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Today's Florida stories
• WUFT News: A traffic light is coming to a problematic Alachua County intersection in fall 2025. "The county is adding a traffic light and turning lane improvements to the Parker Road and Southwest 24th Avenue intersection in fall 2025."
• WCJB: Gainesville gears up to host global athletes at World Masters Games this weekend. "The World Masters Games are set to kick off in Gainesville this Sunday, with athletes from around the globe arriving to compete."
• Ocala Star-Banner ($): Ocala metro area is No. 1 in this latest Census Bureau growth ranking. "When the U.S. Census Bureau releases information about population and growth, The Villages usually is mentioned near or at the top of the list. But for the latest measuring period, Ocala/Marion County has taken a top spot."
• Associated Press: DeSantis warns he has 'tools' including suspending local officials if they don't cooperate with ICE. "He made the comments during a discussion immigration in Sarasota with border czar Tom Homan after the Fort Myers City Council failed to approve an agreement that would have allowed ICE to train local law officers to interrogate immigrants in their custody and detain them for possible deportation."
• FOX35 Orlando: Florida man executed for 1993 killings of an 8-year-old girl and her grandmother. "Edward James, a 63-year-old Florida man, was executed Thursday evening at Florida State Prison for the 1993 murders of 8-year-old Toni Neuner and her grandmother, Betty Dick."
• Tampa Bay Times ($): New College of Florida could take over USF Sarasota-Manatee, senator says. "(Sen. Joe) Gruters said the idea is to merge New College of Florida, USF Sarasota-Manatee and the Ringling Museum of Art. The three campuses are all within a mile and a half of each other in the shadow of Sarasota Bradenton International Airport. Gov. Ron DeSantis proposed having New College take over the Ringling Museum from Florida State University earlier this year."
• Politico: ‘The job is literally not to die’: Florida Legislature ponders nixing lieutenant governor position amid DOGE debate. "Florida currently doesn’t have a lieutenant governor. And the Republican-controlled Legislature, inspired by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, appears serious about keeping it that way."
• Spectrum News: New Florida bill tightening hemp regulations sparks business concerns. "The bill would ban any amount of synthetic cannabinoids, as well as some that can occur naturally, including delta-8. The amount of delta-9 couldn’t be more than five milligrams per serving or 50 milligrams per container."
• New York Times ($): In Miami, Scalpers Had the Hot Tickets … to Driver’s License Appointments. "The tax collector’s office in Miami-Dade County, Fla., said it uncovered scalpers using the free online-appointment system to book slots and resell them for $25 to $250."
• WUSF/The Marjorie: Sharks on the line: Part 1 - On the menu. "Sharks worldwide are imperiled by overfishing. Yet experts disagree on whether policies in Florida and the U.S. aimed at protecting sharks have in fact done the opposite. In Part I of this three-part series, The Marjorie investigates how a federal ban on shark fins shrunk a commercial fishery and satisfied shark advocates — but did little to curb shark deaths."
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From NPR News
• Politics: Pentagon restores webpages of Black veterans, Navajo Code Talkers and others after outcry
• Politics: With Trump's crackdown on DEI, some women fear a path to good-paying jobs will close
• National: 3 people face federal charges for Tesla attacks. Are such acts domestic terrorism?
• National: Federal agency responsible for library and museum funding gets a visit from DOGE
• National: Dark energy is weakening and the universe could (eventually) collapse, study says
• Science: Why don't we remember being babies? Brain scans reveal new clues
Ethan Magoc curated today's edition of The Point.