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Hurricane Idalia

• Associated Press: Hurricane Idalia makes landfall on Florida’s west coast as a dangerous Category 3 storm. "Hurricane Idalia has made landfall on Florida’s west coast as a dangerous Category 3 storm on Wednesday and threatens to unleash life-threatening storm surges and rainfall."

• Fresh Take Florida: Florida evacuates 4,000 prisoners from 35 facilities ahead of Hurricane Idalia. "The Department of Corrections said Tuesday some of the smaller prisons, work release centers and work camps, including the Cross City Work Camp in Dixie County along Florida’s Big Bend and the Tallahassee Community Release Center in the state capital, are directly in the path of the storm."

• WUFT News: Florida Museum of Natural History staff safeguard butterflies for Hurricane Idalia. "Many Gainesville residents prepare for Hurricane Idalia by stocking up with water, food and gasoline, but staff at the Florida Museum of Natural History are doing something different to prepare for the storm: catching butterflies."

• WUFT News: A small Florida town on the Gulf Coast braces for Idalia’s impact. "Prepare for the worst and pray for the best is the mantra of those in Steinhatchee, a riverside town that meets the Gulf just north of Cedar Key."

• WMFE-Orlando: At Duke's Hurricane Idalia staging area south of The Villages, hundreds of lineworkers are ready. "In a field some miles south of The Villages on Tuesday, Duke was lining up a thousand bucket trucks, corporate and contractor crews from Florida, the Southeast and the Midwest."

• WUFT News: Photos: Gainesville residents fill sandbags ahead of Hurricane Idalia. "A long line of cars wait to pick up sandbags at the Public Works administration building in preparation for Hurricane Idalia on Tuesday, Aug. 29th, 2023."

• Associated Press: Supermoon could team up with Hurricane Idalia to raise tides higher just as the storm makes landfall. "The moon will be closest to the Earth on Wednesday night, the same day Idalia is expected to make landfall in Florida. While a supermoon can make for a spectacular backdrop in photos of landmarks around the world, its intensified gravitational pull also makes tides higher."

• WMFE-Orlando: Expert says Florida's insurance market is better prepared for Idalia. "The state’s property insurance market took a huge hit last hurricane season. Mark Friedlander, with The Insurance Information Institute, said there are new changes that homeowners should pay attention to."

• WTSP-Tampa: What can the 'Waffle House Index' tell you about storms? "After Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and the surrounding area in 2005, Waffle House moved fast to bolster its post-disaster plans. Its hurricane playbook explains how to reopen a restaurant, what to serve if there is gas but no electricity, or a generator but no ice."

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More Florida stories

• Mainstreet Daily News: BOCC closes GRACE budget gap, studies larger role. "The Alachua County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) voted Monday to provide $150,000 for GRACE Marketplace’s emergency shelter, allowing full services for the next fiscal year and covering a shortfall from the city of Gainesville."

• The Alligator:Alachua County seeks to expand drug rehabilitation efforts. "When a local Alachua County farmer had shoulder surgery at 42, she didn’t expect to get addicted to oxycontin. Nine years ago, it wasn’t believed to be an addictive drug."

• WCJB: Springs Lovers protest at FLDEP workshop meeting to protect Florida Springs. "In 2016, a law was passed requiring the department to adopt uniform rules for issuing permits that prevent groundwater withdrawals harmful to water resources. However, spring activists said the department has failed to come up with substantial rules and abide by them leading to the overpumping of the springs."

• NPR: Miami Mayor Francis Suarez suspends his campaign for president. "After failing to gain national traction, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez announced in a statement that he is suspending his campaign to run for the GOP nomination for president. This comes after Suarez did not meet the criteria to appear on stage at the first Republican debate in Milwaukee."

• Associated Press: What does Florida’s red flag law say, and could it have thwarted the Jacksonville shooter? "Saturday’s shooting raises questions about whether so-called red flag laws in Florida and other states are used effectively. They are designed to seize guns from those in mental health crises, or who threaten violence, before they harm someone."

• USA Today ($): Lolita the whale's remains to be returned to Pacific Northwest following necropsy. "At 56, Lolita was one of the oldest orcas in captivity. Animal activists fought for her freedom for decades, arguing that she deserved to return to her home in the Pacific Northwest while she was alive."

From NPR News

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• World: Uganda starts charging people under extreme anti-LGBTQ law, raising execution fears

• National: Can we make college campuses safer? Expert advice after recent shootings

• Politics: Here are the first 10 drugs that Medicare will target for price cuts

• World: More than 6 months after Turkey's quake, people who lost homes still await new ones

• World: Paul Whelan, an American imprisoned in Russia, appears in a new video

• Education: An Alaska district aligns its school year with traditional subsistence harvests

• Business: Yes, people often forget to cancel their monthly subscriptions — and the costs add up
Kristin Moorehead curated today's edition of The Point.