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The stories near you
• WUFT News: OIG inspection finds expired medical equipment, unsecured medications at Gainesville VA. "Their recommendations stem from issues found during a routine inspection, including improperly stored oxygen tanks, unclean food storage areas, medical equipment that was expired or overdue for maintenance and unsecured medications. These cyclical inspections are done approximately every three years at every VA location."
• News Service of Florida: 'This is state-sanctioned slaughter'| Sides at odds as Florida bear hunt moves forward. "Before a crowd that spread into at least four extra rooms at the College of Central Florida in Ocala, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission voted 4-1 for staff members to return with rules for a December hunt that would be held in four parts of the state and could lead to as many as 187 bears being killed."
• WUFT News: Florida basketball team visits White House, capping historic season. "Donning suits and ties and amid cheers and whistles, Florida’s team and staff posed for photos with President Donald Trump to open the festivities as smartphones and professional cameras could be seen pressing above people’s heads."
• Mainstreet Daily News: Gilchrist County continues Ginnie Springs negotiations, readies for Memorial Day. "As Memorial Day weekend approaches, Gilchrist County and Ginnie Springs Outdoors continue negotiating on a final document to improve the plan for handling large events at the private business, with potentially tens of thousands of visitors."
• WCJB: City of Gainesville leaders launch 4th new affordable home in Porters Community. "The program is part of a comprehensive housing strategy to increase affordable housing through new construction. The trust retains ownership of the lots while income-eligible homeowners purchase the homes with a long-term lease on the land."
• Mainstreet Daily News: Alachua to explore Pinkoson Springs ownership with county resources. "The commissions voted during last year’s joint meeting to explore options for partnering on the project, which, according to a staff presentation, features a six-acre parcel of land appraised at $170,000, one tributary and two springs that flow into Turkey Creek and the Florida aquifer by the Split Rock Sink in San Felasco."
• WCJB: ‘The Real Rosewood Foundation’: Museum in the works. "On Sunday, May 25th, the Rosewood Foundation will host a fundraising event to commemorate Jenkins’s aunt on her 131st birthday, Mahulda Gussie Brown Carrier, a Rosewood school teacher who survived the Rosewood Massacre in 1923."
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Around the state
• Associated Press: 'It's saving their lives' | For kids with autism, swim classes can be lifesaving. "It has long worried autism experts and parents, but recent data make the stakes starkly clear. In Florida, a state where water abounds from beaches to backyards, over 100 children who had autism or were being evaluated for it have drowned since the start of 2021, according to the Children’s Services Council of Palm Beach County."
• NPR: In Florida, Venezuelans worry about the potential loss of temporary protected status. "A legal fight over the Trump administration order ending TPS is now playing out in lower courts. But Venezuelans living in Florida are worried they may be deported back to a country mired in economic and political turmoil."
• WLRN-Miami: New Florida law targets unruly fan behavior at sporting events. "The new law, HB 1447, makes it a third-degree felony to enter or remain in ticketed events of more than 5,000 people without authorization."
• Central Florida Public Media: Unfinished state budget makes it hard for Florida public schools to plan. "Public schools in the state rely on money from both property and sales taxes, said OCPS Chief Financial Officer Doreen Concolino. For now, that uncertainty in Tallahassee is affecting the budgeting process."
• WFLA-Tampa: Death penalty expansion bills await Gov. DeSantis’ signature. "Several bills passed during this legislative session could expand the state’s use of the death penalty. This comes as Florida prepares to execute its sixth person this year. If there’s no change, then that’ll be the same number of people executed compared to all of 2023."
• News Service of Florida: Federal appeals court revives challenge to Florida's property law. "The lawsuit, filed in 2022 in Tallahassee, alleges that the state does not provide 'just compensation,' such as interest, to owners who ultimately claim property."
• WGCU-Fort Myers: Environmental educators prepare for Florida's red tide season. "Do you remember how you first learned about red tide? If you’re like many Floridians, it may have been through messaging or outreach by environmental educators — a group that ranges from park rangers and tour guides to schoolteachers and scientists."
From NPR News
• Politics: Trump administration officially accepts jet from Qatar for use as Air Force One
• Health: Diseases are spreading. The CDC isn't warning the public like it was months ago
• Politics: Trump DOJ dismisses investigations of police in several cities, including Minneapolis
• National: A brain-dead woman's pregnancy raises questions about Georgia's abortion law
• Immigration: Judge says Trump administration violated court order on third-country deportations
• Business: Can retailers eat tariffs without price hikes? Walmart, Target, Lowe's face pressure
• Health: First FDA-cleared Alzheimer's blood test could make diagnoses faster, more accurate
• Business: Homebuyers and sellers say agents' cuts are too big. Flat-fee brokers offer an alternative
• Sports: The 'tush push' lives on. NFL teams vote to keep the controversial play
Kristin Moorehead curated today's edition of The Point.