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The stories near you

• WUFT News: GRU to discuss potential reduction in government services funding to lower its debt. "Several Gainesville Regional Utilities customers gathered at city hall Tuesday to vocalize their concerns regarding GRU's plan to discuss cutting its government services contribution — a move that could affect numerous city programs."

• WUFT News: End in sight for University Avenue construction. "The $2.6 million construction project on University Avenue that has been causing slow-downs for drivers and pedestrians since June is scheduled to be completed by the end of March, according to Florida Department of Transportation officials."

• Florida Storms: Winter alerts in effect as coldest air of the season arrives to Florida. "Near and below freezing temperatures are expected across Florida's Panhandle and the northern half of the peninsula overnight Tuesday into Wednesday morning."

• The Alligator: Can DeSantis waiving Jewish student transfer requirements be called affirmative action? "Seven months after Gov. Ron DeSantis praised the United States Supreme Court’s ruling to end college admissions based on race or ethnicity, his latest executive order launched accusations that he’s passing the type of legislation he criticized."

• Mainstreet Daily News: Ward: GNV to fight gun violence though limited by state law. "The city of Gainesville declared gun violence a public health crisis nearly a year ago, and gun violence has filtered back to the top of conversation following multiple shootings in the area."

• The Alligator: Historic buildings, modern problems: Gainesville’s oldest buildings. "The Hippodrome Theatre went from a humble post office in 1911 to one of Florida’s most successful historic preservation projects in just over 100 years. Work on it isn’t finished yet, and if the next 100 years are anything like the previous, it may never be."

• WUFT News: NPR reporter talks about her new book of personal essays and science history. "NPR science correspondent Nell Greenfieldboyce is used to writing stories for radio, but she dipped her toes into a new medium this week with her debut book, 'Transient and Strange: Notes on the Science of Life.'"

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Around the state

• WLRN-Miami: Major legal fights over longstanding commission practices may upend Florida's real estate business. "The decades-long practice of property owners paying real estate commissions is being seriously challenged in courts nationwide and the legal fallout could dramatically change how much money buyers and sellers of homes pay real estate agents in the future."

• WMFE-Orlando: 2 fatal train crashes. 2 days apart. Same intersection, authorities investigate. "The Melbourne Police Department is assisting the National Transporation Safety Board with an investigation into rail operator Brightline after two accidents last week led to multiple injuries and three deaths."

• Fresh Take Florida: Democrats flip GOP state House seat in Central Florida. "Florida Democrats won a narrow victory Tuesday in a hotly contested state House race in Central Florida, replacing a GOP incumbent who had resigned and overcoming a large gap in campaign spending by Republicans in the election."

• WGCU-Fort Myers: Atlantic sargassum mass growing early, setting records, eyeing Florida. "Last year’s 5,500-mile-long swath of yellow-brown seaweed stretching over the Atlantic Ocean from West Africa to the Gulf of Mexico was called the Great Sargassum Belt. Perhaps what’s growing out there this year should be christened 'colossal.'"

• WMFE-Orlando: Florida sees huge increase in Obamacare recipients as end of enrollment approaches. "With the end of the Affordable Care Act insurance enrollment period approaching, Florida represents more than a fourth of all newly selected insurance plans in the nation, according to national data."

• WGCU-Fort Myers: DeSantis spending heavily on water-quality improvements throughout Florida. "DeSantis, also a presidential candidate who came in second in the Iowa Caucuses on Monday to former president Donald Trump, has announced more than $340 million in grants to cities and counties throughout Florida in recent months."

• Jacksonville Today: Monument-removal money never flowed through city coffers, Jax top lawyer says. "The city’s chief lawyer came under fire again Tuesday from City Council members as he sought to explain his department’s legal opinion justifying Mayor Donna Deegan’s authority to relocate Confederate statues from Springfield Park last month."

• WMFE-Orlando: Economist talks food insecurity, says feeding kids isn't cheap in Florida. "According to Feeding America, more than 2.3 million people are facing hunger in Florida, of that more than 613,000 are children. Those facing hunger in Florida need an estimated $1.53 million dollars more per year to meet their food needs."

From NPR News

• Politics: Trump returns to a New York courtroom for second E. Jean Carroll defamation trial

• Politics: ABC News cancels its Republican primary debate due to not having enough participants

• Business: Amid scrutiny, Boeing promises more quality checks. But is it enough?

• Elections: Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson is out of the presidential race

• Politics: Bipartisan tax deal could expand Child Tax Credit and extend business tax breaks

• National: It's so cold, Teslas are struggling to charge in Chicago

• Animals: Could lab-grown rhino horns stop poaching? Why we may never know

• Animals: Bobi's 'oldest ever dog' title is in question as Guinness World Record investigates

Kristin Moorehead curated today's edition of The Point.