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The stories near you

• WUFT News: UF Faculty Senate approves vote of no confidence in presidential selection process. "After two-and-a-half hours of debate, the Senate voted, 72-16, to approve the resolution drafted last week following faculty’s dissatisfaction with a lack of openness in the selection process."

• WUFT News: Two Gainesville police advisory council members urge K9 unit be abolished. "Two of seven members of Gainesville’s police advisory council recommended unsuccessfully that the police department’s K9 unit be abolished, signaling ahead of an upcoming city commission meeting the level of community outrage over this summer’s mauling of a man who lost his eye after a traffic stop."

• Gainesville Sun ($): Fact check 2022 election: Does a candidate support men competing in women's sports? "For the first time in Gainesville's history, a majority of the seats on the City Commission are up for grabs, including the mayor's chair. While there are points to be made from candidates on why they are the better fit for office, not everything shared has been truthful."

• Mainstreet Daily News: GNV board delays county courthouse rezoning. "Gainesville’s Plan Board paused a rezoning application by Alachua County that would allow phase 5 construction of the county’s Courts Complex at the corner of Main Street and SW 4th Avenue."

• WUFT News: Hurricane Hunters: Data’s journey from the sky back to Earth. "The flight crew consists of five highly trained members: a pilot, co-pilot, navigator, flight meteorologist, and weather reconnaissance loadmaster. Each role is unique and significant to a successful mission."

• Mainstreet Daily News: FWC: It’s time to exclude bats from your home. "Bat maternity season, when bats give birth and raise their young, ended Aug. 15. Fall is the ideal time to bat-proof your home after bat pups have been weaned and can fly and search for food on their own."

• Ocala Gazette: History on the hoof. "If settling into the saddle and driving a herd of cattle through palmetto prairies, boggy swamps and rolling pastures is on your bucket list, you still have time to register for the Great Florida Cattle Drive 2022—Celebrating 500 Years of Cattle in Florida."

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Around the state

• WUSF-Tampa Bay: Florida elections officials grapple with misinformation and myths. "The challenges have come amid supervisors’ years-long battle to convince voters that election processes aren’t rigged, an issue that took root and spread after former President Donald Trump and his supporters insisted — and continue to maintain — that Democrat Joe Biden’s 2020 victory was fraudulent."

• WMFE-Orlando: Misery Wrought by Hurricane Ian Focuses Attention on Climate Records of Florida Candidates for Governor. "Both candidates made the environment and especially the Everglades priorities of their administrations, with Crist concentrating on protecting land through state acquisitions and DeSantis emphasizing water quality. But the candidates differ starkly on climate change, widely viewed as Florida’s biggest environmental threat."

• WTSP-Tampa Bay: 2022 General Election: Meet the candidates running for Florida attorney general. "Whoever is elected in the position of the state's attorney general will serve as the chief legal officer throughout all of Florida. They're responsible for 'protecting Florida consumers from various types of fraud and enforcing the state's antitrust laws,' the government page for the attorney general explains."

• Florida Politics: DEP air quality data shows emissions in Florida are the lowest on record. "Throughout the year, air quality in the state has consistently met hourly air quality standards and only occasionally exceeded daily standards, according to monthly monitoring reports on the DEP’s air quality reporting web page."

• WFTS-Tampa Bay: Restraining orders in the state of Florida going into effect quicker with new law. "Restraining orders in the state of Florida are going into effect quicker now thanks to a new law that allows courts to email an injunction to a sheriff’s office in any county instead of mail or fax."

• WUSF-Tampa Bay: Can you bring a phone into the polls? We answer these and other Florida election questions. "Yes, you can bring your cell phone, but you CANNOT use it to take a selfie of you and your ballot."

• News4Jax: Mangroves are impacted by the wobble of the Moon. "Mangroves along the coast of Florida are vital to protecting landward areas from surge and lashing waves in hurricanes. It turns out the growth of mangrove canopy cover is regulated by changes in the Moon’s cycle according to new research coming out of Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia."

From NPR News

• Economy: Buying a home gets even harder as mortgage rates top 7%

• National: Can the U.S. keep up with Ukraine's demand for weaponry?

• Technology: Facebook parent Meta is having a no-good, horrible day after dismal earnings report.

• Environment: An influential energy group sees reason for climate optimism.

• History: An unearthed John Steinbeck column probes the strength of U.S. democracy.

• Health: Why you should talk to more strangers.

• Culture: How the cartoonist behind The Addams Family defused fear, with dead-on humor.
Kristin Moorehead curated today's edition of The Point.