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Watershed: Solutions
Today WUFT News focuses on solutions in its series WATERSHED, an investigation into statewide water quality marking the 50th anniversary of the Clean Water Act. In Science, Slicks and Solutions, recent UF graduate Ellen Bausback reports on the devastating health problems still faced by bottlenose dolphins 12 years after the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill — and the unprecedented scientific innovations and insights coming out of the disaster. In Solutions on the Half Shell, UF journalism senior Katie Delk reports on the hope that small clams could make a big difference in water pollution hotspots like the Indian River Lagoon.
Don't miss our earlier stories, including this must-read blend of history and science on UF's signature Lake Alice. WATERSHED is funded by a grant from the Pulitzer Center’s nationwide Connected Coastlines reporting initiative.
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Today's Florida stories
• Associated Press: Watch live: NASA moon rocket on track for launch despite lightning hits. "NASA’s new moon rocket remained on track to blast off on a crucial test flight Monday, despite a series of lightning strikes at the launch pad. The 322-foot (98-meter) Space Launch System rocket is the most powerful ever built by NASA. It’s poised to send an empty crew capsule into lunar orbit, a half-century after NASA’s Apollo program, which landed 12 astronauts on the moon."
• Politico: DeSantis suspends 4 Broward school board members after Parkland report. "Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended four Broward County School Board members Friday in the wake of an explosive grand jury report that called for their ouster over a 'neglect of duty and incompetence' in managing a multimillion dollar bond for campus security."
• New York Times ($): As DeSantis Campaigns on Education, Crist Picks Teacher as Running Mate. "(Charlie) Crist named Karla Hernández-Mats, the president of the United Teachers of Dade, as his lieutenant governor pick on Saturday, casting the former middle school special education science teacher — who is unknown to the vast majority of Florida voters — as a passionate parent and advocate ready to govern at his side, despite her lack of experience in elective office."
• WFSU-Tallahassee: There were few takers for Florida's college and university viewpoint diversity survey, results show. "Results are in from the state's first survey of viewpoint diversity on public university campuses but there's little that may be gleaned from it. Fewer than 10% of faculty and staff at Florida’s 12 public universities who received the viewpoint diversity survey earlier this year responded to it. The figure was 2.4% for students. The low response rate, coupled with problems in how the survey was put together and distributed, is problematic for parsing out what the responses mean."
• NPR News: 20 were charged for voter fraud in Florida. Advocates say a broken system is to blame. "Many of the individuals recently charged by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' new election crimes unit told investigators they had no idea that with their felony convictions, they were unable to vote when they cast ballots in the 2020 election. Their experiences shed new light on Florida's controversial program for felons to restore their voting rights."
• Florida Storms: Tropical outlook for the next five days. "Four areas of tropical development are now being monitored in the Atlantic basin. The most concerning is that large area of low pressure over the central parts where organization into a tropical depression is likely by mid-week."
• Tallahassee Democrat ($): Controversy continues over DeSantis' $12 million plan to transport undocumented migrants out of Florida. "Immigration advocates and other critics say the money could be better used for more urgent needs of Floridians instead of 'targeting and demonizing' immigrants.'"
• Gainesville Sun ($): Planned Parenthood warns of 'fake abortion clinics' popping up in Gainesville. "Fake abortion clinics appear to be popping up in an effort to trick women seeking assistance into facilities before trying to indoctrinate them with religious, pro-life propaganda. Pro-choice advocates say it's a growing issue that has now impacted Gainesville."
• Mainstreet Daily News: Community gathers to remember 1902 lynching. "Late Saturday morning, people filed into rows of chairs to honor the lives and memories of Manny Price Brooks, 9, and Robert Suggs, 11. Brooks and Suggs were playing in a field when they were wrongfully accused of slaughtering cattle. The boys were taken to Newberry and publicly lynched in 1902. The tragedy marked the earliest lynching that occurred at 'Lynch Hammock.'"
From NPR News
• Space: NASA is launching its most powerful rocket ever to the moon, with sights on Mars
• Space: NASA is set to return to the moon. Here are 4 reasons to go back
• Health: Early signs suggest monkeypox may be slowing in the U.S.
• Politics: Student loan forgiveness is politically popular. But not all Democrats are on board
• Politics: Stacey Abrams is behind in the polls and looking to abortion rights to help her win
• Business: California wants to end sales of new gas cars by 2035. Here are 4 key roadblocks
• National: Materials taken from Mar-a-Lago will be assessed for possible national security risks
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.