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The stories near you
• Ocala Gazette: Marion County 2024 student test scores show improvement, but room for growth. "Marion County Public Schools students showed slight improvement in testing scores this year in comparison to the previous year across most grade levels and subject areas, but the results still fall short of statewide averages."
• WCJB: Residents brace for possible nuclear power plant in Levy County. "Duke Energy confirms there is no current plan for a nuclear power plant to be built on a plot of land in Levy County, however, the door is left open."
• Florida Storms: Tropical disturbance brews east of Florida, stationary front to the north. "This system will continue to travel to the north-northwest and is likely to bring direct impacts to the Carolinas onto the Mid-Atlantic throughout the weekend."
• Mainstreet Daily News: Library governing board establishes proposed millage rates. "The Alachua County Library District (ACLD) Governing Board unanimously approved a proposed millage rate for fiscal year 2024-25 at its regular meeting on Thursday and discussed whether the library Headquarters Branch could open its parking to the public after hours."
• Ocala Star-Banner ($): 'Courier' came to SW Marion to pick up $500K worth of gold. Homeland Security was waiting. "An elderly Marion County woman who reportedly was scammed out of $500,000 is going to get it all back, and one man accused of being part of the scheme has been arrested."
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Around the state
• Associated Press: Theater festivals offer to give up their grants if DeSantis restores funding for Florida arts groups. "Leaders of The Orlando Fringe and Tampa Fringe say that they will gladly give up their grants if Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis restores the $32 million in state funding he nixed for more than 600 Florida arts groups."
• WGCU-Fort Myers: FEMA decision due next week regarding if communities impacted by Ian will loose steep discounts. "Residents in several Southwest Florida communities are on edge after being told in April that their local governments were no longer in good standing with the federal government's flood program."
• News Service of Florida: Challenge to a Florida pronoun law gets a go-ahead. "A federal judge this week refused to toss out a lawsuit challenging a controversial Florida law requiring teachers to use pronouns that align with their sex assigned at birth, saying plaintiffs 'plausibly' alleged the law violates protections against workplace discrimination."
• Associated Press: DeSantis is now expected to speak at the Republican National Convention. "Gov. Ron DeSantis is now planning to address former President Donald Trump’s nominating convention next week, an apparent reversal from just one day earlier when he was expected not to give a speech."
• WLRN-Miami: Brightline brings more passengers not profits, while push continues for commuter rail. "The increase in revenue did not translate into a profit, though. Brightline’s operating expenses more than doubled, mostly because of its long-distance service to and from Orlando."
• Associated Press: Here's what seems to work in Miami to keep deaths down as heat rises. "The city doesn't just react when temperatures soar. It plans months in advance: practicing, talking to vulnerable people, installing air conditioning units and just figuring out what to do when things get nasty."
• NPR: Why climate action in Florida doesn't look like other states. "Florida and a handful of other states declined to apply for millions of federal dollars for projects to draw down carbon emissions. Now it falls to cities to make their own climate plans."
From NPR News
• Health: A study found toxic metals in popular tampon brands. Here's what experts advise
• World: Sexual assault cases involving U.S. military personnel strain relations with Japan
• Law: Testimony is underway in Alec Baldwin's 'Rust' trial
• Health: Social media is fueling a tween skin care craze. Some dermatologists are wary
• World: The world's population is projected to peak at 10.3 billion in the 2080s, U.N. says
• National: How to live without plastics for a month, according to the founder of a global movement
• Animals: ‘Absolutely incredible’: Man rowing solo across Atlantic is surrounded by whales
Kristin Moorehead curated today's edition of The Point.