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The Point, Feb. 22, 2022: Alachua County ambulance crews responded to a record number of calls in 2021

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The stories near you

• WUFT News: Emergency services in north central Florida slammed after record high responses. "The high number of calls means emergency medical services are constantly out responding, which means the truck is completely unavailable until it has completed that call. This causes delayed response to other locations where patients are sometimes facing serious and life-threatening medical emergencies. Just last month, ACFR added an additional rescue unit to compensate for the rising call load."

• WUFT News: Alachua County students, organizers form youth activities advisory council. "The group consists of nearly 20 middle and high school students from every corner of Alachua County, most of whom go to school outside of Gainesville. Along with other programs like the Gainesville Police Department’s One Community initiative, it aims to provide a space for young adults to participate in group activities to help curb rising youth gun and gang violence."

• WUFT News: Here’s how Florida’s winter Olympians performed. "The U.S. finished fourth on the medal table, earning a collective 25 medals (8 gold, 10 silver and 7 bronze) across all winter sports. Of the 225 athletes competing for the U.S., at least six were also representing Florida."

• WUFT News: A man serving life sentence in a 1991 Gainesville murder is now charged in a second slaying. "In late 2019, GPD Det. David Blizzard and State Attorney Investigator Bennie Smith were summoned to Liberty Correctional Institution after an assistant warden told them an inmate had information concerning a 1990 Gainesville murder. During the interview, 57-year-old Terry Lee Mack confessed to repeatedly stabbing 84-year-old Essie Camps on Feb. 28, 1990."

• Florida Politics: Lobbying compensation: Ballard Partners collected $19M at the state level last year. "The firm’s top legislative client in 2021 was Shands, a teaching hospital situated on the University of Florida — also a Ballard Partners client —  main campus in Gainesville. Shands paid the firm $292,000 in retainers, which was well beyond the cap on range reporting. The hospital tossed in another $50,000 for executive branch lobbying for an overall total of $342,000. UF proper tossed the firm an additional $60,000."


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Around the state

• NPR News: Florida Republicans unhappy over Everglades restoration. "The massive project to restore Florida's Everglades is getting new money from the infrastructure law. But some state Republicans are unhappy, saying a key part of the project was left out."

• Daytona Beach News-Journal ($): COVID: Florida out of Top 10 list where virus spreads fastest, reports 42,373 cases and 1,330 deaths. "Florida ranked 32nd among the states where coronavirus was spreading the fastest on a per-person basis, a USA TODAY Network analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows. The week before, the state reappeared in the Top 10 list, ranking No. 8."

• Associated Press: Bernie Madoff's sister and her husband have died in a suspected murder-suicide. "The sister of Wall Street fraudster Bernie Madoff and her husband were found dead in what investigators said was an apparent murder-suicide in Florida, according to news reports."

• Northwest Florida Daily News ($): Despite ‘startling’ racial statistics, controversial ‘stand your ground’ laws withstand scrutiny. "It was concluded the number of homicides of Black people deemed legally “justifiable” more than doubled in “stand your ground” states between 2005, when Florida’s law went into effect, and 2011. Alternatively, it was revealed that in cases involving a white shooter and Black victim, homicides were ruled justified 45 percent of the time, as compared to 11% of the time when the roles were reversed."

• WUSF: Gas prices in Florida reach a nearly eight-year high over concerns of a Russian invasion. "Last week, gas prices in Florida reached their highest levels in nearly eight years. According to AAA, the average price of a gallon of gas climbed to $3.51."


From NPR News

• World: The U.S. warns that Russia has a 'kill list' of Ukrainians to be detained or killed

• World: Condemnation for Putin at U.N. as he orders 'peacekeepers' to Ukraine

• Business: Hollywood relies on China to stay afloat. What does that mean for movies?

• National: Jury begins deliberations in hate crimes trial of Arbery's killers

• National: U.S. census director says bureau is strengthening 'firewall' after Trump meddling

• Sports: 9 moments that resonated at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics

• Health: Global health champion Dr. Paul Farmer has died

About today's curator

I’m Gregorio Ruiz-Perez, a journalist at WUFT. Originally from Naples, Florida, I’ve always enjoyed running to clear my mind. I am a senior journalism major and am part of a team searching for local state news each week that’s important to you. Please send feedback about today’s edition of The Point or ideas for stories we may have missed to gruizperez@ufl.edu.

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