from the Florida Senate, made his comments after his former supervisor at the University of California David Geffen School of Medicine wrote that Ladapo’s hands-off approach toward managing Covid-19 made his colleagues feel uncomfortable."

• Associated Press: 3 Arrested After Passerby Attacked by Neo-Nazis in Florida. "More than a dozen demonstrators, wearing Nazi garb, protested at an intersection near the University of Central Florida on Saturday and waved a swastika flag from a highway overpass on Sunday. During Saturday's demonstration, some participants got into a fight with a passerby who confronted the group, but no arrests were made at the time."

• WMFE: Trayvon Martin is remembered with a march north of Miami on his 27th birthday. "Trayvon Martin would have turned 27 on Saturday. Hundreds of people gathered to memorialize him at Ives Estates Park near his high school north of Miami. Trayvon, an unarmed black teenager, was fatally shot 10 years ago this month by a community watch volunteer in Sanford, Florida. The teen was there visiting his dad."

• News Service of Florida: House plan could cut student grants. "Calling the plan 'punitive,' leaders of Florida’s private colleges and universities are crying foul about a House proposal that could link the amount of money students get from a state-backed grant program to their schools’ performance."

• NPR News: Pence says Trump is wrong to insist VP could have overturned election results. "Speaking at a gathering of the conservative Federalist Society in Florida, Pence said, 'President Trump is wrong: I had no right to overturn the election. The presidency belongs to the American people and the American people alone. And frankly, there is no idea more un-American than the notion that any one person could choose the American president.'"

• Naples Daily News ($): Officials say River Rosenquist will not face criminal charges in the death of Eko the tiger. "Collier County Sheriff's Office announced Friday afternoon that River Rosenquist will not be criminally charged in the death of Eko the tiger. 'Simply put, there are no laws on the books that apply to this reckless act. We know this will be very difficult for everyone to understand. It is difficult for us to comprehend,' CCSO wrote in a Facebook post."

From NPR News

• Health: 900,000 Americans have died of COVID in 2 years of the global pandemic

• Health: Coronavirus FAQ: My drugstore now offers antibody tests. Is it worth getting one?

• Health: An experimental depression treatment uses electric currents to bring relief

• Books: Banned books are back in the spotlight — but they've always been for this book club

• National: Federal hate crimes trial set to begin for the 3 men charged in Ahmaud Arbery's death

• National: For many Native Americans, the Washington Commanders' new name offers some closure

• World: These eye-popping, hand-painted trucks rule Pakistan's roads

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.