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The Point, Aug. 18, 2022: Turnpike extension opponents continue speaking against toll roads through rural areas

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Today's Florida stories

• Ocala Gazette: Group remains vocal in opposition to toll roads. "Even though the Florida Department of Transportation announced on Aug. 4 that it was pausing its proposed Northern Turnpike Extension project due to its failure to identify any viable corridor — including some that could have plowed through Marion County’s rural areas — some groups are still making their voices heard in opposition to the endeavor. On Tuesday, No Roads to Ruin Coalition members gathered outside the Marion County Board of County Commissioners Auditorium at the McPherson Governmental Complex. The group, which included residents from Citrus, Levy, Marion and Sumter counties, brandished bright pink sign bearing the words 'Rural Florida says no toll roads.'"

• The Alligator: Meet the mayoral candidates for the Gainesville primary election. "Nine mayoral candidates — including David Arreola, Ed Bielarski, Ansaun Fisher, Gary Gordon, Gabriel Hillel, Adam Rosenthal, Donald Shepherd, July Thomas and Harvey Ward — are on the ballot in the upcoming primary election."

• News Service of Florida: Florida prosecutor sues DeSantis over removal over abortion, transgender rights. "The lawsuit filed Wednesday says DeSantis violated Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren's First Amendment rights and retaliated against him for his views on several issues."

• Miami Herald ($): ‘Surrounded by loved ones,’ Miami-Dade detective dies two days after shooting. "Cesar Echaverry, a Miami-Dade robbery detective on life-support for two days after a shootout with a suspected armed robber left him brain dead, died Wednesday night when doctors removed the ventilator that had been keeping him alive."

• Tallahassee Democrat ($): Fried and Crist deliver closing statements in Tallahassee for Democrats race to be governor. "The two Democratic candidates for governor launched statewide bus tours to make closing arguments for the Aug 23 primary to pick who will face incumbent Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis in November."

• WFSU-Tallahasee: State law lets courts keep some bail money, making it hard for charitable bail funds to operate. "The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida says a state law that lets clerks of court keep bail money in certain cases is unconstitutional. The group has filed a lawsuit against the statue on behalf of the Tallahassee Bail Fund."

• WLRN-Miami: Federal wildlife managers are updating a plan to save the Key deer. Conservationists say it's too vague. "An updated federal plan to help save the endangered Key deer, and reverse course on a Trump administration effort to strip the species of protections, is drawing scrutiny from conservationists. The changes would update a 23-year-old recovery plan and comes amid continued sparring between the groups and wildlife managers over how best to save the planet’s only herd of tiny deer."

• WMFE-Orlando: More rooftop solar coming to Florida under new climate law, Biden administration says. "The Biden administration says it expects more than a million Florida households will add rooftop solar panels under a major new climate, tax and healthcare law. The administration says the law the president signed this week is the most significant in U.S. history to tackle climate change."

• WUSF-Tampa: The Anti-vax founder of America’s Frontline Doctors now has a license to practice in Florida. "Dr. Simone Gold, an emergency-room doctor who became one of the country’s most vocal anti-vaxxers during the COVID 19 pandemic, has adopted Florida as her new home. In videos, she says she prefers its politics to what she calls 'the communist nation of California.' In the spring, she moved to Naples, set up a new company and on July 22 received a Florida medical license."

• NPR News: What is a waterspout? Here's how the spectacular one in Florida formed. "Thunderstorms helped produce a massive waterspout off the coast of Destin, Fla., on Tuesday, wowing people who saw video of the cool-looking weather phenomenon. If you've never seen a waterspout before, you might think it's a tornado happening over water instead of land – and that's pretty much what is going on."


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• Politics: Pence says he'd consider testifying to House January 6 committee

• National: CVS, Walgreens and Walmart ordered to pay $650 million for fueling opioid crisis

• World: Plácido Domingo linked to criminal ring in Argentina, prosecutors say

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