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The stories near you

• Fresh Take Florida: UF kicks arrested pro-Palestinian protesters out of school for up to 4 years. "In secretive hearings, the University of Florida set aside recommendations to lightly punish some of the college students arrested after pro-Palestinian protests on campus and kicked them all out of school for three to four years."

• Mainstreet Daily News: Alachua County moves forward with World Masters Athletics championship. "The Alachua County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) approved the use of nearly $651,900 in tourism money to prepare for the 2025 World Masters Athletics (WMA) Indoor Championship."

• Florida Storms: Saharan dust arrives in Florida, with potential air quality impacts and more. "A large plume of Saharan Dust — the first of the year — has arrived in Florida. This is usually good news for the tropics, but bad news for allergies and respiratory issues. It can also pump up the heat in an already sweltering summer."

• WCJB: Company threatens legal action against Archer over proposed industrial moratorium. "The quiet of the old Maddox Foundry, locked and vacant after more than 10 years, is in direct contrast to the noise it is causing. Developer Ronald Arnold purchased the land the Foundry is on, proposing to replace the building with a concrete plant."

• Mainstreet Daily News: Feline parvo outbreak leads Alachua County Animal Resources to pause cat intake. "Due to a feline panleukopenia outbreak in kittens at its facility, Alachua County Animal Resources will pause all cat intakes for the next seven days."

• WCJB: Alachua County Commission officials open Small Grant Initiative application to local businesses. "The maximum award limit for an individual proposal is $15,000, according to the press release, but it is unclear how many grants will be distributed."

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Around the state

• News Service of Florida: Florida regulators eye new nuclear power. "After the issue was tucked into a wide-ranging energy bill approved by Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Legislature, state regulators in the coming months will study the feasibility of adding more nuclear power."

• WUSF-Tampa: Experts are concerned the Florida scrub jay is not getting the protection it needs from development. "While it's been considered to dethrone the mockingbird as the official state bird, it's disappearing. The Florida Museum of Natural History says there are less than 10,000 left in the state."

• News Service of Florida: Colorado State meteorologists issue an even more severe hurricane forecast. "They added two named storms and a major hurricane to their outlook, primarily because of near-record warm Atlantic and Caribbean waters and a lack of strong vertical wind shear."

• WLRN-Miami: Why the first and only Latina on the Palm Beach County school board won't seek reelection. "After just one term, the first and only Latina on the seven-member Board is one of three incumbents who won't seek another term, leaving seats up for grabs in the upcoming nonpartisan election for the tenth-largest school district in the country."

• WUSF-Tampa: A contaminated sludge pond in East Hillsborough could soon have homes and businesses surrounding it. "A cancerous chemical, only recently on the radar of environmental officials, called 1,4-Dioxane has been detected on the property. It's designed to spread down and out further into the drinking water aquifers, an expert says."

• Associated Press: Rays' Wander Franco is formally charged with sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl. "Prosecutors also say Franco paid the girl’s mother thousands of dollars to consent to the relationship, which lasted four months."

• WFSU-Tallahassee: Shaquille O'Neal's son joins Florida A&M's men's basketball team. "Shaqir joins the Rattlers men’s team, as a redshirt junior—he's also 6 foot-8 and weighs 200 pounds."

• Tallahassee Democrat ($): Gov. Ron DeSantis welcomes drivers to 'Free State of Florida' on new state line signs. "DeSantis referred to the 'free state of Florida' in his second inaugural address in January 2023, after he shellacked Democratic challenger Charlie Crist by 19 points, and it became a favorite expression of his administration."

From NPR News

• Business: Families of 737 Max crash victims urge a judge to reject Boeing’s plea deal

• Law: Actor Jay Johnston of 'Bob's Burgers' and other comedies pleads guilty in Jan. 6 case

• Politics: Ahead of the Republican Convention, Nikki Haley tells her delegates to vote for Trump

• World: 5 years ago they protested for freedom in Hong Kong. They want us to remember them

• World: How Israel tried to use AI to covertly sway Americans about Gaza

• National: A third hiker has died in the Grand Canyon in less than a month

• Technology: He created Oculus headsets as a teenager. Now he makes AI weapons for Ukraine

• Health: ID please. Should kids be able to buy nonalcoholic beer, wine and mocktails?

Kristin Moorehead curated today's edition of The Point.