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

WUFT Special Report: The Last Straw

As North Florida’s timber industry faces new challenges, some landowners turn to pine straw. Are the human and environmental costs worth it?. In part one, 'A timber industry 'in turmoil',' pine producers looking to diversify their streams of revenue have a "gimme": the dead needles that cover the forest floor.

The stories near you

• WUFT News: Alachua County Labor Coalition’s search for committee members sheds light on the state of organized labor in Florida. "As of 2024, about 569,000 employed workers in Florida are either members of labor unions or have jobs covered by one, according to a report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Those workers recently faced a sizeable challenge posed by Florida’s state government."

• WUFT News: Black Creek Restoration Project of Keystone Heights lakes nears completion. "The project, which the St. Johns River Water Management District operates, has cost tens of millions of dollars and aims to recharge the Floridan Aquifer using excess water from Black Creek."

• WUFT News: Police arrest suspect in shooting that paralyzed teen in robbery. "According to text messages obtained by police, the trio planned the armed robbery over a month in advance in an effort to obtain THC vape cartridges from the victim, Ari Mordujovich. THC is the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana."

• Florida Storms: The April/May-like warmth ends; cold temperatures and dry air take over Florida for several days. "The coldest temperatures will be across the entire state on Friday morning. Across the Panhandle, some temperatures will be around the upper 20s to low 30s, and a few spots could develop a freeze or frost. For Central Florida, low temperatures will be between the low 40s and mid-40s, with the coldest range dominating the rural areas."

• WUFT News: Several roads are being repaved in Alachua County this year. "The roads — portions of Northwest 202nd Street, Northeast and Northwest 156th Avenue and Northeast County Road 1471 — together comprise approximately 11 miles. Each is dotted with potholes and blemished, uneven roads."

• WUFT News: Fans weigh in as University of Florida scrambles to raise athletic funds. "States across the country are scrambling to add much-needed funds to their university athletic departments, as college athletes are now able to profit from their names, images and likenesses (NIL) and a nearly $3 billion federal lawsuit settlement is pending."

• WUFT News: Alachua County first responders save lives through CPR excellence. "Alachua County has outperformed both state and national resuscitation success rates. While Florida’s average success rate stands at 27.6% and the national rate at 24.8%, Alachua County boasts an impressive 36.8% success rate in reviving cardiac arrest patients."

• Gainesville Sun ($): In memo to administrators, Alachua County Public Schools issues guidance on ICE interactions. "In an email Friday morning to all Alachua County Public Schools employees, an attached memo, dated Feb. 10, notes 'recent changes to immigration enforcement protocols' and outlines to administrators how to interact with law enforcement agencies, and specifically mentions ICE."

Today's sponsored message

Around the state

• Fresh Take Florida: Pet cremation bill passes unanimously through Senate committee. "The Senate Agriculture Committee passed a bill unanimously Tuesday in the Capitol in Tallahassee that would regulate the pet death care industry, after a cat owner who asked for her pet’s cremated remains was given a mix of glass, metal and human DNA."

• WUFT News: ‘Do the right thing’: Families sues sheriff in Orlando over shooting deaths of TV reporter, young girl. "The federal lawsuit, filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, said the sheriff’s office violated the constitutional rights of the victims and residents of the mostly Black neighborhood where the shootings occurred."

• The Tributary: Developer stands to benefit from land swap for UF. "The swap would be a more complicated land transaction than is typical for City Hall, but the Downtown Investment Authority and Mayor Donna Deegan’s administration said the proposal would save taxpayer money while bolstering both UF’s Downtown presence and critical development sites on and adjacent to Riverfront Plaza, which the city is pouring $25 million into improving. Still, on the Jacksonville City Council, the land swap proposal has raised eyebrows."

• WUSF-Tampa: Floridians seeking lost family in erased Black cemeteries need a research facility, a resident says. "Lawyer, journalist and community leader Jeraldine Williams, who served as first lady at Florida A&M University, recently learned she had a great, great grandmother buried at Zion Cemetery. And her great grandfather is buried at another Black cemetery in Tampa that was developed: St. Joseph Aid Society Cemetery."

• Central Florida Public Media: With tax season in full swing, the IRS warns consumers of potential scammers. "Scams come in all forms through texts, emails, phone calls and more. They can also include so-called ghost preparers, or people who say they can fill out someone’s taxes -- and never do."

• WUSF-Tampa: Native American activists laud release of Leonard Peltier after 50 years in prison. "Peltier was sentenced to life imprisonment for his role in the slayings of two FBI agents in 1975. He arrived home in North Dakota after he was released from a federal penitentiary in Florida."

• WLRN-Miami: Red light camera tickets continue to rile drivers, as Aventura cashes in. "City budget records show about 5% of the Aventura budget came from red light tickets last year, one of the largest percentages of a city budget in South Florida, as WLRN has previously reported. For the current fiscal year, the city expects to collect 17% more from the cameras compared to the previous year."

From NPR News

• World: What we know about the Toronto plane crash

• Politics: U.S. and Russia discuss ending Ukraine war, without Kyiv

• National: Kentucky governor says it will take a long time to recover from deadly storms

• Politics: A federal judge has denied states' bid to halt DOGE and Musk's work

• World: Brazil's former president faces charges over alleged coup plot

• Science: National Science Foundation fires roughly 10% of its workforce

• Science: How a uniquely human genetic tweak changed the voices of mice

Kristin Moorehead curated today's edition of The Point.