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• Florida Storms: Cold front is on the way! Severe storms, flash flood threat & major cooldown. "A strong, cold front will bring the coolest air of the season so far across the Sunshine State this week. Before the cold air moves in, the entire peninsula must deal with strong to severe thunderstorms. Not everyone will deal with severe thunderstorms, but much of the state will have rain as the front sweeps south."

• WUFT News: 'We are here to honor our loved ones': Families share stories of suicide, gun violence. "The Alachua County Crisis Center will host a vigil on Nov. 23 to honor the loved ones lost to suicide in the Gainesville community. It follows the Nov. 2 Gainesville Out of Darkness community walk to educate others about suicide and support those who have been affected by suicide."

• Mainstreet Daily News: Newberry approves $2 million backstop for charter conversion. "The Newberry City Commission voted unanimously on Monday to approve a request for a letter of intent to loan $2 million to Newberry Community School, Inc., for planning and startup costs if the Florida Charter School Review Board approves an application to convert Newberry Elementary School into a charter school."

• WUFT News: Two hurricanes wiped out nearly half of Horseshoe Beach’s homes. "Horseshoe Beach, a quaint coastal town in Dixie County, is no stranger to storm surge and high-speed winds. Residents know the sound of rushing water and rain. When dealing with hurricanes, they’re veterans."

• WCJB: UF IFAS leaders to release preliminary findings on agriculture impacts from Hurricane Helene. "Officials are set to announce their preliminary results during a virtual news conference starting Tuesday afternoon at 2. During their assessment, farmers were asked to add up and share the damages they experienced during the storm, which made landfall in the Big Bend on September 26th."

• The Alligator: Peak Pulse Run Club Gainesville joins trend of emerging Generation Z run clubs. "Aydan Child, a 23-year-old UF information systems alum, noticed the trend after graduating in the Spring, and he decided to 'bring that same energy to Gainesville and build a real community around it,' he said. Thus Peak Pulse Run Club was born. What started out early last summer as something for Child to do during the college town’s slow season has turned into a semiweekly ritual with 30 to 150 attendees."

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Around the state

• Associated Press: U.S. to add features such as blind spot warnings and pedestrian detection to vehicle crash ratings. "The U.S. government's automobile safety ratings will get a major update starting with the 2026 model year when regulators add new driver-assistance technologies and tests for protecting pedestrians. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Monday that it has finalized the changes, which were required by Congress under the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law."

• Politico: ‘It’s an arms race’: Florida weighs how to compete in new expensive era of college sports. "Universities are expecting moves like eliminating caps on student scholarships and giving athletes a cut of sports proceeds to raise costs by more than $20 million annually per school. Colleges as a result are considering a range of options to stay competitive, while also surviving financially — decisions that could lead to eliminating or scaling back some sports, creating new fees or, for public schools like Florida’s universities, asking state legislatures to kick in more cash."

• WLRN-Miami: Spirit Airlines flies into bankruptcy with hopes of shedding its no-frills image. "The largest airline based in Florida has declared bankruptcy. Spirit Airlines made it official early Monday, alerting investors, passengers and employees the company expects to continue operations as usual as it reorganizes its finances and operations over the next four months."

• USA Today Network ($): Florida again argues books ban are 'government speech,' not prohibited by First Amendment. "In yet another case, Florida's government is arguing that book removals in public schools are 'government speech,' meaning they are unrestricted by the First Amendment."

• Central Florida Public Media: Some say pending plans to better protect Barrier Island area fall short. "The state is reviewing a draft plan of specific requirements Brevard County Commissioners recently approved for the Brevard Barrier Island Area of Critical State Concern, but some worry the plan as currently written would fail to serve its purpose: protecting the area from uncontrolled development."

• WUSF-Tampa: Report shows Florida's immigration bill caused anxiety and stress — and made people leave the state. "The survey was conducted between May and July 2024 with 466 participants in Hillsborough County. They included undocumented immigrants, asylum seekers, those with visas, temporary protected status, permanent legal residents and U.S. citizens who are children of immigrants. Because of these fears, some people have left the state, according to the survey. About 46% of responders said they know someone who moved out of Florida because of the law."

• Associated Press: DeSantis aims to appoint Marco Rubio's Senate replacement by early January. "Under the U.S. Constitution and state law, the governor has the power to fill vacancies in the U.S. Senate, while voters decide who should fill vacancies in the U.S. House. DeSantis is gathering names and conducting “preliminary vetting” after receiving “strong interest” from several potential picks, he posted on social media Monday. In the coming weeks, the governor plans to do more extensive vetting and candidate interviews."

• WGCU-Fort Myers: Thanksgiving 2024 expected to set travel records. "AAA expects record-setting travel numbers for Thanksgiving. More than 4.5 million Floridians are forecast to travel 50 miles or more for the holiday. That’s an all-time high for Thanksgiving and nearly 112,000 more travelers than last year."

From NPR News

• Science: Monarch butterflies: How do you protect a species that lives across a continent?

• National: Trump's election makes the future of what could become a giant lithium mine unclear

• National: Judge strikes down Wyoming abortion laws, including ban on pills to end pregnancy

• World: 42,000 crowd New Zealand's Parliament grounds in support of Māori rights

• Politics: Pennsylvania's high court sides with Republicans on misdated mail ballots

• Science: S.C. authorities still searching for 6 of 43 monkeys that escaped research facility

Krista Jensen curated today's edition of The Point.