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

The stories near you

• News Service of Florida: Sasse defends UF spending as state launches probe. "Sasse, who abruptly resigned from the post in July, issued a defense of his leadership in a 1,745-word message on social media, one day after Gov. Ron DeSantis and state Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis suggested expenditures should be probed."

• Central Florida Public Media: Family relieved after jury convicts Ocala woman who shot neighbor through door. "A jury in Ocala found 60-year-old Susan Lorincz guilty of manslaughter Friday for shooting through her own locked front door and killing her neighbor."

• WUFT News: Apartment cleanups for fall semester leave some summer students temporarily stranded. "Every year, summer students like Mallos who don’t renew their leases have to move out of their apartments mid-semester in July...But it leaves summer students without a place to stay for one to two weeks while they wait for their next lease to begin in August."

• WUFT News: From officers to educators: Former police-run after school program now a charter school. "In May 2023, the City of Gainesville pulled its funding for the Reichert House after-school program. For the next 14 months, the building at 1704 SE 2nd Ave. largely sat empty. But last month, Baxter’s Place held its first open house following a summer school program. About a dozen students took part in the summer program, a preview of what the people behind the charter school hope to offer starting in fall 2025."

• WUFT News: Gulf sturgeon, the iconic jumping fish of the Suwannee River, face new pollution and climate hurdles. "The Gulf sturgeon, whose 200-million-year history is older than the river itself, is used to storms. But today, Gulf sturgeon face increasing human-made challenges."

• WCJB: Bradford County Sheriff denies parent’s claims, investigation continues. "Bradford County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) deputies denied a parent’s claims on Sunday that her daughter was pinned down onto the pavement after an altercation at a local elementary school."

• Mainstreet Daily News: DeSantis selects Jacobs to fill GRU Authority seat. "Gov. Ron DeSantis has selected Jack Jacobs, a former Alachua County Sheriff lieutenant and candidate for sheriff, to serve as the fifth member of the Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRU) Authority."

• WCJB: AT&T workers across the southeast are on strike. "You may see longer wait times for support if you are an AT&T customer. Communications Workers of America has filed an unfair labor practice charge against the company for not bargaining 'in good faith.'"

Today's sponsored message

Around the state

• Associated Press: Florida election supervisors are trying to quash misinformation. "An unfounded claim that election workers will invalidate ballots by writing on them is prompting election clerks in Florida to correct the record ahead of [this] week’s state primary.

• News Service of Florida: State Senate president rejects special session on condos. "Last month, Gov. Ron DeSantis said it was up to the Legislature to address significant increases in assessments that residents face on top of homeowners association fees."

• Associated Press: Florida primary will set U.S. Senate race but largely focus on state and local races. "Compared with the wild twists and turns of the presidential election, Florida’s primary Tuesday will be relatively tame. The only statewide race on the ballot is for the Senate seat held by Republican Rick Scott, who will learn who he’ll face in November."

• NPR: Roger Fortson's family demands charges against sheriff's deputy who killed him. "The family of Roger Fortson, a 23-year-old U.S. airman who was shot and killed by a Florida sheriff’s deputy in May, is demanding that charges be filed against the law enforcement officer. The deputy, who has since been fired, shot Fortson six times."

• News Service of Florida: Abortion amendment initiative draws more than $7 million. "A political committee leading efforts to pass a proposed constitutional amendment on abortion rights raised $7.26 million from Aug. 3 through Thursday, according to a newly filed finance report."

• WLRN-Miami: A 'catastrophe' in the Lower Keys: Summer heatwave wipes out iconic elkhorn coral. "The blistering summer heat wave that hammered South Florida’s coral reefs last year wiped out the last wild stands of its iconic elkhorn coral in the Lower Keys, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced this week."

• The Invading Sea: The electric revolution: Outdoor equipment undergoing electrification in Florida, throughout US. "From leaf blowers to pressure washers, battery-powered outdoor equipment is on the rise and replacing its gas-powered counterparts throughout the United States."

• WGCU-Fort Myers: Citizen scientists track Southwest Florida frog numbers by listening carefully. "For 40 years, wildlife biologists worldwide have been sounding the alarm on a mass extinction of amphibians. In response, several groups of scientists and volunteers have formed to chronicle exactly how many frogs remain — and for some of those groups, that’s done by listening."

From NPR News

• Law: Supreme Court blocks Biden administration rules against sex discrimination in schools

• Health: Many Afghan men believe in women's rights. But they're afraid to speak out

• National: Biden designates the site of 1908 Springfield, Ill., race riot as a national monument

• Books: 'Hillbilly Elegy' is back in the spotlight. These Appalachians write a different tale

• National: A statue honoring John Lewis will replace a former Confederate monument in Georgia

• Politics: How growing up in the U.S. immigration system shapes how these young Americans vote

• Culture: Burning Man contends with unusually slow ticket sales

• Science: A 13,600-year-old mastodon skull is unearthed in an Iowa creek

Kristin Moorehead curated today's edition of The Point.