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The Point, June 7, 2023: Special Report: Water and Land

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The stories near you

• WUFT News Special Report: Today WUFT News continues The Price of Plenty, a special report on the fertilizer industry by student journalists from the University of Florida and the University of Missouri. Funded by a grant from the Pulitzer Center’s nationwide Connected Coastlines reporting initiative, we spent 16 weeks reporting on fertilizer from Florida’s farm fields and phosphate mines to agrichemical plants along the Mississippi River and the communities that live in their shadow. Stories in Part III, Water & Land, look at how lands are “reclaimed” for other uses after phosphate mining; the science behind the Gulf of Mexico “dead zone” and this year’s farm bill. Advocates hope to use the massive bill to help move the needle on fertilizer’s contribution to climate change.

• Associated Press: Ocala mother fatally shot by neighbor after dispute over playing children, sheriff says. "A Florida mother was fatally shot through the front door of her neighbor’s home while her 9-year-old son stood next to her, a violent culmination of what police said was a 2½-year feud."

• WCJB: “We’re caught up”: Audit of Gainesville city finances comes in clean. "The city remains under close watch from the state joint legislative auditing committee regarding Gainesville Regional Utilities’ more than billion-dollar debt."

• Mainstreet Daily News: BOCC takes up meat plant, impact fees. "The draft agreements would allow the county to use approximately 25 acres at the Newberry Environmental Park for a solid waste collection center, household hazardous waste center and a meat processing facility."

• Florida Politics: TaxWatch targets $169M in UF ‘budget turkeys,’ but other universities escape sights. "Marked projects could almost justify a Budget Gators rebranding, with hawks identifying nearly $169 million reserved for the University of Florida (UF) alone."

• Mainstreet Daily News:County engineer explains road repair plans. "The original transportation program budget was about $3.5 million per year, Gavarrete said. After the county passed a one-cent surtax, that budget has risen to include $242 million over the next 10 years."


Around the state

• News Service of Florida: Florida confirms role in migrant flights; calls them 'voluntary.' "Division spokeswoman Alecia Collins also pointed to a more than two-minute video posted on the social-media site Rumble that showed images of people filling out forms, listening to upbeat music in a stretch vehicle, walking across an airport tarmac and celebrating their arrival in California."

• NPR: To keep immigrants from fleeing, Florida GOP focus on immigration law loopholes. "Florida Republicans who voted to pass the state's imminent anti-immigration law are trying to curb a potentially disastrous mass exodus of undocumented residents by touting the legislation's many 'loopholes.'"

• News Service of Florida: A federal court backs trans minors involved in a lawsuit against Florida’s gender-affirming care ban. "The judge determined plaintiffs were likely to succeed in their claims that the ban violates transgender rights and parents' ability to make healthcare decisions for their children. The state will likely appeal."

• News Service of Florida: Lawmakers win a round in a North Florida redistricting fight. "As they try to defend a congressional redistricting plan, the Florida House and Senate will be able to challenge part of a 2010 constitutional amendment that set rules for drawing maps, a Leon County circuit judge said Monday."

• WUFT News: Florida governor signs bill to limit tech companies’ use of personal data. "Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday signed SB 262, a law whose supporters say will increase technology transparency, in Wildwood before offering remarks at a press conference."

• WUSF-Tampa: Florida's first 'clean' hydrogen production plant is being built in Polk County. "Construction started in Polk County Tuesday on what is being billed as the state's first "clean carbon" hydrogen production facility. Florida officials brokered the deal with companies in Tampa and South Korea."

• Florida Times-Union ($): Jacksonville Jaguars to unveil plans for TIAA Bank Field renovations Wednesday. "The cost of the project could exceed $1 billion, with a portion of that likely coming from public funds."


From NPR News

• National: 2 dead, several injured in shooting at a high school graduation in Virginia

• National: Gun deaths hit their highest level ever in 2021, with 1 person dead every 11 minutes

• Education: A group claiming to protect parents' rights in public schools is labeled as extremist

• World: What we know about a large dam's catastrophic breach in Ukraine

• Climate: How Canadian wildfires are worsening U.S. air quality and what you can do to cope

• Sports: In a stunning move, PGA Tour agrees to merge with its Saudi-backed rival, LIV Golf

• Science: Volunteers helped tally terrapin turtles for science
Kristin Moorehead curated today's edition of The Point.

Contact WUFT News by calling 352-392-6397 or emailing news @wuft.org
Contact WUFT News by calling 352-392-6397 or emailing news @wuft.org