The Point, March 13, 2025: Georgia farmers OK to draw from Floridan Aquifer

Subscribe to The Point, arriving in your inbox Monday through Friday at 8 a.m.






The stories near you

Various cross-state initiatives aim to encourage climate-friendly farming practices. Here, stakeholders from Alabama, Georgia and Florida learn about freshwater mussel habitat at the Jones Center at Ichauway in Newton, Georgia. (Rose Schnabel/WUFT News) (1962x1472, AR: 1.3328804347826086)

• WUFT News: 25 years after tri-state water wars, Georgia farmers get green light to tap into the Floridan Aquifer. "The Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin was a key site in the decades-long “Water Wars” during which the three states accused each other of mismanagement of their shared water resources."

• WUFT News: Good news: Gainesville police say murders, fatal crashes down compared to last year. "Nobody was murdered and one person died in a vehicle crash in the first two months of 2025, far lower numbers than the same period one year ago, according to new figures submitted to the city commission."

• WUFT News: GRU inventories water service lines to check for lead pipes. "Jennifer McElroy, supervising engineer and utility designer for GRU, said GRU sent out 40,000 letters in November following the requirement by federal law to notify any customer with an unknown service line material about the inventory."

• WUFT News: ‘Our system is beyond broken’: Florida immigration experts and advocates discuss a new reality. "Activities that U.S. citizens do multiple times a day without thought can be risky, she said. Driving without a license, texting while driving and jaywalking are all laws that don’t take much to violate and can fall under the new broad terms of what constitutes as criminal, Cabrera said."

• WUFT News: Fluoride fight intensifies in Alachua County. "Raemi Eagle-Glenn, Alachua County GOP state committeewoman, has been vocal in her opposition to fluoride in Alachua County’s drinking water."

• Florida Storms: Multi-day severe weather forecast for Florida's Panhandle & possibly North Florida. "By Saturday afternoon into the evening and through Sunday, there will be an increasing chance for more severe storms due to the front that will be sweeping through the Panhandle from west to east, producing some severe storms, including the risk for damaging winds, large hail, and a couple of tornadoes, can't be ruled out."

• WUFT News: Husband facing murder charge over wife’s drug overdose. "Authorities blamed Dean Gary Wayne Nelson, 52, of Crystal River for providing his wife, Christine Nelson, 47, with a deadly dose of meth that led her to overdose Jan. 27. The sheriff’s office there arrested Nelson earlier this week. He was being held without bond in the jail."

• WUFT News: Authorities: Prison guard planned to smuggle drugs behind bars. "The Columbia County Sheriff’s Office said it arrested Jakaleb Cahree Thomas, 28, of Lake City in an investigation that involved an informant who delivered the drugs to Thomas in a trash can outside her home. A Florida Highway Patrol surveillance plane tracked the guard’s movements before any drugs were smuggled inside the prison."

• WUFT News: Matheson Museum honors 200 years of Alachua County history. "Alachua County turned 200 this year, and the Matheson History Museum is honoring that milestone with a new exhibition that looks back on the people, places, and progress that shaped the county’s history."
Today's sponsored message
Around the state

Breana Dion, of Lakeland, holds her daughter, Kamila. The 6-year-old was born with a large amount of medical complexities including respiratory and heart issues, autism, and a condition called Hypogammaglobulinemia, which is characterized by low levels of immunoglobulins (antibodies) in the blood. (Courtesy of Breana Dion) (1760x1172, AR: 1.5017064846416381)

• Central Florida Public Media: Part 2: Florida Healthy Kids Plan Won’t Cover Drug for Chronically Ill Child. "Breana Dion is angry. She was mad when her immunocompromised 6-year-old daughter Kamila was kicked off Children’s Medical Services. She was livid when the letter informing her of Kamila’s terminated coverage arrived at their home two days after the coverage was canceled. And she was full of rage when their new coverage through the Florida Healthy Kids Corporation denied payment for her daughter’s weekly infusion to boost her immune system."

• News Service of Florida: Bill advancing in Florida Senate would mandate removal of false defamatory content. "The proposal centers on what is known as the 'fair reporting privilege' that protects media outlets from being sued for defamation when they publish accurate accounts of information or data contained in official documents or statements."

• WLRN-Miami: A warning for the Everglades: South Florida had fewer nesting wading birds in the last two years. "While rainfall played a part, the numbers suggest more work needs to be done to fix South Florida’s wild landscape and keep water where the birds need it to successfully raise chicks."

• WUSF-Tampa: Questions remain as Mosaic looks into pumping phosphate wastewater deep underground. "A public hearing was held Tuesday night on an 'exploratory' well at an idled Mosaic processing plant north of Plant City. But it is unknown what exactly would eventually be sent underground."

• Associated Press: SpaceX delays flight to replace NASA's stuck astronauts after launch pad problem. "The new crew needs to get to the International Space Station before Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams can head home after nine months in orbit."

• WUSF-Tampa: USF, University of Tampa are under federal investigation over claims of antisemitic harassment. "They are the only Florida schools among 60 nationally that received letters from the Department of Education accusing them of violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act."

• News Service of Florida: Tougher boating safety proposals moving forward, spurred by deadly 2022 crash in Florida Keys. "Both proposals are named after Lucy Fernandez, a 17-year-old killed in 2022 when a 29-foot boat she and 13 others were on hit a channel marker near Boca Chita Key. The operator of the boat, Doral real-estate broker George Pino, faces a vessel homicide charge after initially being charged with three misdemeanor counts for careless boating. He pleaded not guilty to the homicide charge in November."

• WFSU-Tallahassee: Florida's Public Service Commission may soon be expanded. "The PSC holds public hearings whenever a utility wants to increase rates in Florida to, in theory, ensure that they follow the law and the increases are not excessive. It exists because in many areas, only one utility provider is available, creating natural monopolies that could hike up rates without government checks."
From NPR News
• Climate: America's clean-energy industry is growing despite Trump's attacks. At least for now

• Law: Judge blocks Trump from enforcing 'chilling' order against law firm

• Climate: EPA announces dozens of environmental regulations it plans to target

• Politics: Congress reignites a bipartisan effort to ban hair discrimination

• Education: Universities across the U.S. freeze hiring as federal funding hangs in the balance

• World: Rodrigo Duterte is in custody in The Hague for crimes against humanity trial

• Health: COVID is still evolving and will find new ways to evade immune systems, scientists say

• Business: Intrigued by buy-now, pay-later loans? Experts break down 6 pros and cons

Kristin Moorehead curated today's edition of The Point.