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The Point, Sept. 18, 2024: Gainesville Starbucks closes lobby after teen fights

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The stories near you

• WUFT News: ‘They hold the business hostage’: Gainesville Starbucks closes its lobby during the high school rush. "The change stems from an Aug. 27 incident when at least four students were involved in a physical altercation that sent three female students to UF Health Shands Pediatrics Hospital. In the days afterward, Starbucks closed the lobby from 2:30 to 4 p.m."

• WUFT News: Middle school football captain robbed of team dues outside UF’s stadium. "The 14-year-old captain of a local youth football team was selling water and Gatorade outside the University of Florida football stadium during Saturday’s game to earn money for his spot on the team when police said he was robbed of all his cash."

• WUFT News: ‘I did learn a lot’: Gainesville girls learn car repairs for when emergencies happen. "Having to change a flat tire or jumpstart a battery can be stressful for any new driver, but especially for teenage girls stuck on the side of the road alone. Which is why Rachael Wacha, owner of City Auto Repair in Gainesville, and other women took time to demonstrate basic car repairs to a group of nine girls at her shop."

• WUFT News: Community and competition await at the Gainesville Senior Games. "'It’s less a competition but more so a check on your own progress,' Ulanowicz said. He does not receive any professional coaching, but seeing how his time changes each year allows him to gauge how far he has come."

• Mainstreet Daily News: ACEA declares impasse in teacher salary negotiations. "Union representatives and teachers packed the school board’s regular meeting on Tuesday to tell the board the district’s proposed raise for the year is disrespectfully low."

• WCJB: ‘It’s unfair’: Dixie County manager resigns after conflict with county commissioners. "Gainey’s resignation comes after a meeting on Sept. 5, where they voted on advertising his position. The vote was split with some commissioners angry with Gainey."

• Mainstreet Daily News: Santa Fe’s downtown enrollment doubled after opening Blount Hall. "The Blount Hall, anchoring the corner of University Avenue and NW 6th Street, took decades to reach completion, but Santa Fe College President Paul Broadie II says the next phases of the Saints’ downtown Gainesville campus will quickly build off the success of the center."

• The Alligator: When and why Florida football head coaches were fired. "It’s fair to say this is the most talented roster Napier’s had during his tenure at Florida. However, the results simply aren’t translating to the field leading to ruthless backlash across social media and an intense booing of the head coach while walking off the field after UF’s 33-20 loss to Texas A&M at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Saturday."


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Around the state

Doctors with Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida say despite state health officials' attempts to clarify exceptions to the six-week abortion ban, they're still worried for patients. (Stephanie Colombini/WUSF)
Doctors with Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida say despite state health officials' attempts to clarify exceptions to the six-week abortion ban, they're still worried for patients. (Stephanie Colombini/WUSF)

• WUSF-Tampa: Abortions in Florida declined sharply after the six-week ban, but not as much as expected. "An increase in telehealth abortions and a strong support network could explain why Florida's abortion decline wasn't as steep as some other states with six-week bans, according to the Guttmacher Institute. But it was still significant, about 30%."

• Central Florida Public Media: SpaceX is facing over $633k in civil penalties from the Federal Aviation Administration. "The FAA said SpaceX did not follow safety-related license agreements during two launches last year."

• WUSF-Tampa: Lawsuit claims 'exact match' voter policy in Florida disenfranchises people of color. "Dianis said that while black voters account for approximately 14% of registered voters across the 26 counties her group examined, they account for 31% of the applications denied or deemed unverified due to an incorrect driver's license or Social Security last four digits since January 1, 2022."

• Politico: Florida’s schools could get even more partisan after November. "Now, voters will have a chance to decide whether they want to officially scrub the nonpartisan veneer off these contests that have already seen significant involvement from the parties, possibly reversing a choice from 1998 to strip away party labels for local school leaders."

• Associated Press: Fed up with school shooting hoaxes, Chitwood posts 11-year-old's mugshot to social media. "Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood is fed up with a spate of false school shooting threats and is taking a new tactic to try get through to students and their parents: he's posting the mugshot of any offender on social media."

• WUSF-Tampa: They fled violence and poverty. Now, in Florida, asylum seekers face an endless wait. "In recent years, a record number of immigrants have entered the U.S. and sought asylum. Instead of relief, they're met with a staggering backlog and uncertain future."

• Palm Beach Post ($): Grand prize winner of 2024 Florida Python Challenge announced. "There could be just one winner of the $10,000 grand prize, and that was Ronald Kiger of Marion County, who brought in 20 Burmese pythons during the contest."

From NPR News

• Health: NPR Exclusive: U.S. overdose deaths plummet, saving thousands of lives

• National: Microsoft says Russia’s election interference efforts have pivoted to Harris and Walz

• World: Hezbollah pagers explode across Lebanon, causing thousands of injuries

• National: Vets helping Ukraine worry Trump assassination attempt suspect will hurt their cause

• Politics: The U.S. has had a long history of political violence, but experts see a new trend

• Technology: Instagram makes all teen accounts private, in a highly scrutinized push for child safety

• National: Disney trips meant for homeless NYC students went to school employees' families

• Animals: Meet Moo Deng, the baby pygmy hippo so popular you can visit her for only 5 minutes

Kristin Moorehead curated today's edition of The Point.