Subscribe to The Point, arriving in your inbox Monday through Friday at 8 a.m.

The stories near you

• Florida Storms: Cleanup begins after Debby: Colorado State University continues to call for an above-average Hurricane Season. "So far there have been four named tropical systems in the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, and if Colorado State University´s latest forecast verifies there would still be 19 storms to go."

• Mainstreet Daily News: UF/IFAS assessing agricultural losses and damage from Debby. "UF/IFAS is asking agricultural producers affected by Hurricane Debby to complete the survey as part of ongoing UF/IFAS research tracking the effects of severe weather and other hazards on the state’s agricultural industry."

• WCJB: Sandbags offered to High Springs residents ahead of Sante Fe river flooding. "According to officials with HSFD, the self-service site is located at 17380 Northwest US Highway 441. Residents are being asked to bring their shovels and keep the limit of 10 sandbags per vehicle."

• Mainstreet Daily News: GRU Authority confirms CEO contract, consults attorney general on referendum. "Almost all the commenters spoke against Bielarski’s contract. With the utility facing financial problems, Tyler Foerst, a local union leader, said board members should be saving money and not giving the largest salary in Gainesville history."

• WCJB: AT&T customers in Columbia County facing 911 issues. "Some Columbia County residents who use AT&T as their cellphone service provider may be affected by network problems that could affect their ability to make and receive calls, including 911 calls."

• Mainstreet Daily News: School board finalizes student conduct code. "The board’s first option for the disciplinary guide splits student behaviors into five tiers: from the classroom management level, through Level 1, which consists of the most serious offenses, including anything from cheating, to alcohol, to drug distribution, homicide and kidnapping."

• Ocala Star-Banner ($): Check out a video and photos of the new UF Health World Equestrian Center in Ocala. "The new 10,000-square-foot facility, located at 2051 NW 80th Court, Suite 200, offers treatment for hand and upper extremity injuries, sports medicine as well as walk-in appointments for minor illnesses, injuries, and other immediate care needs. There's also a pharmacy that supports people and their pets."

Today's sponsored message

Around the state

• Central Florida Public Media: COVID-19 vaccine levels are low, but case rates and hospitalizations are rising. "As the number of COVID-19 cases rises in Florida, vaccination rates lag behind -- concerning health experts. In 2021, the first full year a COVID-19 vaccine was available, 15 million Floridians received a vaccine. But this year, a little over 400,000 have received a booster, despite the virus surging in a summer spike."

• WUSF-Tampa: Educator unions say they'll continue to fight state law despite legal setback. "A federal judge sided mostly with the state on a law that public-sector union leaders say makes it harder to continue representing their workers. One part of the law still has room for debate, however."

• Central Florida Public Media: NASA considers using SpaceX capsule to bring Boeing astronauts home. "That plan would involve sending an already scheduled crewed mission to the station with only two astronauts, and having Wilmore and Williams hitch a ride back home in February."

• News Service of Florida: Florida death penalty appeal cites abuse at Dozier School for Boys. "Loran Cole, 57, was sentenced to death in the February 1994 murder of John Edwards, who went to the Ocala National Forest to camp with his sister, a student at Eckerd College, court records show. Cole was 17 when he was sent to Dozier in 1984."

• WGCU-Fort Myers: Sea-going drones capture images from Debby as they deploy for a fourth hurricane season. "For the fourth year, Saildrone and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are sailing a fleet of uncrewed surface vehicles (USVs) into hurricanes to better understand how these dangerous storms form, track, and intensify."

• Associated Press: US abortion numbers have risen slightly since Roe was overturned, study finds. "One of the states where abortions increased was Florida. That changed in April, when a ban after six weeks' gestation took effect. The data doesn't yet reflect that change."

• WLRN-Miami: 'It's really special': A Miami 24/7 laundromat and café is onto its third generation. "When the late Orestes Morales immigrated to Miami from Cuba in 1971, he just wanted to open his own business. He opened Mary’s Coin Laundry and Café — and 35 years later his grandchildren are working at the same store he built, which has become an important neighborhood fixture."

From NPR News

• National: The Pentagon is reinvestigating if troops killed civilians in its 2019 Baghdadi raid

• Education: The rollout for the updated FAFSA application has been delayed — again

• National: Judge rules against majority of claims in Black student's hair discrimination case

• National: A man has been arrested for allegedly plotting to kill U.S. leaders

• Health: Inside a medical practice sending abortion pills to states where they're banned

• Politics: Why Republicans are calling Walz 'Tampon Tim' — and why Democrats embrace it

• Animals: Do cats experience grief? New research suggests they might

Kristin Moorehead curated today's edition of The Point.