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The stories near you
• WUFT News: World Masters Athletics Championships reaches the finish line. "Organizers of the 2025 World Masters Athletics (WMA) Indoor Championships, which concluded Sunday afternoon, are calling the event a resounding success for Alachua County and the United States."
• WUFT News: A garden for Newnansville, one-time Alachua County seat. "A group of volunteers planted a remembrance garden in a area just north of Gainesville on Saturday."
• WCJB: Man hurt in Ocala laundromat explosion files lawsuit against owner, contractors. "The suit alleges the defendants negligently allowed gas to leak and build up in the building. In a report, investigators couldn’t rule out the possibility that faulty wiring ignited the gas causing the building to blow up."
• Mainstreet Daily News: Tom Petty Park improvements groundbreaking ceremony on tap for Friday. "The event will start at 10 a.m. at 501 NE 16th Ave., just west of the tennis courts, and will celebrate upcoming improvements to the park, including adding eight dedicated pickleball courts, new seating areas, parking lot lights and a pedestrian entrance from the NE 16th Avenue crosswalk."
• WFTS-Tampa Bay: Over $800K stolen from Citrus County School Board in fraud scheme, CCSO investigating. "CCSB officials were first alerted by a trusted vendor that a payment for a construction project had not been received. The school board confirmed the payment had been made, but it was later discovered that someone had fraudulently emulated the vendor's email and provided a false account number."
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Around the state
• Fresh Take Florida: Snapchat, YouTube covered under Florida’s new ban on social media for young teens. "Technology companies are identifying the first popular social media platforms covered under Florida's new law banning such services for young teens: Snapchat and YouTube. The acknowledgement came in the latest federal court filings as part of a renewed legal fight challenging whether the restrictions are constitutional."
• Associated Press: What to expect in Florida's special congressional elections. "Two Republican-friendly Florida congressional seats could give the GOP some breathing room in the narrowly divided chamber. But Democrats in both districts have far outraised their GOP counterparts, and national Republicans have been publicly concerned in particular about the race to replace Mike Waltz, now Trump's national security adviser."
• Central Florida Public Media: Positive manatee trend triggers official end to Unusual Mortality Event. "An Unusual Mortality Event from December 2020 to April 2022, when 1,255 manatees died along Florida’s Atlantic coast, is now officially over, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service."
• WFSU-Tallahassee: Florida lawmakers are working to fix the funding for "universal" school choice. "Under a law passed two years ago, Florida tax dollars can go to private schools in the form of scholarships. The problems come when students switch from private schools to public ones. If they change their minds during the school year, the money doesn’t follow them. And the public schools do the work without getting paid for it."
• PolitiFact FL: NOAA firings came before a tornado outbreak. Did public warning systems work? "These recent weather events did not appear to overwhelm overall emergency communications and response systems following the Trump administration’s cuts. Still, weather experts told PolitiFact they are concerned that the staffing changes will have long-term impact on weather prediction and public safety."
• WFSU-Tallahassee: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis doubles down on his stance to eliminate property taxes. "DeSantis, during his Monday press conference in Orlando, advocated for an immediate property tax reduction for all Florida homestead residents. He’s urging the House to swap its sales-tax proposal for a one-time property tax break for those owners."
• WLRN-Miami: Trump's federal government hiring freeze, funding cuts leave college students scrambling. "Trump's historic federal hiring freeze and firing spree has eliminated thousands of jobs and placed thousands more on indefinite hold. For students sitting on the cusp of internships or post-graduate jobs in the government, the freeze has been devastating."
From NPR News
• National: Advocates say flawed 'checklist' targets Venezuelans for deportation under archaic wartime act
• Politics: White House says it's 'case closed' on the Signal group chat review
• Law: Supreme Court seems ready to let religious groups opt out of unemployment compensation laws
• Politics: Entire staff at federal agency that funds libraries and museums put on leave
• World: The head of Africa CDC thought news of a U.S. aid freeze must be 'a joke.' Now what?
• Elections: Presidents can be elected twice. Trump could try end runs around that, experts say
Kristin Moorehead curated today's edition of The Point.