The Point

The Point, Sept. 5, 2023: Pres. Biden visits hurricane-stricken community

WUFT | By WUFT News,

WUFT News

Published September 5, 2023 at 12:00 PM EDT

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• WUFT News: Pres. Biden and First Lady visit hurricane-ravaged Florida community. "Biden’s day began with an aerial tour and continued with visits to the hardest-hit locations in Live Oak. He assessed the damage and also spoke to residents, first responders and local officials."

• Fresh Take Florida: Destruction seen from above: New video, photos reveal hurricane damage in Florida’s hardest hit region. "An aerial tour of the region in north-central Florida where Idalia made landfall early Wednesday and nearby communities revealed the devastating scale of destruction across Florida’s Big Bend from Cedar Key northwest to Horseshoe Beach to Steinhatchee to Keaton Beach to Perry and nearby Live Oak. Damage stretched over a span more than 100 miles wide."

• WUFT News: GRU restores power to thousands in response to Hurricane Idalia. "At its peak, GRU had approximately 14,000 customers simultaneously without power, according to Maureen Murtha, GRU’s senior communications specialist."

• WUFT News: Resilience amidst adversity: How Gainesville’s homeless population weathered Hurricane Idalia. "When a storm like Hurricane Idalia approaches, Florida residents know they need to stock up on water, toilet paper and non-perishable food. But for homeless people, they are left wondering where to sleep safely as heavy rain floods the sidewalks they often rest on."

• WUFT News: Steinhatchee suffers millions in losses from flooding during Hurricane Idalia. "The small town of Steinhatchee has about 600 residents and makes most of its revenue off tourists during scallop season."

• WUFT News: Heavily damaged Horseshoe Beach mourns what was lost to Hurricane Idalia. "The Childers are just one of hundreds of Big Bend residents to lose their home last week to Idalia, with Horseshoe Beach taking one of the hardest hits of all. Officials estimate it may take up to two weeks to restore power to the area."

• WUFT News: Welcoming Week International Festival unites Gainesville’s diverse community. "The air was filled with the sounds of many different languages and the smells of exotic spices on Wednesday as the crowds milled through the Welcoming Week International Festival held at Bo Diddley Plaza."

• The Alligator: GNV4All tackles learning achievement gap with new pre-school center. "The GEZ Family Learning Center is a new preschool center founded by the local nonprofit Gainesville for All, known as GNV4ALL, which seeks to address racial and economic inequities in the community."

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Around the state

• Florida Politics: Judge strikes down Florida Congressional map, orders Legislative redraw. "Once a district that allowed Black Democrats Corrine Brown and Al Lawson to compete, with the latter holding the seat from 2016 to 2022, the redistricting efforts signed off on by Gov. Ron DeSantis eliminated that seat and all Black representation in North Florida."

• WLRN-Miami: Residents, fans celebrate Jimmy Buffett in Key West, the original Margaritaville. "Thousands of Florida Keys residents and visitors gathered on Key West’s Duval Street late Sunday afternoon for a march honoring internationally acclaimed singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett, who passed away Sept. 1 at age 76."

• News Service of Florida: Federal judge won't block a Florida trans treatment law. "But U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle said he could issue a narrowly tailored injunction to ensure care for individual plaintiffs if they provide detailed medical records."

• Associated Press: Disney wants to narrow the scope of its lawsuit against Ron DeSantis to free speech claim. "Disney on Friday asked a federal judge for permission to file an amended complaint focusing just on the First Amendment claim and leaving to another, state-court lawsuit questions about the legality of agreements the company signed with Disney World’s governing district, then-made up of Disney supporters."

• WMFE-Orlando: Ad Council aims to reach Hispanic families with Alzheimer's awareness message. "The nonprofit agency that brought us Smokey Bear, McGruff the Crime Dog and the saying 'Friends don't let friends drive drunk' has turned its attention to educating Hispanic families about the early signs of Alzheimer's disease."

• News Service of Florida: A new commander is tapped to lead Space Florida. "In 2006, three of Florida’s existing state space entities combined to form Space Florida as a independent special district and innovation connector."

• NPR: Splashdown! NASA's Crew-6 returns after 6 months at the International Space Station. "NASA's Crew-6 mission began last March with a fiery nighttime launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It ended Monday, after nearly 3,000 orbits of the earth and 79 million miles traveled, just after midnight ET on Labor Day."