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The stories near you
• WUFT News: Navigating choice: How Florida midwives are adapting to changes in reproductive health. "A year after Florida’s six-week abortion ban took effect, midwives are still adapting to changing political attitudes concerning reproductive health care. Clients are doing the same, seeking out resources and tests to determine the course of their pregnancies within a couple of weeks."
• WUFT News: UF is building another pickleball court to meet growing demand. "Pickleball’s popularity has skyrocketed since 2020, and UF has struggled to keep pace with the growing demand. UF’s campus only holds ten pickleball courts, meaning long wait times, constantly-packed courts and patrons who are sometimes unable to participate."
• Florida Storms: Heavy rains are expected for many areas across Florida to start the week, flooding likely. "More weather alerts will likely be issued, especially dangerous warnings for flash floods and severe storms on Monday, along different parts of the Peninsula."
• The Alligator: UF announces drastic summer changes to RTS, community says ‘No’. "Students’ tuition dollars fund RTS, but they can only contribute so much, said Amy Armstrong, the Director of Communications for Business Affairs. The set fee students pay per credit hour for RTS hasn’t increased since a 2015 freeze on UF’s transportation budget, leaving no other choice but to reduce routes. She did not explain why funding increases hadn’t come."
• UF/IFAS: Prepare your landscape and trees for the hurricane season. "Given the damaging impacts of hurricanes Debby, Helene and Milton last year, you may want to prepare your landscape and trees for the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season – and the sooner the better."
• WCJB: 17 years after lifesaving cord blood donation, Gracie White graduates from Florida Gateway College. "Diagnosed as a newborn with Hurler syndrome, a rare and fatal genetic disorder, Gracie’s only hope for survival was a bone marrow transplant, made possible through a donated umbilical cord blood unit from someone she would never meet."
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Around the state
• WFSU-Tallahassee: Florida legislature budget talks derail again. "Lawmakers were expected to return to Tallahassee for more negotiations next week, But leaders in the House announced Friday they won’t be moving forward after Senate leaders expressed reservation about passing the House’s tax proposal."
• Associated Press: Lab tests connect bear killed by FWC officers to fatal attack on Collier man and his dog. "FWC officials have not explicitly said that bear is the one that killed Markel, but a preliminary autopsy by the Collier County Medical Examiner found that Markel's cause of death is consistent with a bear attack. It would be the first such bear attack death in the state."
• News Service of Florida: Florida seeks permission to enforce a blocked immigration law. "The Florida Immigrant Coalition, the Farmworker Association of Florida and two individual plaintiffs filed the lawsuit on April 2, alleging, in part, that the law violates what is known as the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution because immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility."
• Politico: After dramatic Democratic Party exit, Pizzo says he’s running for Florida governor. "State Sen. Jason Pizzo, who recently proclaimed the Florida Democratic Party 'dead' before leaving the party, said Friday he will run for governor as an independent in 2026."
• Florida Trident: Trump nominates embattled DeSantis agency chief for Homeland Security post. "A January report on DMS by the state Auditor General detailed troubling findings related to lax oversight and Allende's inability to account for 2,200 missing vehicles valued at $57 million in the state's fleet, among other issues. Allende did not contest those findings."
• Health News Florida: Florida lawmakers approve bill to improve access to some unapproved stem cell therapies. "If enacted, the bill (SB 1768) would authorize physicians to perform the treatments, provided they are within scope of practice and focus on orthopedics, wound care or pain management with strict requirements to ensure patient safety and ethical standards."
• Miami Herald: Brace for the seaweed invasion, Florida. It could be biggest ever. "Scientists at the University of South Florida Optical Oceanography Lab, the point people for tracking the floating mats of seaweed called sargassum, are predicting what could be the state’s worst seaweed season. In the latest report issued April 30, they project 40% more seaweed than the previous record mess of 2022, when stinky, scratchy piles sent many tourists packing and cost cities millions to clean up."
From NPR News
• Economy: The U.S. and China announce a deal to cut tariffs, temporarily easing trade war
• National: USDA, DOGE demand states hand over personal data about food stamp recipients
• Law: Federal judge temporarily halts Trump's sweeping government overhaul
• Health: Measles math: What to know about 1,001 measles cases across the country
• Politics: Federal employee unions fight for survival as Trump tries to eviscerate them
• Technology: Elizabeth Holmes' partner raises millions for new biotech testing startup
• World: Luxury dog hotels give some people pause amid the inequality of South Africa
• Health: There's a secret superfood in white rice and pasta: Here's how to unlock it
Kristin Moorehead curated today's edition of The Point.