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The stories near you

• WUFT News: GPD releases bodycam footage of K9 attack on homeless woman. "On Thursday, the Gainesville Police Department released the bodycam footage of a K9 attack on a homeless woman, following an internal investigation."

• WUFT News: ‘Student loophole’ in Florida’s Live Local Act exacerbates Gainesville’s financial issues. "Seven self-proclaimed “luxury” student apartment complexes are getting a municipal tax break because of Florida’s Live Local Act, meant for accommodations that house low-income residents. Cost to the city of Gainesville taxpayers: More than $4 million."

• WUFT News: Gainesville city commissioners discuss possible ballot question about GRU Authority. "The ordinance would allow for an option on the ballot on who will have governance over the city's utilities. Discussion for the ballot referendum included a choice of allowing citizens to have a say in who will be on the GRU authority board. Currently the governor appoints the board members."

• Mainstreet Daily News: Attorney: Celebration Pointe bankruptcy shouldn’t impact locals. "The attorney representing Celebration Pointe said local citizens should not expect the ongoing Chapter 11 bankruptcy process to impact businesses or events planned for the property in southwest Gainesville."

• WUFT News: Women’s History Month: Girls discuss growing up in North Central Florida. "In honor of Women’s History Month, WUFT-FM spoke with three students at Pace Center for Girls Alachua to get their thoughts on what it’s like growing up as young women in North Central Florida."

• Ocala Gazette: Former firefighter with cancer files lawsuit against county after being denied health benefits. "Although Shinn had been retired from the department and aged out of its health insurance, he meets all of the requirements for health benefits as a retired firefighter suffering from cancer."

• Ocala Gazette: Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library now in Marion County. "The Early Learning Coalition of Marion County (ELCMC) has partnered with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library to put free books in the hands of local children, ages birth to age 5, at no cost to the families."

• WUFT News: 'Scales of Belonging' speaker series brings migrant detention camp research to Gainesville. "After seven years of exploring the topics of race, detention and indigeneity, Loyola Marymount University professor and anthropologist Emma Shaw Crane brought her dissertation to academics, faculty and students across Gainesville Thursday.

• The Point Podcast: Artistic imaginations of "old Florida.” Monday’s host, Ben Crosbie, speaks with Beverly Ringenberg, coordinator of the Old Florida Celebration of the Arts, on the history and spirit of the event happening this weekend.

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Around the state

• News Service of Florida: Abortion, recreational marijuana rulings likely Monday. "The Florida Supreme Court appears poised Monday afternoon to issue rulings about whether proposed constitutional amendments that seek to ensure abortion rights and allow recreational marijuana will go on the November ballot."

• NPR: A Florida activist creates safe spaces as laws and rhetoric turn against trans rights. "She founded the organization Capital Tea in Tallahassee in 2018. Through it she provides services for transgender people including a safe house, opened in January of 2022, where transgender people fleeing abusive or dangerous situations can get help with everything from job searches to legal aid."

• WFSU-Tallahassee: Florida's new social media law is raising some concerns about whether it will actually work. "But there are still many unanswered questions, like how can social media companies verify someone's age? How will the state even know if sites are checking for that sort of thing? And what about the First Amendment?"

• Politifact FL: U.S. pays double for prescriptions compared to other countries. "A study by the Rand Corp., a nonpartisan research organization, found that, across all drugs, U.S. prices were 2.78 times higher than the prices in 33 OECD countries. The gap was even larger for brand-name drugs."

• WFSU-Tallahassee: Florida students react as Congress weighs banning TikTok. "Earlier this month, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation to force the owners of TikTok to sell the app or face being banned in the United States. President Joe Biden has announced that he will sign the bill into law should it pass the Senate."

• WUSF-Tampa: What is genetic genealogy? How the Hillsborough medical examiner is using it to solve cold cases. "Some family history websites allow investigators to match DNA samples with relatives, even distant ones. They can then build family trees in the hopes of tracking down the person they're looking for."

• WFSU-Tallahassee: Florida voting advocates are fighting to keep the voting rolls accurate. "Florida belonged to the Electronic Voter Registration System, known as ERIC, for about three years. The system is considered highly accurate by elections professionals. But last year Florida left, joining a small group of other deep red states. Now, an election watch group is trying to raise attention to the issue ahead of November."

• News Service of Florida: Floridians can buy larger containers of wine starting this summer. "Current law generally prevents the sale of wine in containers that hold more than one gallon, or about 3.79 liters, but an exemption allows wine to be sold in reusable containers of 5.16 gallons."

• News4Jax: Watch Out: Gator mating season is approaching which means more aggressive large reptiles. "Of the deadly attacks, over half of them occurred during breeding or nesting season which is why FWC wants you to be careful and follow the law."

From NPR News

• Health: For the first time, U.S. dairy cows have tested positive for bird flu

• National: A giant crane arrives in Baltimore, but leaders see a 'daunting' cleanup job ahead

• National: Trans Day of Visibility began 15 years ago. The founder is still moved by its success

• Environment: EPA's new rules to clean up heavy trucking met with support and criticism

• Business: California fast-food workers will get $20 minimum wage, starting Monday

• History: 8 decades later, remains of a Virginia sailor killed in Pearl Harbor are identified

• Sports: Why the University of Idaho marching band members are heroes in Connecticut

• World: Mercy me: Photos show what humans have done to the planet in the Anthropocene age

Kristin Moorehead curated today's edition of The Point.