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The stories near you
• WUFT News: Candlelight vigil held on UF’s campus to honor lives lost in Buffalo massacre. "Communities continue to mourn the lives of those lost after a racially motivated attack Saturday in the Buffalo supermarket that killed 10 and left three injured. Thursday morning, UF announced that a candlelight vigil would be held in remembrance of those whose lives were taken on Saturday. ... In front of a crowd of about 60 people, Pastor Gerard Duncan of Prayers by Faith Outreach Ministries in Gainesville delivered a prayer and powerful message about the importance of unification in times of such tragedy."
• WUFT News: Florida Gators’ radio announcer Mick Hubert is calling it a career. "The Gators will have new head coaches in football and men’s basketball next season, and a new lead play-by-play announcer will be coming in, too. After 33 years, Hubert on Thursday announced his retirement. He will wrap his career with the upcoming Gators’ baseball home series against South Carolina, according to the University Athletic Association."
• Mainstreet Daily News: ACPS accidentally sends active shooter text. "A series of Alachua County Public School (ACPS) test texts warning of an 'active shooter alert' sent out on Thursday morning were mistakenly sent to all district families. ACPS spokesperson Jackie Johnson said in a release that the text messages were intended to only go to a select group to test the panic button mobile app for employees that the district implemented recently."
• WUFT News: Healing Vets Craft Program assists veterans at High Springs library. "The program provides a safe space for Alachua County veterans to gather and share their experiences. Participants receive therapeutic kits that allow them to build crafts such as birdhouses, jewelry, wooden clocks and leather footballs."
• Ocala Star-Banner ($): Man pleads guilty to torturing black bears in Ocala National Forest, sentenced a year in jail. "Two months ago, a judge approved a plea deal for a man accused of abusing and mistreating black bears in forests statewide. On Thursday morning, the same judge was on the bench as one more person decided to accept a plea deal in that case."
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Around the state
• Tallahassee Democrat ($): 'It's true': Florida version of 'Tinder Swindler' pleads guilty in Tallahassee federal court. "Brian Brainard Wedgeworth, a man accused of swindling more than $1 million from nearly two dozen woman in eight states, pleaded guilty in Tallahassee's federal court to 25 counts related to his romance schemes."
• WUWF-Pensacola: Fried requests state of emergency for Florida. "Florida’s agriculture commissioner is asking Gov. Ron DeSantis to declare a state of emergency, due to the high cost of food and fuel. ... An emergency declaration, she says, would give the Department of Agriculture the ability to suspend a law that requires gas stations to sell fuel at or above cost."
• WTSP-Tampa: 'Someone dealing fentanyl is murdering people': DeSantis signs bill increasing penalties. "Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill Thursday that increases the minimum mandatory sentences for trafficking in fentanyl from three years to seven years, with the penalty climbing to at least 20 years when dealing in greater amounts."
• Florida Politics: Census undercount likely cost Florida a U.S. House seat. "A new report from the U.S. Census shows Florida’s population was significantly undercounted in 2020. Underestimating Florida’s population by well over 700,000 people likely cost the state a seat in Congress for the next decade. A post-enumeration survey released on Thursday estimated significant undercounts in six states: Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas. That’s based on low self-response rates to Census surveys."
• News Service of Florida: NRA argues California ruling bolsters challenge to Florida gun law. "Pointing to a ruling in a California case, lawyers for the National Rifle Association this week urged a federal appellate court to strike down a Florida law prohibiting sales of rifles and other long guns to adults under age 21. ... The ban on long-gun sales to people ages 18 through 20 was included in a sweeping school-safety law. Federal law already barred sales of handguns to people under 21."
• Axios Tampa Bay: Voice of Dozier School victims dies, 76. "Jerry Cooper, who led an organization of former wards of Florida's oldest state-run reform school and helped win a formal apology from state lawmakers for a century of abuse at the school, died Saturday at home in Cape Coral after battling cancer, his wife, Babbs, tells Axios."
• NPR News: A photo of Florida students spelling out a racial slur is under investigation. "A South Florida school district said it is launching a comprehensive investigation into a photo showing students spelling out a racial slur that was shared online Monday. The Martin County School District confirmed that the photo with the six students spelling out the racial slur was authentic, according to a statement from the district. In the photo, each of the six students is shown holding up a large letter that spells out the N-word."
From NPR News
• World: Millions rushed to leave Ukraine. Now the queue to return home stretches for miles
• Health: The CDC is investigating 180 cases of children with hepatitis. The cause is a mystery
• Science: How Rahima came to hold a special place in smallpox history — and help ensure its end
• National: Bird-watcher wrongfully accused in Central Park video gets a bird-watching TV show
• National: Oklahoma's legislature passes a bill banning nearly all abortions
• Politics: Jan. 6 panel wants answers from lawmaker it says led a Capitol tour before the attack
• Politics: Trying to condemn the war in Ukraine, Bush inadvertently calls Iraq war unjustified
About today's curator
I'm Ethan Magoc, a news editor at WUFT. Originally from Pennsylvania, I've found a home telling Florida stories. I’m part of a team searching each morning for local and state stories that are important to you; please send feedback about today's edition or ideas for stories we may have missed to emagoc@wuft.org.