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The Point, June 8, 2023: Special Report: Record profits and soaring costs

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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 in their shadow. In Part IV, Profit, we look atthe industry’s record profits in recent years – and the soaring costs of fertilizer for farmers. We also report on fertilizer’s greenhouse gas emissions, higher than the aviation industry’s. And UF’s Fernando Figueroa and Serra Sowers look into the industry’s influence on Florida’s environmental-research agenda.

• WUFT News: Ocala woman arrested on manslaughter charge after shooting neighbor. "Susan Lorincz was arrested on Tuesday for shooting and killing her neighbor, Ajike Owens, after an altercation involving Owens’s children playing near the woman’s house, according to an arrest affidavit."

• WUFT News: Gainesville man receives 30-year sentence for violent courtroom attack on his defense attorney. "A long-awaited trial of a man accused of punching his defense attorney in an Alachua County courtroom in November, fracturing his skull, wrapped up this week."

• WUFT News: Columbia County Sheriff’s Office hosts inaugural Citizen’s Law Enforcement Academy. "On May 30, the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office hosted the first day of class in its Citizen’s Law Enforcement Academy, a nine-week program with the stated mission to create better understanding and communication between law enforcement and area residents."

• Fort Myers News-Press ($): Former UF football star Tony Joiner sentenced in girlfriend's 2016 homicide. "Tony Joiner, a former University of Florida football star player arrested in his girlfriend's 2016 murder, will spend more than two decades behind bars."

• Ocala Gazette: Voter turnout demographics from the special election. "The 'Ocala Gazette' has obtained more detailed demographic information about the 8,789 voters who turned out for the May 16 General Special Election during which Republican Ryan Chamberlin was elected to fill the vacant Florida House of Representatives District 24 seat."

• Mainstreet Daily News: Gainesville slates nine Juneteenth events. "The city’s 'Journey to Juneteenth' started on May 19 and focused on the journey to freedom for African Americans."


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Around the state

• WLRN-Miami: Trial for disgraced former school resource officer, Scot Peterson, begins. "Scot Peterson is charged with seven counts of felony child neglect for the children killed and injured on the third floor of the school building on Feb. 14, 2018. He also faces three counts of misdemeanor culpable negligence for the adults shot on the third floor, including a teacher and an adult student who died."

• News Service of Florida: Charlie Crist is tapped for an ambassador position under President Biden. "The nomination to the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization would require U.S. Senate confirmation."

• WLRN-Miami: Florida’s home insurance rates rising faster than any state, nearly triple U.S. average. "The numbers show just how massive the impact has been on the wallets of Florida consumers, with home insurance costs up about 57% since 2015, according to LexisNexis Risk Solutions. That’s nearly triple the national average (21%) and far outpaces Nebraska, the state with the second biggest average home insurance hike (43%)."

• News Service of Florida: Florida Virtual School is taking financial precautions. "The completion of courses is a key metric for the school, which only gets paid if students finish online classes."

• WUSF-Tampa: Shipping speed limits being eyed to protect rare whales in the Gulf of Mexico. "Comments are now being taken by federal environmental regulators on setting boat speed limits around areas in the Gulf of Mexico known to be the home for the rare Rice's whale."

• WLRN-Miami: Lionel Messi is taking his talents to Miami. "Hours after first reports of the move emerged on Wednesday morning, taking a years-long rumor into overdrive, Lionel Messi himself confirmed he intended to join Inter Miami CF."

• Jacksonville Today: Jacksonville Jaguars reveal 'Stadium of the Future.' "The design announcement made no mention of the renovation's cost, but Lamping said it could come to $1.3 billion to $1.4 billion. He warned that the final price will not be known until the team and the city of Jacksonville complete negotiations about the scope of the stadium."


From NPR News

• Politics: Book bans are on the rise. Biden is naming a point person to address that

• Law: Supreme Court justices, minus Thomas, and Alito, file financial disclosure reports

• Law: Prison sexual assault victims can now petition for compassionate release

• National: Photos: Extreme Canadian wildfire smoke shrouds parts of U.S.

• Media: Chris Licht ousted at CNN after a year of crisis

• World: Pope Francis will remain in hospital after a hernia-related surgery in Rome

• Technology: 'What the duck' no more: Apple will stop autocorrecting your favorite swear word
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