Subscribe to The Point, arriving in your inbox Monday through Friday at 8 a.m.
The stories near you
• Fresh Take Florida: Florida juvenile justice systems offline after hacker break-in. "Hackers broke into the computer network of the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice in Tallahassee, which runs the state's juvenile detention centers and programs to steer troubled kids away from crime. It led to a continuing shutdown of the main system the agency uses to manage cases statewide."
• WCJB: FDLE investigating thousands of pieces of missing evidence from Starke Police Department. "FDLE agents went to the Starke Police Department to compare what evidence was physically there and what was logged into the computer system over the last 14 years. More than 2,500 pieces of evidence that were logged into ‘SmartCOP’ a records management system are missing from the department."
• Mainstreet Daily News: School board tables year-round calendar. "The year-round academic calendar was on the board’s agenda for approval, but after a motion from Board Member Sarah Rockwell was seconded by Board Member Tina Certain, Board Member Leanetta McNealy asked for the item to be held until there was more time for feedback and discussion."
• WUFT News: Gainesville city planners propose rezoning of power district. "Gainesville city planners are proposing to redevelop the former industrial area between Downtown Gainesville and Depot Park."
• Mainstreet Daily News: Gainesville OKs security upgrades, uses dwindling ConnectFree funds. "The Gainesville City Commission approved City Hall security upgrades and $452,000 in ConnectFree funds for affordable housing at its Thursday meeting."
• Ocala Gazette: Protecting rural lands with land development code changes. "With developers coveting the nearly 200,000 acres of largely unspoiled property within Marion County’s Farmland Preservation Area, county officials will soon consider proposed limits on what kinds of commercial projects would be allowed on the many farms and rolling pastures sitting in the heart of the 'Horse Capital of the World.'"
• Mainstreet Daily News: Alachua County Public Schools to postpone, cancel outdoor activities due to eclipse. "School staff and teachers will remind students throughout the day not to look directly at the sun during the eclipse or at any other time, and bus drivers will also caution riders about looking at the sun."
Today's sponsored message
Around the state
• News Service of Florida: The husband of Senate President Kathleen Passidomo has died after a fall. "John Passidomo, the husband of Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, died Wednesday after falling and suffering massive head trauma and other injuries, according to a memo distributed by the Florida Senate."
• WGCU-Fort Myers: CSU researchers predicting 23 named storms/11 hurricanes for 2024 Atlantic season. "The team cited record warm tropical and eastern subtropical Atlantic sea surface temperatures as a primary factor for their prediction of 23 named storms and 11 hurricanes — with five to reach major hurricane strength — this year."
• News Service of Florida: State targets challenges to financial disclosure law. "Attorney General Ashley Moody’s office is urging state and federal judges to toss out challenges to the constitutionality of a 2023 law that requires mayors and other elected municipal officials to disclose detailed information about their personal finances."
• Central Florida Public Media: Dashboard on hospital costs by undocumented immigrants prompts questions, criticism. "The disagreement stems from new data released by the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration showing the number of undocumented people who went to Florida hospitals and responded to a state-mandated survey."
• WGCU-Fort Myers: Census undercount leads to funding shortfall. "Six states were undercounted in the 2020 census, and Florida was one of them. About 750,000 residents statewide went uncounted. This is important because the census is used to determine funding levels for more than 300 federal programs."
• News Service of Florida: Gov. DeSantis says Florida taxpayers won't fund ideological ads on public transit. "Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday signed a wide-ranging transportation package that includes prohibiting state money from going into local public-transit advertising."
• Associated Press: Judge denies Florida State's request to dismiss an ACC lawsuit against the school. "A judge in North Carolina on Thursday denied Florida State's request to dismiss the Atlantic Coast Conference's lawsuit against the school, the which is trying to sue its way out of the league with a complaint in its home state."
• WFSU-Tallahassee: West Fraser mill: Local and state officials are responding to Taylor County losing its sawmill. "According to a release, West Fraser began letting folks go last year. The company said the sawmill originally started with 126 employees but last January cut back operations, leaving just a handful of maintenance workers at the facility."
From NPR News
• National: Baltimore mayor faces racist attacks after bridge collapse
• Law: Judge rules Trump's Mar-a-Lago classified documents case can proceed
• World: Biden warns Netanyahu that U.S. policy on Gaza hinges on improved conditions there
• National: ATF: 68,000 guns were illegally trafficked through unlicensed dealers over 5 years
• World: How the 'shadow fleet' helps Russia skirt sanctions
• National: The IRS has a free digital tax filing system. Here's what users are saying
• National: Fish out of water story ends with 77,000 young salmon in the wrong water
• Science: The science of siblings and their unusual shared quirks
Kristin Moorehead curated today's edition of The Point.