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The stories near you
• Fresh Take Florida: Two student protesters arrested at UF accept plea deals in criminal cases. "Under a deferred prosecution agreement, the cases against them would be dropped in six months if they are not arrested again, pay $150 in court fees and donate $150 to specific children’s charities."
• WUFT News: Photos: Melanie's Restaurant in Williston suffers major fire. "First responders from Williston Fire, Williston police, Levy county department of public safety, Marion County Fire and Bronson Fire responded to Melanie's Restaurant, 112 E Noble Ave., in Williston, Fla., to extinguish a building fire."
• Florida Storms: Labor Day Weekend Sets New Hurricane Seasonal Record. "This past Labor Day weekend broke a hurricane seasonal record, not for activity, but lack thereof. For the first time since in almost three decades, there wasn’t a tropical storm in the Atlantic basin between Aug. 21 to Sept. 2. That hasn’t happened since 1997, more than 27 years ago."
• Mainstreet Daily News: GRU Authority to discuss repeal of new city policy, separate legal office. "The Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRU) Authority will discuss a series of resolutions on Wednesday that call for the removal of a November referendum, the creation of an independent attorney position and ask the Gainesville City Commission to repeal an ordinance from March."
• WCJB: Gainesville city commissioners push back on Citizens Field ‘misinformation’. "A social media account known as ‘Beyond Florida’ posted a video that said the city plans to turn the 22-acre city park into a parking lot. City Commissioner Cynthia Chestnut said that is not the plan."
• Florida Storms: What is it about stalled fronts? What risks do they bring? "These stalled fronts interact with the warm and moist environment producing more shower and storm activity, often happening at all hours of the day, intermittently. Stalled front tend to drastically increase the threat of flash floods, more so if we've had a wet summer already."
• Mainstreet Daily News: Alachua County Library District aims for improved experience with new catalog. "Paul Lightcap, senior library manager of Technical Services, said the district began looking for a new search catalog last year and started the contracting and implementation in the past three months. The current system has been in place since 2012 with a 2017 update."
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Around the state
• News Service of Florida: Ashley Moody wants Florida Supreme Court to decide opioid settlement dispute. "Attorney General Ashley Moody wants the Florida Supreme Court to resolve a legal battle about whether hospital districts and school boards should be able to pursue opioid-epidemic lawsuits after she reached settlements with the pharmaceutical industry."
• NPR: Coastal flooding is getting more common, even on sunny days. "In the last 25 years or so, the number of days with high-tide flooding has increased by a whopping 250% or more in many regions, including along the Gulf of Mexico, and in the Mid-Atlantic and the Pacific Islands."
• WUSF-Tampa: Homeowners v. investors: who walks away with the home? "WUSF’s Gabriella Paul has been talking to renters, homeowners, and investigators to find out what’s been going on with the housing market. She says investors are changing the market by adding competition on houses deemed affordable."
• WFSU-Tallahassee: Gov. Ron DeSantis defends Trump's Arlington National Cemetery incident. "Trump’s campaign posted a video of him at the ceremony on its social media page, a violation of a federal law that prohibits political activity on cemetery grounds. Members of Trump’s entourage are also accused of shoving a cemetery employee who was informing them about the rules."
• WTSP-Tampa: Warning to stay out of Manatee River continues as Bradenton facility keeps dumping sewage. "Suncoast Waterkeeper's recent tests show some places have 1000x the maximum allowable fecal bacteria for swimming and fishing."
• USA Today ($): Family sues Boar's Head after 88-year-old man dies from listeria infection. "According to the lawsuit, Morgenstein, an 88-year-old Holocaust survivor, ate Boar's Head liverwurst sandwiches and began to experience diarrhea, weakness, and shortness of breath. On July 8, he was hospitalized and diagnosed with sepsis and listeriosis. He died 10 days later, the lawsuit said."
• Central Florida Public Media: More manatee babies are dying this year. FWC says it’s “not necessarily bad news”. "In fact, the numbers underscore one key, positive point: more manatee babies are also being born, after 2021’s starvation event killed off manatees in record numbers."
• NPR: In Miami Beach, you can live on your boat, but getting to land is not so easy. "Under an ordinance recently adopted by Miami Beach, Leon and the other liveaboard boaters can’t leave their dinghies or even their paddleboards at a city-owned boat launch or they’ll face a $1,000 fine."
From NPR News
• Elections: Here’s why many election experts aren’t freaking out about certification this year
• Law: U.S. charges Hamas leaders with terrorism over October attack in Israel
• National: Ketanji Brown Jackson chronicles her path to the Supreme Court
• Health: Could bird flu spread at state fairs? Here’s why health experts advise caution
• Environment: A photographer captures life in America’s last remaining old-growth forests
• Animals: Beloved 'Russian spy whale' Hvaldimir is found dead under mysterious circumstances
• National: Top dog Joey Chestnut beats his archrival and his own hot dog-eating world record
Kristin Moorehead curated today's edition of The Point.