Sign up for The Point, arrives in your inbox Monday-Friday at 8am
• Mainstreet Daily News: GPD unit K-9 resumes regular service. “In a press release from the GPD sent out on Monday, the unit has resumed service after being moved to patrol duty on Jan. 9.”
• The Alligator: UF, Alachua County Public Schools grant to improve mental health services. “The $4.8 million grant, called Gator Connect, is funded by the U.S. Department of Education and will place trainees in elementary and middle schools who are in high need for mental health services.”
• WUFT News: Gainesville Police conducts assault and rape defense classes. “The class was designed to equip women with strategies for risk awareness, prevention, reduction, and physical self-defense.”
• WUFT News: University Avenue Receives $8 Million Grant for New Security Measures. “The project will affect a 4.15-mile stretch, including improvements for slower traffic, raised pedestrian crossings and narrower lanes. Construction is expected to start in March 2024.
• Mainstreet Daily News: Perry pushes elementary music bill after UF study. “After funding a UF study, Florida lawmakers will consider funding biweekly music lessons for kindergarten through second grade students in a proposal made by state Senator Keith Perry.”
• Alligator: Alachua County slaughterhouse plan finds support from ranchers and animal rights groups. “At a time when political settlement has become more of an idea than a reality, the proposed Alachua County meat-processing plant has proven to be an unlikely unifier.”
• News Service of Florida: Using Florida’s new migrant transportation law, DeSantis wants a lawsuit dismissed. “Arguing the case is ‘mootable’ because of a bill passed in a special legislative session, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration has asked a judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed after the state transported about 50 migrants from the Texas to Massachusetts in September”.
• Health News Florida: Florida’s new COVID case count is its lowest in weeks, but deaths surpass 86,000. “The report said more than 86,000 Florida residents have died from COVID-19 since the pandemic began in 2020, with 77 percent of deaths involving people age 65 and older.”
• Florida policy: Ok’s Senate panel bill exempting Medicaid patients with mental disorders from “graded therapy.” “A Senate panel approved a measure that allows Medicaid beneficiaries with serious mental illnesses to bypass ‘fail first’ procedures, which require people to try less expensive options before ‘step up’ on drugs that cost more.”
• WLRN-Miami: Researchers are turning to possums with GPS collars to track invasive pythons. “Wildlife researchers studying mammals in Key Largo have discovered a potentially game-changing — if not heartbreaking — way to locate and kill invasive Burmese pythons, especially large ones.”
• WUSF-Tampa: the downward trend in gas prices in Florida continues. “The average price of a gallon of gasoline fell for the third consecutive week to $3.29 a gallon, according to a press release from AAA.”
• Politics: Biden hears Zelenskyy’s plan for peace with Russia during a surprise visit to Kiev
• World: A new earthquake hits Turkey as teams are still responding to the previous catastrophic earthquake
• Space: Russia is launching a mission to give stranded space station crew members a lift home
• Science: New research could help nurses and police detect bruises on dark-skinned people
• National: A new museum will be built in the cavernous space beneath the Lincoln Memorial
• Science: Researchers watch and worry as balloons are launched from the sky
• Books: Changes to new editions of Roald Dahl’s books have thrilled readers
