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The Point, Oct. 22, 2024: Early voting has begun: here's your voter guide

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The stories near you

WUFT has compiled a voter guide for the 2024 general election.
WUFT has compiled a voter guide for the 2024 general election.

• WUFT News: Who's on my ballot in Alachua County? A voter guide for the 2024 general election. "In Alachua County, four county offices face competitive general elections this fall. The general election is Nov. 5. Early voting began Oct. 21 and ends Nov. 3."

• WUFT News: Who's on my ballot in north central Florida? A voter guide for the 2024 general election. "Our newsroom reached out to candidates running in a variety of those contested races and asked if they would help us inform voters about the issues they care about, what motivated them to run and which agenda items they seek to pass if elected."

• WUFT News: Florida’s declining lovebug population may make for cleaner windshields — but it signals a troubling trend. "In a trend scientists say poses risks to all ecosystems, 40% of all insects are declining globally in 'the insect apocalypse.' The lovebug, whose loss across Florida remains unexplained, joins them."

• WUFT News: Sheriffs from four counties renew agreement to provide policing in unincorporated Melrose. "The agreement, originally signed on March 24, 2008, was named 'Four Corners Cops Without Borders' and allowed the partnering law enforcement agencies to make arrests and respond to crimes in the community of about 3,500 people where the four counties come together."

• WUFT News: Archer residents stand up for the future of their homes. "Squires, like his neighbors, said if the plant is built, he is worried about its potential effects, such as noise, traffic and air pollution. He calls his backyard his 'living room' and spends hours outside soaking in the scenery of birds and butterflies flitting about his garden."

• WUFT News: Man charged in death of sheriff candidate's son suffered mysterious head injury during arrest. "The conflicting versions of events that led to the bleeding gash on the forehead of Jose 'Albey' Alberto Coronel, 46, cannot be reconciled through reviews of public court documents or law enforcement videos from that night. Interviews with sheriff’s officials and Coronel himself, who remains behind bars, also yield conflicting explanations."

• Mainstreet Daily News: School Board of Alachua County tables superintendent nominations. "After two brief recesses and two hours of discussion, the School Board of Alachua County voted to table the discussion of superintendent candidates until another special meeting, set for 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 4."

• WCJB: Nearly 9,000 Marion County voters participate in first day of early voting. "Supervisor of Elections Wesley Wilcox says he expects early voting to possibly break 2020′s record."

• Gainesville Sun ($): Residents urged to be patient with hurricane debris pickup in Alachua County. "It was first estimated that it would take 30 days for debris pickup to be completed after Hurricane Helene, but after Hurricane Milton hit the state, it's going to take a bit longer for debris pickup to be completed in Alachua County, Olmos said, adding that companies charged with organizing debris pickup are doing their best to manage the process that was exacerbated by the effects of Hurricane Milton."


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Around the state

A Havana resident walks his bicycle on Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024, during Cuba's prolonged blackout following the failure of the bankrupt island's decrepit electrical grid. (Ramon Espinosa/AP)
A Havana resident walks his bicycle on Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024, during Cuba's prolonged blackout following the failure of the bankrupt island's decrepit electrical grid. (Ramon Espinosa/AP)

• WLRN-Miami: 'Hopeless': Cubans here register blackout despair from Cubans there — if they can reach them. "They say people there, in fact, tell them the collapse of the severely cash-strapped island’s electricity grid simply punctuates the worst economic crisis they’ve ever dealt with, at least since the implosion of the early 1990s known as 'the Special Period.'"

• New York Times: These Parkland shooting survivors were promised visas. They’re still waiting. "But the worst high school shooting in U.S. history made Oliveira an American, or a would-be American. It was a baptism by bullet, not just for her but also for scores of other immigrant and international students at her school. Many had fled their homelands to escape violence, and now their journey was turned on its head. While their horrified relatives urged them to return to their native countries, the teens, bonded by trauma, dug in their heels."

• News Service of Florida: Legal maneuvering over Florida's abortion proposal continues. "Supporters of a proposal that would enshrine abortion rights in the state Constitution on Monday asked a federal judge to drop the former general counsel of the Florida Department of Health from a legal battle over Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration attempts to stop broadcasters from running TV ads supporting the measure."

• WUSF-Tampa: Health advocates urge Florida to apply for federal Medicaid relief amid hurricane recovery. "The federal Medicaid program offers disaster flexibilities that can make it easier for people to sign up for coverage and get treatments faster. A coalition of health and labor groups want the state to take full advantage."

• WGCU-Fort Myers: Hurricanes appear to be flooding Southwest Florida beaches with 'flesh-eating bacteria'. "Beatty is certain that when Category 4 Hurricane Milton roiled Southwest Florida's beaches at landfall less than two weeks ago, its powerful storm surge did the same as Ian did two years ago, mixing seawater with brackish bay water contaminated with Vibrio vulnificus, and spreading the bacteria-filled mixture far inland."

• WLRN-Miami: Spirit Airlines has more time to refinance its loans as it borrows more money. "Troubled ultra-low cost airline Spirit Airlines has two more months to refinance about $1 billion of its debt. The carrier was facing a Monday deadline to renegotiate loans it took out during the first months of COVID-19. It was able to extend its deadline until Dec. 23."

• WFTS-Tampa Bay: Neighborhood 'safety patrol' warns people about potentially live wire for 9 days after Hurricane Milton. "A live wire went down in a Tampa subdivision during Hurricane Milton, leading to a car crash and leaving neighbors on edge for more than a week."


From NPR News

• National: Officials in Georgia demand answers after state-operated ferry dock collapsed

• Law: A frustrated Supreme Court to look at one version of judge shopping

• Election: Republican lawsuits over overseas and military voting hit setbacks in 2 swing states

• Sports: As the WNBA's historic season comes to an end, players say it's time for higher pay

• Climate: This farmer 'planted blindly' in a changing climate. A weather app came to his rescue

• Business: What happened to Kentucky farms after guaranteed tobacco prices ended?

• Science: The American red wolf is endangered. These 'ghost genes' could save it

Kristin Moorehead curated today's edition of The Point.