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Today's Florida stories
• Fresh Take Florida: Fishermen describe rescue of missing teens who spent 16 hours adrift overnight off Gulf Coast. "The teens, identified by family and friends on social media as Eva Aponte and Avery Bryan, survived 16 hours on the water in temperatures that dipped into the low 40s. Rescuers described them as shivering cold with cuts to their hands and feet from razor-sharp oyster shells but otherwise OK."
• WUFT News: Cedar Key residents frustrated as post office remains unrepaired six months after storm. "Residents have been relying on a mobile mail truck since Hurricane Debby flooded the post office in August. Residents initially welcomed the solution with understanding, but frustration has grown as months pass with no progress on restoring the building."
• Mainstreet Daily News: Archer talks financial recovery, road expansion with Alachua County. "Archer Mayor Fletcher Hope highlighted the commission’s corrective actions to recover financially since discovering misallocations, unpaid taxes and a lack of auditing late last year. These efforts started under current Vice Mayor Iris Bailey and continued after Hope became mayor in January."
• NPR: 2 NASA astronauts return to Earth after an unexpectedly long mission in space. "Last June, a Boeing spacecraft launched with Williams and Wilmore on board for what was anticipated to be an eight-day mission, but problems with the aerospace company's capsule meant that the pair were left on the ISS and ultimately incorporated into the space station's regular crew."
• News Service of Florida: 'Let's put it on the ballot': Florida lawmakers debate over county term limits. "Rural officials are balking at legislation that would allow voters to decide whether county commissioners should be limited to eight years in office, arguing that the restriction would quash the voices of local residents."
• WUSF-Tampa: Here's how to contact your state lawmakers. "While who represents you may change, one thing stays the same: elected officials work for you — whether or not you voted for them. If you want to get in touch with your state senators and representatives or find out who represents you, here's a step-by-step guide to help you do it."
• WGCU-Fort Myers: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reopens public comment for monarch butterfly Endangered Species Act listing proposal. "The proposed rule includes species-specific protections and flexibilities to encourage conservation of the butterfly under section 4(d) of the ESA. The comment period will be reopened for 60 days, until May 19, 2025, to give all interested parties an additional opportunity to comment on the proposed rule, which was published on December 12, 2024."
• News Service of Florida: 'Not about putting a price on a life' | Sides collide on medical malpractice issue in legislature. "On one side are people telling heart-wrenching stories about the deaths of their adult children or parents. On the other are people warning about shortages of doctors and soaring medical-malpractice insurance costs."
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From NPR News
• Law: A federal judge says the USAID shutdown likely violated the Constitution
• Politics: 4 things to know about the Alien Enemies Act and Trump's efforts to use it
• World: Kremlin says it will halt strikes on Ukraine energy sector after Trump and Putin talk
• World: Why did Israel resume the war in Gaza?
• Law: Federal judge blocks Trump effort to ban transgender troops from military service
• Health: After historic indictment, doctors will keep mailing abortion pills over state lines
• Politics: Does the U.S. deserve the Statue of Liberty? Not anymore, one French politician says
• Science: A cell pulls off one of the 'Holy Grails' of biotechnology
Kristin Moorehead curated today's edition of The Point.