The Point

The Point, Sept. 21, 2023: School board investigates club after complaint

WUFT | By WUFT News,

WUFT News

Published September 21, 2023 at 12:00 PM EDT

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The stories near you

• WUFT News: Alachua County School Board investigating club allegedly limited to Black male students. "Superintendent Shane Andrew disclosed that a parent of one of the students who attended the club submitted a complaint to the county school district’s human resources department."

• WUFT News: Pedestrian safety focus of joint City Commission and UF Student Senate meeting. "At the meeting, commission members heard students’ demands for more sidewalks around campus, safer cycling lanes and the need to create safer walkways for pedestrians."

• WUFT News: Police arrest man driving car of a fatal shooting victim. "Alachua County Sheriff’s Office declared a 28-year-old Ocala man as a person of interest in their investigation of a recent Gainesville shooting after he was found driving the deceased victim’s car Monday."

• Mainstreet Daily News: Medical group buys US 441 church in High Springs. "With the new purchase, the site will pivot toward medical care. The non-profit company provides services across North Central Florida and plans to open at the High Springs location next year."

• WUFT News: UF campus opens two halal restaurants, addressing calls for food diversity in Gainesville, Ocala. "Fatima Bennett is an Ocala resident who eats a halal-only diet. She said in Ocala it takes her 20 minutes to get to the closest market with halal meat, and that prices are higher in Ocala than in Gainesville."

• WUFT News: Local artists prepare to celebrate 100 years of Gainesville fine arts at the downtown Artwalk. "At its centennial anniversary on Sept. 29, artists will gather to celebrate GFAA’s support of art and artists over the past century."

• WUFT News: Gainesville Rabbit Rescue raises funds for disabled bunny. "When Hercules first arrived at Gainesville Rabbit Rescue, his prognosis wasn’t good. He couldn’t stand on his own, had no control over the left side of his body, and was infected with worms. But the non-profit doesn’t euthanize its rabbit unless it has done everything it can, so it began to treat him."

• Ocala Star-Banner ($): Deputy-involved shooting in west Marion County. "There was a deputy-involved shooting Wednesday morning about a mile north of the Dunnellon city limits. The man suffered non life-threatening injuries. No deputies were hurt."

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Around the state

• Associated Press: New report: Climate change will fuel rising property insurance premiums in Florida. "First Street estimates, factoring climate models into the financial risk of properties in its report, that roughly 39 million properties — roughly a quarter of all homes in the country — are being underpriced for the climate risk to insure those properties."

• Florida Politics: Florida Representatives have a large say in what happens during impending government shutdown. "The federal government will almost certainly shut down at the end of September. But Republicans close to budget negotiations hope it will last no more than a week."

• WUSF-Tampa: Is it worth fighting an eviction? One Tampa renter says it left her worse off. "Florida is one of the only states with statutes— appropriately named 'pay to play measures' — that require renters to pay back what’s owed before they can be considered for an eviction hearing. Defendants must also continue to deposit rent into the court registry for as long as the eviction process is ongoing."

• Associated Press: A Parkland school shooting survivor creates an app that helps people heal. "While some of his classmates at the Parkland, Florida, school have worked on advocating for gun control, entered politics or simply took a step back to heal and focus on their studies, Koerber’s background in technology — he’d originally wanted to be a rocket scientist — led him in a different direction: to build a smartphone app."

• WMFE-Orlando: SpaceX Starlink mission marks 50th launch from Florida's Space Coast this year. "The 50th launch sent 22 company’s Starlink satellites into orbit, joining the more than 4,500 already in space, providing broadband internet around the globe."

• WLRN-Miami: The City of Miami’s legal woes continue to mount. "In the past four months, three of Miami’s elected officials on the five-member commission have been either charged with criminal activity, put under federal investigation or faced major financial liability from a legal suit."

• News Service of Florida: KidCare premiums are covered in counties hit by Hurricane Idalia. "The move will apply to families in 16 counties designated by FEMA as eligible for federal individual assistance after the storm made landfall Aug. 30."

• FL Keys News ($): You can get free at-home COVID tests again. Here’s how to order them by mail. "The Biden administration’s decision to restart the program, which previously distributed more than 755 million tests to U.S. households, comes as COVID cases and hospitalizations continue to rise in the country as it braces for another possible tripledemic of flu, COVID-19 and RSV in the fall and winter seasons."

• NPR: This Republican senator wants an expanded child tax credit — with work requirements. "Many in Washington, D.C., would like to see the child tax credit expanded again, including Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, a Republican. But Rubio, unlike his Democratic counterparts, wants the expanded child tax credit to include work requirements."