WUFT | News and public media for north central Florida
The Point, April 25, 2025: Humane Society warns of summer foster shortage
By WUFT News
April 25, 2025 at 8:00 AM EDT
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The stories near you
Dex, a German Shepherd-Malinois mix, enjoys a cheesy treat after arriving with 26 other puppies from an overcrowded shelter. (Marta Rodriguez/WUFT News) (6000x4000, AR: 1.5)
• WUFT News: Foster shortage looms for Humane Society during summer months. "As summer approaches, the Humane Society of North Central Florida is urging the community to help address a familiar challenge. With university students and residents leaving Gainesville for break, the shelter is seeing an increase in returned foster dogs and a drop in available help."
• News Service of Florida: Jacksonville stripper court decision paves the way for Cafe Risque lawsuit to move forward. "State lawmakers and Gov. Ron DeSantis last year approved a law that included preventing strippers under age 21 from performing in adult-entertainment establishments across Florida. The law quickly drew a First Amendment challenge from operators of two nude-dancing establishments, a dancer and a retail store that sells adult-oriented items."
• Mainstreet Daily News: School Board of Alachua County ratifies 1.3% teacher raise. "The new raises are retroactive to July 1, 2024, or to the day an employee began working during the school year, and are expected to hit payrolls May 15."
• Jacksonville Today: UF seeks final agreement on graduate campus by June. "The University of Florida wants a deal with City Council for its proposed graduate campus in LaVilla signed by the end of June — an agreement that will include land rights to start construction and bring the school’s semiconductor institute to Jacksonville."
• Florida Storms: The science behind rip currents. "It is often believed that rip currents pull you underwater, but this is a misconception. Rip currents are fast-moving channels that can drag a swimmer away from shore and exhaust them as they try to fight their way back to safety."
• WCJB: Santa Fe College earns “opportunity colleges and universities” designation from Carnegie Classification. "Santa Fe College (SFC) has been recognized as one of only two public colleges in Florida to receive the new designation of “Opportunity Colleges and Universities” from the prestigious Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, according to a press release issued Thursday afternoon."
Today's sponsored message
Around the state
House Health Care Budget Chairman Alex Andrade is seeking information about Hope Florida. (Florida House/News Service of Florida) (1760x1422, AR: 1.2376933895921238)
• News Service of Florida: 'We are not judges or prosecutors': Florida House halts Hope Florida probe. "Rep. Alex Andrade announced the decision after the Hope Florida Foundation’s lawyer, Jeff Aaron, and leaders of nonprofits that received $5 million grants from the foundation refused to appear before the panel."
• WFSU-Tallahassee: Florida legislative leaders say session will run long after budget negotiations stall. "On the floor Thursday, Senate President Ben Albritton said he expects budget negotiations won’t be concluded by the end of session next week. Passing a balanced budget is the one thing Florida lawmakers are required to do each year."
• Miami Herald: Miami farm workers’ last hope for heat protection regs appears dead under Trump. "After efforts to pass laws were stalled in Miami-Dade County and then rebuffed last year by the Florida Legislature, which also banned counties from setting their own rules, the last agency actively working on proposals was the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration."
• Politico: ‘The Democratic Party in Florida is dead’: Top Florida Senate Dem leaves party. "Pizzo, considered a possible candidate for governor in 2026, said unaffiliated voters helped elect him to office. He added that the state party needed new leadership, but Democratic leaders didn’t want him to be it. The party that his late father volunteered for in the 1960s, he said, 'is not the party today.'"
• WUSF-Tampa: Floridians share the impacts of the state's condo crisis. "Legislation passed after a 2021 deadly building collapse aimed to improve the safety of condominiums in Florida. But the increased inspections, studies, and changes to funding reserves have left people grappling with higher fees."
• WGCU-Fort Myers: Cape Coral urges immediate conservation as depleted aquifer reaches further critical levels. "Residents and businesses were warned Thursday that the water level in the Mid-Hawthorn Aquifer — the source of drinking water for northern Cape Coral and parts of Lee County — continues to decline and has now reached a critical threshold."
• WFLA-Tampa: First wildlife crossing over I-4 under construction in Polk County. "While there are two other overpasses designed for equestrian purposes and hikers that wildlife use, this is the first one built with wildlife in mind."
From NPR News
• Weather: Scientists say NOAA cuts by Trump undermine improvements in hurricane forecasts
• Law: Judge pauses parts of Trump's sweeping executive order on voting
• National: Wrong turn leads to hundreds of immigrant arrests at the Detroit-Canada border bridge
• Environment: The U.S. takes a step towards allowing mining on the ocean floor, a fragile ecosystem
• Politics: In a reversal, the Trump administration restores funding for women's health study
• National: Home sales just posted their biggest monthly fall since 2022
• Animals: After nearly 50 years cooped up inside, Rockalina the turtle finds the great outdoors
Kristin Moorehead curated today's edition of The Point.
Subscribe to The Point, arriving in your inbox Monday through Friday at 8 a.m.
The stories near you
Dex, a German Shepherd-Malinois mix, enjoys a cheesy treat after arriving with 26 other puppies from an overcrowded shelter. (Marta Rodriguez/WUFT News) (6000x4000, AR: 1.5)
• WUFT News: Foster shortage looms for Humane Society during summer months. "As summer approaches, the Humane Society of North Central Florida is urging the community to help address a familiar challenge. With university students and residents leaving Gainesville for break, the shelter is seeing an increase in returned foster dogs and a drop in available help."
• News Service of Florida: Jacksonville stripper court decision paves the way for Cafe Risque lawsuit to move forward. "State lawmakers and Gov. Ron DeSantis last year approved a law that included preventing strippers under age 21 from performing in adult-entertainment establishments across Florida. The law quickly drew a First Amendment challenge from operators of two nude-dancing establishments, a dancer and a retail store that sells adult-oriented items."
• Mainstreet Daily News: School Board of Alachua County ratifies 1.3% teacher raise. "The new raises are retroactive to July 1, 2024, or to the day an employee began working during the school year, and are expected to hit payrolls May 15."
• Jacksonville Today: UF seeks final agreement on graduate campus by June. "The University of Florida wants a deal with City Council for its proposed graduate campus in LaVilla signed by the end of June — an agreement that will include land rights to start construction and bring the school’s semiconductor institute to Jacksonville."
• Florida Storms: The science behind rip currents. "It is often believed that rip currents pull you underwater, but this is a misconception. Rip currents are fast-moving channels that can drag a swimmer away from shore and exhaust them as they try to fight their way back to safety."
• WCJB: Santa Fe College earns “opportunity colleges and universities” designation from Carnegie Classification. "Santa Fe College (SFC) has been recognized as one of only two public colleges in Florida to receive the new designation of “Opportunity Colleges and Universities” from the prestigious Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, according to a press release issued Thursday afternoon."
Today's sponsored message
Around the state
House Health Care Budget Chairman Alex Andrade is seeking information about Hope Florida. (Florida House/News Service of Florida) (1760x1422, AR: 1.2376933895921238)
• News Service of Florida: 'We are not judges or prosecutors': Florida House halts Hope Florida probe. "Rep. Alex Andrade announced the decision after the Hope Florida Foundation’s lawyer, Jeff Aaron, and leaders of nonprofits that received $5 million grants from the foundation refused to appear before the panel."
• WFSU-Tallahassee: Florida legislative leaders say session will run long after budget negotiations stall. "On the floor Thursday, Senate President Ben Albritton said he expects budget negotiations won’t be concluded by the end of session next week. Passing a balanced budget is the one thing Florida lawmakers are required to do each year."
• Miami Herald: Miami farm workers’ last hope for heat protection regs appears dead under Trump. "After efforts to pass laws were stalled in Miami-Dade County and then rebuffed last year by the Florida Legislature, which also banned counties from setting their own rules, the last agency actively working on proposals was the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration."
• Politico: ‘The Democratic Party in Florida is dead’: Top Florida Senate Dem leaves party. "Pizzo, considered a possible candidate for governor in 2026, said unaffiliated voters helped elect him to office. He added that the state party needed new leadership, but Democratic leaders didn’t want him to be it. The party that his late father volunteered for in the 1960s, he said, 'is not the party today.'"
• WUSF-Tampa: Floridians share the impacts of the state's condo crisis. "Legislation passed after a 2021 deadly building collapse aimed to improve the safety of condominiums in Florida. But the increased inspections, studies, and changes to funding reserves have left people grappling with higher fees."
• WGCU-Fort Myers: Cape Coral urges immediate conservation as depleted aquifer reaches further critical levels. "Residents and businesses were warned Thursday that the water level in the Mid-Hawthorn Aquifer — the source of drinking water for northern Cape Coral and parts of Lee County — continues to decline and has now reached a critical threshold."
• WFLA-Tampa: First wildlife crossing over I-4 under construction in Polk County. "While there are two other overpasses designed for equestrian purposes and hikers that wildlife use, this is the first one built with wildlife in mind."
From NPR News
• Weather: Scientists say NOAA cuts by Trump undermine improvements in hurricane forecasts
• Law: Judge pauses parts of Trump's sweeping executive order on voting
• National: Wrong turn leads to hundreds of immigrant arrests at the Detroit-Canada border bridge
• Environment: The U.S. takes a step towards allowing mining on the ocean floor, a fragile ecosystem
• Politics: In a reversal, the Trump administration restores funding for women's health study
• National: Home sales just posted their biggest monthly fall since 2022
• Animals: After nearly 50 years cooped up inside, Rockalina the turtle finds the great outdoors
Kristin Moorehead curated today's edition of The Point.