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The latest on Hurricane Helene
• WUFT News: Live updates: Florida prepares for Hurricane Helene. "Florida counties are continuing to update orders for their residents to evacuate ahead of Hurricane Helene."
• Florida Storms: Helene is forecast to be at least category 4 at landfall. "The 5 p.m. bulletin from the National Hurricane Center highlights that the storm surge along portions of the Big Bend coast will be catastrophic and deadly, possibly reaching up to 20 feet."
• Fresh Take Florida: Ahead of Helene, some in Florida flout evacuation orders: ‘Pray in the name of Jesus’. "Despite the orders, some residents like Jenkins, 69, were sticking out the storm, convinced Helene will swerve away like previous hurricanes. Or they were staying out of convenience."
• WUFT News: Nearby counties offer emergency information to prepare for Hurricane Helene. "Levy County is at high risk during Hurricane Helene. The Levy County Emergency Management Facebook page has provided swift updates on areas at risk of life-threatening storm surges, evacuation mandates, shelter locations and closures."
• WUFT News: Cedar Key plans for Hurricane Helene. "Helene marks the third significant event the island has dealt with in just over a month, following the devastating effects of Hurricane Debby and a recent fire that left several local businesses in ruins."
• WUFT News: Florida braces as strengthening Hurricane Helene heads toward Big Bend region. "'You can hide from the wind – and there will be significant wind on this storm – but you got to run from the water,' DeSantis said at a briefing in Tampa Wednesday morning."
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Other Florida stories
• WUFT News: “Green-thumb” University of Florida professor (now astronaut) continues research collected in space. "Aboard the flight, Ferl carried 8 Kennedy Space Center Fixation Tubes (KFTs) filled with little plants. These plants, called arabidopsis thaliana, were being tested to see how their genetics change when brought into micro gravitational environments."
• WUFT News: Destroyed piano, meteor dust redefining art at Santa Fe College gallery. "As you walk through the gallery, you can touch and interact with the pieces you see, a staple of Fluxus art design. Unlike in most museums, a wooden capsule filled with meteorite dust invites people to handle and shake the piece, resulting in the creation of a simulated cosmic event."
• The Alligator: Gainesville parents and students react to new public school locked door policy. "Alachua County Public Schools implemented a new safety measure following House Bill 1473, which mandates campus doors across the state remain closed and locked while students are present."
• News Service of Florida: Here are some of the state laws taking effect Oct. 1. "Nearly three dozen new state laws will take effect in October, including one that limits where homeless people can sleep, one that creates a license plate for Parrot Heads, and one that passed requirements about flood disclosures for home buyers."
• Associated Press: Funds are cutting aid for women seeking abortions as costs rise. "Some groups that have been helping women pay for abortions and associated travel are cutting back their aid as travel costs rise. Abortion funds have been around for decades, but they got big boosts from donors around the time the Supreme Court ended a national right to abortion."
• The Conversation: Why home insurance rates are rising so fast across the U.S. — climate change plays a big role. "Millions of Americans have been watching with growing alarm as their homeowners insurance premiums rise and their coverage shrinks. Nationwide, premiums rose 34% between 2017 and 2023, and they continued to rise in 2024 across much of the country."
• Associated Press: 10th death reported in Boar's Head deli meat listeria outbreak. "At least 59 people in 19 states have been sickened by the bacteria first detected in liverwurst made at the Jarratt, Virginia, plant. Illnesses were reported between late May and late August, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. All of those who fell ill were hospitalized."
From NPR News
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• National: Without immigrants, America's job growth would have stalled
• Health: Nursing aides plagued by PTSD after ‘nightmare’ COVID conditions, with little help
• World: Sudanese refugees fled to Chad with hope. What they found is a bitter irony
• National: California’s first plastic bag ban made things worse. Now it’s trying again
• Business: 23andMe is in trouble. What happens to all the DNA data?
• National: A woman didn’t just hike the 2,000-mile-long Appalachian Trail — she ran it
• Animals: The slowest of trailblazers: Better DNA testing means trafficked turtles can go home
Kristin Moorehead curated today's edition of The Point.