The Point, Oct. 25, 2021: Alachua County School District seeks ways to sell $3.68M property it bought in 2020

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• Fresh Take Florida: Real estate agents in the school board’s real estate deal are accused of “working for both sides,” adding to the cost of Alachua County’s taxpayers. “Two prominent real estate agents were at the center of a controversial school board real estate deal – the first major purchase funded by a new half-cent sales tax – that resulted in the district buying property for twice the money the land last year bought According to interviews and a review of hundreds of pages of emails and documents, sold for late 2018. “

• WUFT News: A decade-old rule left a Hawthorne family in a mold infested house. “Lollie Chapman, 18, said the mold got so bad it opened holes on the roof, moistened the floor and broke the front door, but she is more concerned about her 62-year-old mother, Leah Chapman, who is always sick from inhaling the mushrooms. “My mother doesn’t smoke,” she said. “She has never smoked in her life, but she has a smoker’s cough because she is in constant contact with it all.”

• WUFT News: Junior College Athletics focuses on a better future with the Name, Image and Similarity Act. “Financial training is now part of Florida law, which includes the Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) law, which went into effect in July, and which focuses on letting student athletes benefit from their likeness. As part of Florida law, which includes NIL, a college must offer at least five hours of courses or workshops that focus on financial literacy and other key life skills. This includes time management, budgeting and mental health. “

• WUFT News: Alachua County Commissioners have decided to continue giving out US $ 25 gift certificates to people who are vaccinated. “In the incentive month, gift cards are given to everyone who receives an injection – the first dose, the second or the refresher. Someone might have got $ 50 in gift cards during that time. “

• WUFT News: The Oak Hall soccer team mourns the loss of two coaches this season. “The Oak Hall Eagles High School football team has suffered an extraordinary loss this season – that of two coaches. Linebacker trainer David Clark died of cancer on July 26, aged 54. Assistant coach Ellis Walker Jr. died of a heart attack on September 2nd at the age of 69. “

• WUFT News: TB McPherson’s pilot program offers new tennis opportunities in East Gainesville. “The program aims to bring tennis to those who otherwise may not have access to it in the East Gainesville community, and to enable beginners to learn in a safe environment. The program is said to be affordable for students as well, with a cost of $ 50 for six weeks of tuition, according to the Florida United States Tennis Association (USTA) website.

• Mainstreet Daily News: GNV Commission clears 62nd Blvd. Renewal. “The route would extend across 62nd Boulevard, from where it crosses SW 20th Avenue, at the Circle K and Cabana Beach Apartments, all the way to Butler Plaza and ends right next to Walmart.”

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• Florida Politics: Surgeon General asked Tina Polsky’s office to leave after refusing to wear a mask. “Sen. Tina Polsky, who attended breast cancer in August 1.

• Miami Herald ($): “These Findings Amazed”: Audit Wild Florida Program to Help Brain-Damaged Children. “Overall, the audit describes, in mostly clinical terms, a closed, callous, capricious system that left the parents of severely injured children with no recourse or options if their requests for help were rejected.”

• Sarasota Herald-Tribune ($): Brian Laundrie’s parents were at Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park when remains were found. “On Thursday, two detectives visited Laundrie’s parents at their home just before the FBI made the official statement. Laundrie’s parents were also at the environmental park when the remains were discovered, but according to their lawyer, they weren’t the ones who found the remains. “

• WMFE: Florida Hospital Association Says Florida’s Recent COVID Surge Is “Over” But Requires More Vaccinations. The group reports that 2,251 people with COVID-19 are being hospitalized across the state today. That is compared to 2,327 hospital admissions on the same day last year and 17,121 hospital admissions at the peak of the increase on August 23, 2021. “

• CNN: Florida drops palm trees to fight climate crisis. “… Florida’s beloved palms are the least effective at sequestering carbon. The average palm tree in South Florida absorbs only 5 pounds of CO2 a year. “

• Panama City News Herald ($): “Dead fish here and there all week:” Red tide intensifies in Panama City Beach. “Those who walked near Shell Island on the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday may have noticed dozens of dead marine life strewn across the sand and entwined with algae, creating a scene that looks almost as if it were a fish delivery was accidentally placed by a trader. “

• New York Times ($): An unexpected episode of pandemic frustrates Florida’s largest city. “The disruption to the American economy caused by the coronavirus pandemic has resulted in mass cancellations of school buses and ferries, a shortage of rental cars and a bottleneck in cargo ships waiting in seaports. And in cities like Jacksonville, it has created a small but growing humiliation: rubbish that rots. “

• Health: Despite the higher risk of COVID, most pregnant American women remain unvaccinated

• Health: Pfizer-BioNTech COVID vaccine appears to be more than 90% effective in children ages 5-11

• Health: People are wondering whether to keep calm and move on with the Delta Plus option

• National: On-set deaths from prop weapons are rare – but not uncommon

• National: The fatal shooting of Halyna Hutchins leads to calls for real weapons to be banned from sets

• Business: Thousands of workers choose to get fired instead of taking the vaccine

• Business: They didn’t pay rent and stole the refrigerator. Pandemic creates nightmare tenants

• Science: Scientists used a tiny brain implant to help a blind teacher see letters again

• Science: Listen to the otherworldly sound of the Martian wind

About the current curator

I’m Ethan Magoc, news editor at WUFT. Originally from Pennsylvania, I found a home telling Florida stories. I’m part of a team that searches every morning for local and state stories that are important to you; Please send feedback on today’s issue or ideas for stories we may have missed to emagoc@wuft.org.