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The stories near you
• WUFT News: Overtime and under pressure: Gainesville Fire Rescue deals with understaffing, high call volumes and increasing travel times. "Firefighters work long hours, deal with mandatory overtime and brave emergency after emergency, but the firefighters of Gainesville Fire Rescue try to make the best out of their time on the job. With problems ranging from short staffing and underfunding to broken air conditioners and the dinner menu, they fight everyday struggles with jokes and courage."
• WUFT News: Gainesville high school chess team first in state to receive NIL deal. "On the same day the State Board of Education signed off on allowing high school athletes to profit from their name, image and likeness, or NIL, a Gainesville chess team received thousands of dollars in sponsorships."
• WUFT News: Alachua County to spend $1.7 million to increase pedestrian safety Southwest Gainesville. "Along the half-mile corridor that crosses over I-75 in Southwest Gainesville, low visibility, a lack of sidewalks and unseparated bike lanes pose serious threats to pedestrians who must travel side by side with traffic, according to many people who must go back and forth there daily."
• The Alligator: Mount Olive Primitive Baptist Church pastor arrested on accusation of rape. "Christopher Whitehead has served as a Mount Olive Primitive Baptist pastor for two years with experience in the church’s youth department. He also has nine children."
• WCJB: Ginnie Springs shooter faces reduced murder charges as trial moves forward. "Watts, of St. Marys, Ga., was initially charged with first-degree premeditated murder. Court documents show it has recently been changed to second-degree murder."
• Ocala Star-Banner ($): Trash dumping in the Ocala National Forest is a big problem. The Scrub Crew aims to fix it. "Litter investigations start with tips, reports, or even an officer witnessing a violation. Seiler said every dump site is treated like a crime scene. His group gathers evidence, takes pictures, conducts interviews and pursues leads. During investigations, the group might work seven days a week, with many late days and nights."
• Mainstreet Daily News: Alachua County Public Schools earns B grade. "Since last year, eight ACPS schools increased their grades, 20 maintained their grades and six sank to a lower grade."
• Gainesville Sun ($): Are you an SFC student that needs a ride? The college and Uber may have you covered. "The program was created as part of the Safe Santa Fe initiative, which a news release said is designed to support the on-campus safety of students, guests and employees."
• WCJB: Eight-year-old Jack Keuntjes of Marion County runs for best mullet in the country. "Jack says growing his hair was a fun challenge. The three-year-old mullet has withstood two grade changes and even major surgery."
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Around the state
• USA Today ($): Another book ban battle emerges in Florida, with high stakes for the First Amendment. "Another legal battle has begun over Florida's book bans, with significant stakes, as the sued school district is launching a controversial defense that could shake First Amendment law nationwide."
• News Service of Florida: Appeals court rules part of a Florida pretrial release law unconstitutional. "An appeals court Wednesday rejected part of a 2023 state law that made pretrial-release changes for people accused of crimes, ruling that it unconstitutionally infringed on the authority of the Florida Supreme Court."
• Jacksonville Daily Record: Government seeking ‘multi-year term of incarceration’ for former JEA CEO. "Former JEA CEO Aaron Zahn, convicted in federal court March 14 of conspiracy to embezzle and steal municipal funds and wire fraud, is scheduled to be sentenced July 30."
• WUSF-Tampa: Mental health professionals are now responding to 911 calls in Tampa. "911 dispatchers now have another option when someone in Tampa calls in with a mental health emergency. Instead of police officers, crisis counselors will respond."
• WLRN-Miami: Coconut Grove groups accuse City of Miami of housing discrimination against Black residents. "Reverend Willie F. Ford’s church is emptier than it used to be. It’s not that his congregation doesn’t want to come in on Sundays, he says — it’s that they can’t. In the past decade he’s been ministering at St. Matthew Community Baptist Church, Ford has seen his flock dwindle as parishioners are priced out of their homes in the predominantly Black Coconut Grove Village West."
• Ocala Gazette: Florida Updates Driver’s License Numbering. "The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV) announced on July 23 that, beginning on July 31, 2024, the license numbers on all new driver’s licenses and identification cards sold in Florida will contain at least four randomly generated numbers."
• WFSU-Tallahassee: The journalist who was an eyewitness to the ascendency of Ronald Reagan sees strong similarities in the politics of Donald Trump. "A Tallahassee writer has penned a first-person account of the event that helped propel Ronald Reagan to the presidency in 1980. The book also draws strong political parallels between Reagan and Donald Trump."
From NPR News
• Politics: FBI director says gunman at Trump rally searched for info on JFK assassination
• Business: It has now been 15 years since the federal minimum wage rose to $7.25
• Politics: As she is poised to be the Democratic nominee, here are 5 facts about Kamala Harris
• Sports: Why Olympic surfing events are in Tahiti, thousands of miles from Paris
• Politics: Elon Musk is backing Donald Trump. Could that hurt Tesla?
• Sports: Tennis star Coco Gauff will carry the U.S. flag at the Olympic opening ceremony
• National: A breaching whale capsized a boat, tossing 2 people overboard off New Hampshire coast
• World: Not a B movie: Sharks are ingesting cocaine in the ocean, scientists find
Kristin Moorehead curated today's edition of The Point.