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The stories near you

• WUFT News: Concerns grow over ICE access in Alachua County Public Schools. "Administrators may request identification from law enforcement officers and ask to be present during interviews, but all district employees are required to comply with law enforcement directives. Law enforcement can impose legal consequences if employees fail to comply."

• WUFT News: Health fair in Waldo brings community together with wellness and fun. "The event, designed to promote health awareness and offer resources to local residents, was held outdoors under sunny skies and a cool breeze. While the fair featured several booths focused on wellness and medical checkups, the day was clearly aimed at bringing joy to children and families."

• WUFT News: Local award-winning poet gives reading at Gainesville festival. "Bard & Broadside, a poetry festival held in Gainesville, hosted a creative writing workshop and poetry reading that Lola Haskins led at the Alachua County Library District headquarters on Sunday. The festival is the only one of its kind completely dedicated to poetry in North Central Florida."

• WUFT News: BIGFEST at How Bazar offers a weekend at the circus. "From rainy Friday evening, through Saturday night lit by the full moon, until brunch on Sunday’s sunny afternoon, downtown Gainesville celebrated every crevice of its growing art scene."

• Mainstreet Daily News: Alachua County Sheriff’s Office releases name of murder victim found in apartment. "According to ACSO spokesperson Capt. Christopher Sims in an email to Mainstreet on Monday, the man found dead in the apartment complex is Aaviel Javion Hester-Guadalupe, 21."

• WCJB: Teachers union, Alachua County School District agree on 1.3% raise in new contract. "The president of the Alachua County Education Association says she was still ‘unhappy’ with the offer, but the district says the one-point-three percent raise was its last and final offer."

• Mainstreet Daily News: HCA Florida North Florida Hospital picks new CEO as Lawson retires. "Lawson also serves as chair of the Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRU) Authority. He told Mainstreet that he planned to finish his term on the board."

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Around the state

• News Service of Florida: Judge says more protections are needed for manatees in Indian River Lagoon. "Pointing to ongoing threats to manatees, a U.S. district judge Friday said the state has violated the federal Endangered Species Act in its regulation of wastewater discharges into the Indian River Lagoon."

• WUSF-Tampa: Here's what to know about Florida's tax deadline extension from 2024 hurricanes. "Originally, after hurricanes Debby and Helene, it was only select counties in Florida granted an extension. However, then Hurricane Milton came along, affecting even more people across Florida. This then prompted the IRS to grant affected taxpayers in all of Florida to have the May 1 deadline."

• News Service of Florida: Trulieve funneled millions into a marijuana proposal in the first quarter. "The Trulieve medical-marijuana company contributed $19.6 million during the first three months of 2025 to a renewed effort to pass a constitutional amendment that would allow recreational use of marijuana, according to a newly filed finance report."

• WFSU-Tallahassee: Florida lawmakers aim to make childcare less expensive and more available. "Florida parents know the cost of childcare can be prohibitive -- if they can even find some. Now, a state lawmaker who has four young children is sponsoring a bill aimed at making childcare less costly and more available."

• WGCU-Fort Myers: Southwest Florida’s battle of the green: Have invasive plants met their match? "Southwest Florida’s landscape is graced by numerous native plant species. From towering longleaf pine trees with their prickly pinecones bobbing in the breeze, to the leatherleaf ferns that blanket the marshy bald cypress forest floors, there is so much more to these native ecosystems than meets the eye."

• WFSU-Tallahassee: Some Florida beach towns say they’re ready to get out of the spring break business. "With Spring Break 2025 coming to a close in Florida, some local governments are frustrated with the way spring breakers have treated their communities. Despite extra assistance from state law enforcement, some beach towns say they’re ready to get out of the spring break business."

From NPR News

• National: A whistleblower's disclosure details how DOGE may have taken sensitive labor data

• World: El Salvador's Bukele says 'preposterous' to suggest he return Abrego Garcia to U.S.

• National: A 5.2 magnitude earthquake strikes Southern California

• Law: Once again, Harvey Weinstein goes on trial for sex crimes in New York today

• Education: Trump administration freezes more than $2.2 billion after Harvard rejects its demands

• Space: Katy Perry, Gayle King and others reflect on their brief but historic trip to space

• Animals: A crow's math skills include geometry

Kristin Moorehead curated today's edition of The Point.