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The stories near you

• Florida Storms: Severe thunderstorms, local flooding possible over the Panhandle and North Florida Friday and Saturday. "The threat arises from an early spring storm system that will track from the Plains into the eastern half of the United States."

• WUFT News: UF Board of Trustees OKs new staff, dissolution of unpopular majors. "The University of Florida Board of Trustees approved tenure for 17 new faculty members, the termination of three majors and reaffirmed the school’s policies and goals in hiring, administration and construction during its meeting on Thursday."

• Mainstreet Daily News: Gainesville man found guilty for threatening to conduct mass shooting. "In the video, Dominguez was sitting in front of a bookshelf with an AR-15 rifle on his right side and a handgun on his left."

• WCJB: Deputy driving 96 mph faces no charges after killing cyclist in wreck. "MCSO Deputy Brandon Jaglal was given a traffic citation for 'failure to use due dare' but not criminal charges after he was involved in a deadly wreck that claimed the life of a 63-year-old cyclist."

• Mainstreet Daily News: Gainesville votes to formalize permit work with GRU. "The ordinance currently allows GRU staff to access city rights-of-way whenever they need. Other utilities need to pull permits from the city for permission before working in the rights-of-way, and now GRU will need to ask for that same permission."

• WUFT News: 'A man of singular purpose': Ex-police officer takes on role as firearms instructor. "Bill Quirk is a 52-year-old Gainesville resident who serves as the range master and lead firearm instructor at Shoot GTR, a local shooting range."

• WUFT News: From fan to foe: A small-town catcher faces childhood team, the Florida Gators. "Neri, 22, is now a University of Central Florida player, but as a young boy he dreamed of wearing the orange and blue of the Florida Gators, the team he grew up supporting in his hometown of Macclenny, an hour from UF's campus."

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Around the state

• Fresh Take Florida: Florida exempts some social media sites from new limits on teens; no one knows which ones. "The new ban on social media in Florida for young teens, something the Legislature rewrote and passed this week, is so narrowly crafted that it’s not clear which popular online platforms might be covered – if any of them."

• WUFT News: Bill to raise base salary for teachers fails to pass through Florida Legislature. "Florida is ranked 48th in the nation for average teacher pay, with the current base salary set at $47,500. House Bill 13, introduced during the 2024 legislative session, would raise that base salary to $65,000."

• Florida Trident: When state-run Hurricane Ian fund swelled, DeSantis allies got fast money – others were made to wait. "Instead, the fund in those early months handed out millions of dollars in 'expedited' grants to organizations with no explicit training or experience in emergency disaster relief – but with political ties to DeSantis."

• NPR: Investigators narrow search into cause of deadly Florida condo collapse in Surfside. "A federal team continues to focus on construction flaws in the pool deck as it investigates the collapse of the Champlain Towers South condominium in Surfside, Fla. in 2021 which killed 98 people."

• WFSU-Tallahassee: Florida public schools could see fewer regulations and book challenges. "Florida lawmakers are making good on their promise to ease regulations on the state’s public schools while curbing school book challenges under bills making their way to the governor's desk."

• Tampa Bay Times: Why Florida doesn’t have wind energy, but lawmakers want to curb it anyway. "That ban was recently added to a major energy omnibus bill that is nearing passage and is the priority of House Speaker Paul Renner, R-Palm Coast. The proposal would also roll back some regulations on natural gas pipelines and delete the majority of references to climate change found in state law."

• Key Biscayne Independent: Miami Seaquarium faces eviction over animal welfare. "Miami-Dade County gave formal notice Thursday it is evicting the company that owns Miami Seaquarium, citing animal welfare and a host of other issues with the iconic marine park."

• Fresh Take Florida: Bill allowing virtual vet visits in Florida passes, awaits Governor’s signature. "Current state law allows veterinarians to treat animals via telemedicine only if the veterinarian has seen the patient in person within a year."

• Jacksonville Today: Aldi completes purchase of Winn-Dixie stores. "This transaction has been in the works since Aldi announced in August that it would acquire Southeastern’s Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarkets."

From NPR News

• Politics: 5 takeaways from President Biden's State of the Union address

• World: Sweden officially joins NATO as worries grow over Russian aggression in Europe

• Business: It's time to move your clocks forward — and to check if your car is being recalled

• National: TSA unveils a prototype self-service airport checkpoint security screening system

• Health: 'All of Us' research project diversifies the storehouse of genetic knowledge

• Health: Domestic violence may leave telltale damage in the brain. Scientists want to find it

• Culture: Report: Audiences demand diversity in films, Hollywood can do more

• Science: Researchers have found an amphibian that makes milk for its babies

Kristin Moorehead curated today's edition of The Point.