WUFT-TV/FM | WJUF-FM
1200 Weimer Hall | P.O. Box 118405
Gainesville, FL 32611
(352) 392-5551

A service of the College of Journalism and Communications at the University of Florida.

© 2025 WUFT / Division of Media Properties
News and Public Media for North Central Florida
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

The Point, Oct. 18, 2024: Your guide to Florida's ballot amendments

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


The stories near you

• WUFT News: Voter guide: Florida ballot amendments. "Florida voters will vote yes or no on 6 amendments, which will be added to the state Constitution if approved by more than 60% of voters. Two appear on the ballot by voter petition, and the other four appear on the ballot because of legislative action."

• WUFT News: Fresh faces vie for Florida House of Representatives District 22 seat. "Before the 2022 redistricting process, parts of Ocala and Marion County were part of Florida House of Representatives District 22. That’s no longer the case. Today, District 22 includes Levy, Gilchrist and parts of Alachua County like Gainesville and areas to its north."

• WUFT News: Familiar faces competing for Florida's U.S. House District 3 seat. "This election year, all 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives are up for grabs — and one of those seats is for Florida’s third congressional district."

• Florida Storms: La Niña winter is possible, drier & warmer winter for Florida. "This fall, La Niña is slowly developing, and this shift in the pattern is expected to last at least through February 2025. Scientists are not expecting a strong La Niña event, but even a weak La Niña during winter could mean a different type of winter for the South."

• Mainstreet Daily News: Impact of new homelessness law remains unclear. "Gainesville Mayor Harvey Ward said the city is still considering its response to the bill. He said the city is trying to balance the rights of the people in public encampments, as well as those of the people living in homes and trying to run businesses."

• WCJB: Gainesville City Commissioners vote to raise commercial waste hauling rates. "Businesses currently pay for waste management companies to collect and dispose of their trash and as a result of increased rates, owners will have to pay more for trash removal."

• Mainstreet Daily News: GRU completes mandated water service inventory for all residences. "The inventory is a new requirement by the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) aimed at reducing lead pipes and exposure to lead, which can cause health problems. The EPA has previously reported that Florida has the most lead pipes in the country."


Today's sponsored message


Around the state

• WLRN-Miami: Why deadly 'midwest-style tornadoes' formed in South Florida during Milton. "The EF-3 tornadoes mark the first time such tornadoes have appeared in South Florida under the new tornado rating scale adopted by the National Weather Service in 2007, NWS Miami Meteorologist-in-Charge Robert Molleda said in an email."

• Central Florida Public Media: DeSantis announces housing assistance, polling site changes post-Milton. "Speaking in Sarasota, he urged supervisors of elections in the counties hardest hit by Hurricane Milton to make changes to polling sites as needed, including those still recovering from Hurricane Helene."

• Associated Press: Florida digs out of mountains of sand swept in by back-to-back hurricanes. "The fine, white sand helps make Florida’s beaches among the best in the world. But the powerful storms have turned the precious commodity into a costly nuisance. It's creating literal barriers to recovery as residents dig their way out and grapple with what to do with all that sand."

• Central Florida Public Media: Biden waives $4.5 billion more in student loans. Here’s the impact on Floridians. "The Floridians who stand to benefit from this latest round of loan cancellation are teachers, firefighters, law enforcement officials, nurses, veterans and servicemembers."

• WLRN-Miami: Report sounds alarm about South Florida's construction industry and its working conditions. "More than 80% of construction workers surveyed for the report said they did not having enough money to pay rent or mortgage during the previous year, and over half reported trouble affording groceries, utilities and medical care."

• Associated Press: Parkland shooting judge criticizes shooter's attorneys during talk to law students. "Former Broward County Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer told the Florida International University law students that the attorneys 'lost their minds' as they defended Nikolas Cruz during his 2022 trial for the killing of 14 students and three staff members at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14, 2018."


From NPR News

• National: Phoenix police allegedly beat, repeatedly tased deaf Black man who has cerebral palsy

• Law: The DOJ charged a former Indian intelligence official in a foiled assassination plot

• World: Hamas and Hezbollah are both without leaders. What now?

• Health: Fentanyl deaths in the U.S. have dropped faster than expected, CDC says

• Health: The flu shot is different this year, thanks to COVID

• World: China ends international adoption. Reactions range from shock to relief

• Technology: New records show Texas judge on X case didn't sell his Tesla shares after taking the suit

• National: Prada and Axiom Space reveal modernized NASA spacesuits for the 2026 moon landing

Kristin Moorehead curated today's edition of The Point.