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The stories near you

• News Service of Florida: Florida university leaders defend DEI restrictions. "State higher-education leaders and university trustees have fired back at a lawsuit that alleges a 2023 law targeting diversity, equity and inclusion issues at universities violates the First Amendment."

• WUFT News: Black Family Wellness Expo highlights urgent need for breast cancer awareness. "Black women have a 5% lower breast cancer incidence than white women, according to the American Cancer Society,. However, Black women have a 38% higher mortality, which the organization largely attributes to a later diagnosis and a lower access to high-quality treatment."

• WUFT News: UF students launch online tool to combat gentrification. "A grant from the Bob Graham Center for Public Service helped initially fund the tool, which is designed to educate users about gentrification impacts and risks in the Gainesville community, according to its website."

• WUFT News: Heartwood neighborhood is flourishing as plans for its future develop. "The Gainesville Community Reinvestment Area (GCRA) was tasked with redeveloping the site, formerly the location of the Kennedy Homes apartment complex, in 2008. The first home of the 34-house development was sold over a decade later in November 2022. Today, it’s well on its way to being completely sold out, according to Keller Williams Real Estate Agent Craig Wilburn."

• WUFT News: Gainesville bird walks inspire a deeper connection with birds and nature. "On Sunday morning, a group of people walked carefully along a trail, eyes scanning the trees for signs of life. Leading them was Danielle Zukowski, a bird photographer whose love for the animals began with a single bird feeder at a lighthouse in Michigan."

• WUFT News: How crafting cards is helping women in Clay County connect and recover. "At the workshops, which happen twice monthly in Gorham’s house in Keystone Heights, a small group of women with a love of both crafting and community come together to handmake greeting cards. The shared activity offers them an escape from their life’s concerns."

• Mainstreet Daily News: Thelma Boltin Center heads for Phase 1 construction as plans get finalized. "After a vote to demolish the building, a recension, a vote for a $5.6 million partial restoration and then an alternate vote to designate $1.5 million in repairs, the city and its contractor, Wannemacher Jensen Architects, Inc., are working on plans to bring new use to the center."

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Around the state

• Florida Storms: Central Florida's tornado is rated as EF-2, house collapsed. "There’s no way to know how strong a tornado will be and no set recipe for where or when a tornado will touch down. The strength of a tornado is measured by the damage it produces. In this instance, a house collapsed just west of I-4 in Seminole County, and several roofs were peeled off from homes."

• WFSU-Tallahassee: Trooper the abandoned dog is now the namesake of a measure speeding through the Legislature. "Trooper now lives in South Florida with a couple devoted to his breed. They even have another bull terrier with whom Trooper has reportedly bonded. And according to Griffitts, Trooper will be visiting the capital on March 25th -- to make sure no other dogs endure what he did."

• Associated Press: In Florida, the Miccosukee fight to protect the Everglades in the face of climate change. "For centuries, the Everglades has been the tribe’s home. But decades of massive engineering projects for development and agriculture severed the wetlands to about half its original size, devastating an ecosystem that’s sustained them. Tribe members say water mismanagement has contributed to fires, floods and water pollution in their communities and cultural sites. Climate change, and the fossil fuel activities that caused it, are ongoing threats."

• WUSF-Tampa: Athletes and artists are rallying fans to save warming oceans. "Star athletes, artists and organizations from Florida and across the country are hoping to rally their fans to advocate for what they’re calling the planet’s MVP: the ocean. It’s part of a multi-year initiative by the nonprofit Ocean Conservancy called Protect Where We Play."

• WFSU-Tallahassee: Florida minimum wage opt-out bill passes first committee. "Under the bill, certain employees could check a box on the application form or provide the employer with a written note that they are willing to work for less than the state’s minimum wage. In other words, they would have to knowingly and willingly suspend their right to the state minimum wage."

• Associated Press: Tampa rapper Doechii named 2025 Woman of the Year by Billboard. "The award lands the Blake High School grad in the same company as Taylor Swift, SZA, Lady Gaga and Karol G. The news arrives a month after Doechii won the Grammy for best rap album."

• WLRN-Miami: Liberty City Independent's lone journalist fills coverage gap in one of Miami's oldest neighborhoods. "The Liberty City Independent was created to 'rebuild hyper-local news in an underserved community,' said Tony Winton, who founded Miami Fourth Estate in 2020. He publishes the Key Biscayne Independent and the Liberty City Independent, both digital publications that also partner with WLRN in sharing news content."

From NPR News

• Politics: Republicans say Medicaid is safe. But budget math says otherwise

• National: The government already knows a lot about you. DOGE is trying to access all of it

• World: 5 things to know about Mark Carney, Canada's next prime minister

• Politics: Arrest of pro-Palestinian protester shows escalation in Trump deportation efforts

• National: City crews have begun painting over the 'Black Lives Matter' street mural in D.C.

• National: On Harriet Tubman Day, a new effort to place the abolitionist on the $20 bill launches

• Science: Does the narwhal's famous tusk help it catch fish?

Kristin Moorehead curated today's edition of The Point.