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The stories near you

• News4Jax: As Putnam County students head back to class, district plans to repair, rebuild aging schools. "Students’ parents and other Putnam County voters will soon be asked to sign off on a bond program totaling $300 million. It’s a lot of money, but Putnam County School District Superintendent Dr. Rick Surrency said that it’s needed, as the county’s schools are very old. In fact, according to the district, Putnam County’s classrooms are some of the oldest in the state of Florida."

• WUFT News: Alachua County School Board elections: District 5 features pair of competing educators. "With District 5 board member Rob Hyatt announcing that he won’t run for the seat he's held since 2014, that district is guaranteed to have a new member elected later this month in either Kay Abbitt or Prescott Cowles."

• Tampa Bay Times ($): UF faculty survey shows a desire to leave, low confidence in leadership. "After a year when tensions flared over academic freedom and faculty autonomy, University of Florida administrators have tried to put those issues in the past as they search for the school’s next president. But a  recent survey suggests many faculty members aren’t as ready to move on. It offers a grim picture of faculty morale, with many members indicating they would leave if they could and a majority expressing little confidence in the university’s leadership."

• Mainstreet Daily News: Return to normalcy marks new school year. "Normal is not a word that described the last two years, as different stages of the COVID-19 pandemic dramatically altered the back-to-school landscape. Gone are Zoom teaching sessions and the mask wars of 2021, and back are the typical rhythms of a new school year."

• WUFT News: Former Gator basketball star Patric Young offers update on his rehab from car crash. "Patric Young, who wowed Gator basketball fans from 2010 to 2014 and played internationally through 2019, is continuing to recover from a serious rollover car crash in late June in Nebraska."

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Around the state

• WJCT-Jacksonville: A year later, still no curbside recycling in Clay County. When will it return? "The county's waste contractor, Waste Management, needs to hire 11 commercial drivers in order to resume curbside recycling. When recycling was suspended Aug. 16, 2021, Waste Management was 10 drivers short. The waste contractor has experienced the same labor shortages plaguing employers nationwide: the COVID-19 pandemic and a shortage of commercial drivers."

• NPR News: A Florida license plate has reopened the debate over the 'Don't tread on me' flag. "When Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis recently tweeted an image of what he said was a new state license plate featuring a coiled rattlesnake and the words 'Don't Tread on Me,' he said it sends a 'clear message to out-of-state cars.' The imagery of the Revolutionary War-era Gadsden flag dates to Benjamin Franklin but has, for many, come to symbolize a far-right extremist ideology and the 'Stop the Steal' movement that sought to overturn the 2020 presidential election results."

• News Service of Florida: Florida is leading 23 states against mask requirements on planes, other transportation. "State Attorney General Ashley Moody and other Republican politicians from across the country urged an appeals court this week to uphold a Florida federal judge’s ruling that blocked a mask requirement on airplanes and in other transportation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Moody’s office, taking the lead in a brief filed by officials from 23 states, described the mask requirement as 'overreach' by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."

• WFLA-Tampa: Florida Saharan dust: Is it normal to see plumes this late? "The dry dust that originates from the Sahara Desert helps keep the tropics quiet because tropical systems need moisture to form and strengthen. The winds that push the dust across the Atlantic also help limit organization of tropical systems."

• Tampa Bay Times ($): Tradition and tobacco in Tampa, a story told in photos: A look at the art of hand rolling cigars at J.C. Newman Cigar Company. "The company was founded in Cleveland in 1895 and relocated to the El Reloj factory in Tampa in 1954. Within the walls of the factory, tobacco leaves are transformed into premium cigars in a process outlined in this photo story."

From NPR News

• World: Here's just how close the war in Ukraine has come to Europe's largest nuclear plant

• World: Iranian charged in alleged plot to kill former national security adviser John Bolton

• Politics: Conspiracy theories are emerging after the FBI's search of Mar-a-Lago

• Politics: Most Americans support using the popular vote to decide U.S. presidents, data shows

• Business: Proposals would ease standards, raise retirement age to address pilot shortage

• Business: Inflation is cooling thanks to gas prices, but many things still cost a lot more

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.