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The stories near you

• WUFT News: 2021 Swamp Car Wash murder case defendant changes plea again. "Under the former plea deal, Patrick was facing up to 15 years in prison. Now, if he is found guilty at trial, the minimum sentence is 25 years."

• WUFT News: Alachua County Public Schools seeks to build better future for Westwood Middle. "Community leaders, parents and teachers gathered at Westwood Middle School on Monday morning to celebrate the school’s 'Raising the Wall' ceremony."

• WUFT News: Buchholz alum looks to set a trend for Alachua County football players. "In December, he became one of the few players from Alachua County to sign a letter of intent to attend the University of Alabama on a football scholarship."

• The Alligator: Sasse’s semester of selective silence. "Since UF President Ben Sasse took office in early February, he’s been selective about his public appearances. But behind the scenes in Tigert Hall, his first semester in Florida has featured a complicated state legislative session, a potential graduate campus in Jacksonville and meetings with faculty leaders."

• WUFT News: Gainesville’s largest TNR program Operation Catnip makes waves for community cat welfare. "The main function of the program is to allow caregivers to bring community cats into the clinic so that they can get fixed, vaccinated and returned to where they were found."

• Mainstreet Daily News: UF to offer screenings for service animals. "The University of Florida’s Small Animal Hospital will offer free eye and heart exams for service animals on May 19."

• WUFT News: Gainesville’s Kind Kitty Rescue takes on critical cases involving neonatal kittens. "Every two hours, they enter their designated “kitten room” to bottle-feed newborns who are without a mother."

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Around the state

• Fresh Take Florida: Behind the scenes of Florida’s efforts to purge schools of books deemed improper. "With a scanner like ones used at grocery stores plugged into her computer, Paula Stephens spent her 30-minute planning period scanning two boxes of books from her classroom library."

• Florida Politics: Amendment would clear up ambiguity about need for Ron DeSantis to resign-to-run for President in 2024. "If Sen. Travis Hutson’s proposal is approved, the language will exempt anyone who is running for President or Vice President from resign-to-run requirements."

• WMFE-Orlando: COVID Booster shots, will they cost you money with the end of the PHE? "The second COVID-19 bivalent booster shot is now available to certain people, including those over 65 and people who are immune-compromised. But The COVID-19 Public Health Emergency is set to expire on May 11th, which means the federal government will transition out of certain policies, such as free COVID tests."

• WUSF-Tampa: How limits on demonstration at the Florida Capitol affect free speech. "Requests to reserve space inside the capitol have to be made through the head of a state agency, legislative leaders or the chief justice of the Florida Supreme Court. People violating the rules can be removed by police."

• WMFE-Orlando: Will the TikTok ban on Florida Universities affect athletes' NIL deals? "In March, the Florida Board of Governors, which oversees the state’s universities, issued an emergency regulation banning TikTok and WeChat. This move came about two years after the NCAA started allowing athletes to profit off of their name, image, and likeness, or NIL."

• News Service of Florida: Monorail becomes the latest target in the Disney feud. "Disney’s iconic monorail system would face periodic state inspections, as Republican lawmakers continue to back Gov. Ron DeSantis in his clash with the entertainment giant."

• WMFE-Orlando: Karla Luzardo's dream of becoming a lawyer could be crushed by Florida immigration bill. "A bill that would ban undocumented people from being admitted into the Florida Bar, is getting its second committee reading in the Florida Senate on Tuesday."

From NPR News

• Politics: House Republicans hope their debt limit bill will get Biden to the negotiating table

• World: Warring factions in Sudan have agreed to a temporary truce

• National: Book bans are getting everyone's attention — including Biden's. Here's why

• Law: Chief Justice Roberts declines to testify before Senate panel

• Science: What lessons have we learned from the COVID pandemic?

• Health: Diet culture can hurt kids. This author advises parents to reclaim the word 'fat'

• Culture: Mattel unveils a Barbie with Down syndrome
Kristin Moorehead curated today's edition of The Point.