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• WUFT News: Alachua County Commission upholds residents’ wishes; West End property remains recreational. "After more than four hours of presentations, public comment and commissioner discussion, the room erupted into applause. The Alachua County Board of Commissioners voted 4-1, with Commissioner Raemi Eagle-Glenn in dissent, to keep the West End Golf Club property recreational in a transmittal hearing. The vote halts developer Sayed Moukhtara and JBrown Professional Group from constructing a 70-home subdivision named Tara Club."

• WUFT News: UF clinic provides treatment for long COVID symptoms. "Some people who have been infected with the virus that causes COVID-19 can experience post-COVID symptoms for four or more weeks after the infection, according to the CDC. Common symptoms include fatigue, shortness of breath, brain fog and chest pain."

• WUFT News: Grand jury indicts man on murder charge in shooting at apartment complex. "A grand jury has indicted a Gainesville man on a charge of premeditated murder involving the fatal shooting of a man at an apartment complex near Oaks Mall over the summer. He is also accused of illegally trying to compel potential witnesses to alter their testimony in his case."

• WCJB: Alachua County commissioners discuss mitigating damage in flood-prone neighborhoods. "Areas of the county like The Hills of Santa Fe and Robin Lane are just a few of several spots. The commission is considering how people in those neighborhoods can avoid and recover from flood damage. A vulnerability study is already underway to pick out any ‘future’ flood-prone areas."

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Around the state

• WLRN-Miami: In closing arguments, Parkland trial lawyers battle over death penalty. "Jurors will now have to look at several months-worth of evidence and weigh what punishment the shooter deserves. They assign their own weight to aggravating circumstances, presented by the prosecutors, and mitigating factors, presented by the defense. They have been instructed that aggravating circumstances need to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt before mitigating factors are even considered. Jurors need to be unanimous on each of the 17 counts for a death penalty."

• News Service of Florida: Gopher tortoises are not endangered and will not get increased protections, federal officials say. "The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released a 113-page decision that said gopher tortoises would continue to be considered a threatened species in parts of southwest Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana under the Endangered Species Act. But it said increased protections are not warranted for gopher tortoises in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and other parts of Alabama, despite issues such as development moving into the animals’ habitats."

• Politico: Treasury Department probing DeSantis’ migrant flights. "The agency’s inspector general’s office confirmed to several members of Massachusetts’s Democratic congressional delegation that it planned 'to get this work underway as soon as possible' to probe Florida’s spending as part of ongoing audits into how states have used the billions in sent to them as part of the American Rescue Plan, according to a letter provided by Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey’s office."

• NPR News: Undocumented immigrant workers are helping clean up Florida after Hurricane Ian. "The coastal cities and barrier island villages are about to find out what storm-struck communities in other Gulf states have learned in recent years - that America has a labor shortage. And immigrant workers, many of whom are in this country illegally, fill a critical role in the storm recovery."

• Naples Daily News ($): Damage from Hurricane Ian at $2.2 billion in Collier; more than 3,500 buildings face major damage. "Meeting for the first time since Ian swept through Southwest Florida on Sept. 28, the Collier County Commission received a detailed report Tuesday about building damage, debris clean up, power restoration and why the curfew is necessary. Countywide 33 buildings were destroyed. A combined 3,515 residential and commercial buildings sustained major damage, the report shows."

• Fort Myers News-Press ($): Sanibel Causeway is intact again as trucks roll onto the island battered by Hurricane Ian. "The storm broke the causeway in three places, washing out chunks of the spoil islands that held up the roadbed. For the first week, workers, evacuated islanders, equipment and supplies had to arrive via air or water, since the land route had been destroyed. That will continue, (Gov. Ron) DeSantis said, but the addition of over-the-road transport will help a lot."

• WUSF-Tampa: After a contentious 2020 election season, local elections officials gear up for November elections. "...Brian Corley, supervisor of elections in Pasco County, and Hillsborough County counterpart Craig Latimer say they are confident their systems will prevail."

• Florida Storms: Heavy rain and flash flooding are possible over the Panhandle and North Florida this week. "Locally heavy rainfall rates will be the greatest threat posed from Wednesday’s storms, and this could lead to isolated flash flooding. Forecasters at the Weather Prediction Center say that Florida’s Panhandle from Tallahassee westward is under a marginal, or level one out of four, risk for flash flooding. Additionally, although the chances are limited, a brief tornado cannot be ruled out of the forecast."

• Spectrum News: Numerous 'swatting' calls plague schools across Florida. "A number of schools in Florida have received hoax calls reporting of an active shooter, according to authorities. So far, police haven’t found any credible threats."

• New York Times ($): With Fall Migration, Bird Flu Flies Back Into Town. "The current outbreak began in late 2021, when a highly pathogenic strain of flu known as Eurasian H5N1 was detected in birds in Eastern Canada. The virus made its way down the Atlantic coast to Florida and then exploded this spring, when migrating birds carried the pathogen north and west."

From NPR News

• Politics: Biden is rethinking the U.S. relationship with Saudi Arabia after OPEC cuts

• Health: There's a spike in respiratory illness among children — and it's not just COVID

• Health: On #dementia TikTok, family caregivers find support and bring the disease to light

• Education: What to know about the application for Biden's student loan relief

• World: Russia continues its assault on Ukraine, hitting infrastructure and other targets

• National: Is 'rainbow fentanyl' a threat to your kids this Halloween? Experts say no
Ethan Magoc curated today's edition of The Point.