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• WUFT News: UF student who spit on cop during protests accepts plea deal, avoids jail. "Frasheri will spend 18 months on probation and undergo a mental health evaluation under the plea agreement. He was kicked out of UF before he graduated over the incident and suspended for four years. The university also banned him from all campus property for three years."

• WUFT News: Judge grants GRU Authority injunction, delays ruling on referendum until after elections. "A federal judge ruled Wednesday that the Gainesville Regional Utilities Authority Board cannot be dissolved until the outcome of its lawsuit against the city, even if voters approve the referendum on the November ballot. Eighth Judicial Circuit Judge George M. Wright did not rule on whether the referendum was legal, which will ultimately determine whether the votes can be nullified."

• WUFT News: New Florida law requires state to develop Alzheimer’s and dementia-related training. "Department-wide Alzheimer’s training remains optional in Florida, though a new requirement of House Bill 801 that took effect Oct. 1 requires the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to work with the Department of Elder Affairs to create online training for law enforcement and correctional officers relating to dementia or Alzheimer’s."

• News Service of Florida: Two Florida ballot measures are drawing less attention than others. "Amid fierce political battles about proposed constitutional amendments on abortion rights and recreational marijuana, two ballot measures about public financing of campaigns and property taxes are flying 'under the radar.'"

• WUFT News: Florida health officials push against marijuana amendment. "Tuesday's notice does not mention Amendment 3 on this year’s ballot. The Health Department said it was intended to remind individuals and health care providers to be aware of potential negative impacts on children and adolescents from marijuana use."

• WUFT News: Governor announces $1 million in disaster aid to rebuild storm-damaged fisheries. "The money will be paid to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Foundation from the Florida Disaster Fund, which provides financial assistance to help communities recover from natural disasters."

• Florida Storms: 2 weeks after Hurricane Milton, and many communities are still flooded out. "Residents in some of the hardest flooded regions say help is coming too little too late. Some residents in Orange City are still relying on boats to get around their neighborhoods."

• WUFT News: Old prescription medication can be turned in Saturday. "The event, known nationally as Prescription Drug Take Back Day, is intended to help people dispose safely of prescriptions so they can’t be misused by others in the household. It’s also intended to protect the environment by keeping old medicine out of the water supply."

• Mainstreet Daily News: Alachua County sets early voting record. "During the 2020 election, just over 4,000 people voted each day during the first two days of early voting. On Monday this week, the first day early voting was open, 4,881 people voted in person and early. Yesterday, the number rose again, with 4,944 early voters."

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Around the state

• Associated Press: Bad state data may misdirect nearly $1 billion in federal funds to replace lead pipes. "The EPA didn't ensure that states submitted accurate estimates of the number of lead pipes they had. Big problems were found in data submitted by Florida and Texas."

• Politico: Florida AG sues DOJ over blocking its investigation into Trump assassination attempt. "It marks the latest escalation in a turf war between the FBI and Florida over the alleged crime from Sept. 15, which happened at Trump’s golf course in West Palm Beach, located about 20 miles north of Mar-a-Lago."

• WUSF-Tampa: Authorities warn of an increase in property fraud in Florida. "One Tampa couple is still fighting to get their home back. This is almost a year after someone else took their home away, changed the deed without their permission or knowledge. Dreama and Larry Bilby weren’t living in the house at the time because it was being renovated. It was a house they’d lived in for 40 years."

• WLRN-Miami: Flooding is a hurricane's most lethal risk. A storm surge forecaster explains why. "The National Hurricane Center has been issuing storm surge warnings since 2017, when Hurricane Irma threatened to make landfall on both coasts. Yet emergency officials still struggle to convey the risk to the public. At least nine people drowned in Pinellas County during Hurricane Helene."

• WUSF-Tampa: Hundreds of doctors support abortion rights measure amid DeSantis opposition. "A group of more than 850 doctors in Florida endorsed Amendment 4, which would allow abortions until fetal viability or when a health care provider deems necessary. Some other doctors joined Gov. Ron DeSantis to oppose the measure."

• WLRN-Miami: ‘It actually feels like home’: Seminole Tribe members make off-Broadway debuts. "One of the first musicals that tells a Native American story authentically, Distant Thunder focuses on a young lawyer from the Blackfeet Nation who returns to his reservation in Montana to strike a major business deal that would damage land near a reservation school."

From NPR News

• Election: Come hell or high water, early voting is happening in storm-ravaged North Carolina

• Business: Boeing machinists reject latest proposal, and a bruising six-week strike continues

• Business: Apple and Goldman Sachs ordered to pay $89 million over Apple Card failures

• National: American Airlines fined $50 million for its treatment of passengers with disabilities

• World: Why the garment workers of Bangladesh are feeling poorer than ever

• Sports: Teammates LeBron and Bronny James make history as the NBA's first father-son duo

• Health: Youth cheerleading is getting more athletic — and riskier

Kristin Moorehead curated today's edition of The Point.