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The stories near you

• Ocala Gazette: Senator Rick Scott makes a campaign stop in Ocala. "At a private campaign stop Aug. 10 at the downtown Ocala Hilton Garden, Republican U.S. Sen. Rick Scott received a warm welcome from approximately 100 citizens and elected officials, some of whom raised concerns about the impacts of recent state legislation dealing with immigration and the local workforce."

• WCJB: Human remains found in Marion County, believed to be missing Summerfield woman. "Based on where the remains were found and the items found at the scene, detectives believe the remains are those of Crystalyn Mobley, who went missing in October of 2022."

• Gainesville Sun ($): City accepts $8M grant to redesign University Avenue and make it safer. "Gainesville is one of only three communities in Florida to receive the grant, and is required to match the grant with $2 million, the funding for which will come from the campus development plan and the Gainesville Community Reinvestment Area allocations, according to City Manager Cynthia Curry."

• Mainstreet Daily News: UF study prompts reducing outdoor water usage. "This study analyzed data from more than 1 million homes across nine Florida counties. They found that the average home with an irrigation system uses at least 991 gallons of water each time they water their lawn. This is equivalent to showering for more than eight hours, doing 37 loads of laundry in a high efficiency washing machine or running the dishwasher 50 times."

• Gainesville Sun ($): Development plan calls for apartment complex, hotel off NW 39th Avenue near I-75. "Plans for the Southeast Quadrant, which is just under 25 acres, include a 352-unit apartment complex with 11 buildings, a clubhouse and pool, as well as a 100-room hotel. The site plan shows 10 stormwater basins around the development and a retaining wall on the south end of the property."

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Around the state

• WGCU-Fort Myers: Gert joins Emily and Franklin as tropical storms in the Atlantic. "After a brief intensification period overnight, Gert is quickly unraveling this morning."

• WUSF-Tampa: An 'alarming level' of PFAS compounds found in some Florida drinking water, a scientist says. "Toxic 'forever chemicals' known as PFAS are now reported to have affected the drinking water of 26 million people in hundreds of U.S. communities so far."

• WLRN-Miami: Excessive wait time for Latinos in Florida is 'locking families out' of Medicaid. "Spanish-speaking Floridians are experiencing wait times more than four times longer than English speakers when reapplying over the phone for Medicaid coverage, according to a new report."

• News Service of Florida: State university system officials want more funds for IT and cybersecurity. "An idea floated to fill the 25 percent vacancy in IT positions is addressing the shortage with students who are being trained in IT."

• Florida Politics: South Florida farmers hit 63% phosphorus reduction in latest SFWMD report. "Phosphorus had previously been a driver of pollution in South Florida’s waterways, with nutrient-rich muck soils from the region contributing to water quality issues downstream."

• WLRN-Miami: NOAA: Florida's lethal wave of coral bleaching could be the start of a global event. "A lethal wave of coral bleaching spreading across Florida’s reef has reached eight other countries in the Caribbean, Atlantic and east Pacific, raising concerns that a global bleaching event could be unfolding."

• News Service of Florida: Judge refuses to block Chinese land ownership law in Florida. "A federal judge Thursday refused to block a new Florida law that restricts people from China from owning property in the state, saying plaintiffs are unlikely to be able to show the measure was motivated by discrimination or lacks a 'rational basis.'"

• NPR:Lolita, oldest orca held in captivity, dies before chance to return to the ocean. "Lolita, the oldest orca held in captivity, died on Friday — less than five months after the Miami Seaquarium announced plans to release her back into her native ocean waters."

From NPR News

• Weather: Photos: See flooding, mudslides Tropical Storm Hilary brings to Southern Calif.

• Politics: Threats, slurs and menace: Far-right websites target Fulton County grand jurors

• National: After 19 years, the Tuohys say they plan to terminate Michael Oher's conservatorship

• World: World chess just placed restrictions on both trans women and trans men

• World: The Russian space agency says its Luna-25 spacecraft has crashed into the moon

• Politics: The U.S. imports most of its solar panels. A new ruling may make that more expensive

• National: A California store owner was shot and killed over a Pride flag displayed at her shop
Kristin Moorehead curated today's edition of The Point.