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The stories near you

• WUFT News: Florida women respond to six-week abortion ban and November's amendment vote."For nearly one month, Floridians have lived under the strictest abortion ban the state has ever seen. Despite the tighter restriction on reproductive health care, some north Florida women say they hope voting can change the new reality."

• Mainstreet Daily News: GRU Authority votes to keep Cunningham, reduce expenses in tense meeting."In the end, the Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRU) Authority directed staff to cut more than $20 million from the proposed 2024-2025 budget and failed to fire General Manager Tony Cunningham after a 2-3 vote."

• WUFT News: Hundreds attend Great Florida Bigfoot Conference in Ocala."'You are in the one absolute safe place to go all in on the squatch,' Golembeske said to the crowd. 'Everybody here wants to talk about it. Everybody here is obsessed with it.'”

• Florida Storms: High flood alert! Southern half of Florida prepares for deluge."When the ground is so dry, and high amounts of rain falls, the ground cannot absorb it well. It is just too much too, soon. Think about it as pouring water over parched sand versus pouring water over moist sand. One drains better than the other."

• Ocala Gazette: Marion County Superintendent Earns Statewide Leadership Award."Gullett, the district’s first appointed superintendent, was recognized for her leadership in promoting academic achievement, school safety, community/family engagement, fiscal management, innovation, and corporate partnership."

• Mainstreet Daily News: UF fires water polo coach after allegedly being “overly touchy” with players."The University of Florida fired the former coach of its water polo club team — who also runs the most prominent youth water polo organization across northern Florida — two weeks after the school began looking into complaints he was “overly touchy” and pressured college athletes to share a bed with him during away matches, according to records."

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Around the state

• NPR: Until recently shark bites were rare in Florida' panhandle. "Back-to-back shark bites in the Florida panhandle have beach-goers wondering what might have triggered them."

• News Service of Florida: Florida's legislative races are taking shape as candidate qualifying begins."Candidates have until Friday to file paperwork at the state Division of Elections to qualify for the 2024 legislative elections."

• Central Florida Public Media: Governor DeSantis says $1.25 billion of budget will go toward teacher pay. "The governor said the new budget that will take effect after July 1 of this year, is about 90% approved."

• Florida Politics: Polk County Sheriff’s Office partners with Florida Polytechnic on new AI lab.'"Modern law enforcement needs to stay ahead of the technological curve when it comes to preventing, fighting, and solving crime. With the incredible upside potential benefits of artificial intelligence, there is a downside: criminals will use the technology to commit crime,' Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said."

• News4Jax: Jacksonville technician shares tips to extend lifespan of ACs as temperatures rise, units fail. "Brian Ward is an air conditioning technician with Chills On Wheels in Jacksonville. 'This heat is just taking these compressors out,” Ward said. “And they don’t make anything like they used to.'”

•News4Jax: Nearly triple-digit temperatures in Jacksonville pose danger to pets. "Scorching temperatures take a toll on everyone from people... to pets."

• Miami Herald: Florida has a beach sand shortage. Are your beer bottles part of the solution? "Glass is made from sand, so what about doing the reverse? Paola Barranco thinks such a new source of the soft, precious stuff could be an attractive, environmentally friendly option in a state with a shortage of quality beach sand."

From NPR News

• National: South Korean troops fired warning shots after brief border incursion from North

• Business: Boeing’s woes mean rising anxiety in Wichita, Kansas, the 'Air Capital of the World'

• Health: FDA advisors strongly back new Alzheimer’s drug, despite risks and limitations

• Business: A strong dollar is great news for most of us — but not everybody is a winner

• Health: In Baltimore, nurses go door-to-door to bring primary care to the whole neighborhood

• National: A dog traveled nearly 4 miles to get help after its owner crashed into a ravine

• Science:From the physics of g-force to weightlessness: How it feels to launch into space

Krista Jensen curated today's edition of The Point.