The Point, Sept. 8, 2022: Parents of Gainesville child who shot himself face multiple felony charges – WUFT

Subscribe to The Point, arriving in your inbox Monday through Friday at 8 a.m.

---

• WUFT News: Police arrest parents of toddler who accidentally shot self. “Police identified the parents as Ledrick Lataurus Ferguson, 48, and Kayla Shelynn Carter, 34, both of Gainesville. They were held in jail on felony charges, including manslaughter, unsafe storage of a firearm and three counts of child neglect, court records showed. The neglect charges related to the two young siblings who were home at the time with the gunshot victim, Ja’Kobe Ferguson.”

• Ocala Gazette: City council appoints Peter Lee as city manager. “The Ocala City Council in a 4-1 vote named Peter Lee city manager at its Sept. 7 meeting, removing the interim tag the 20-year city employee has had since April 19 when he took over after the council fired City Manager Sandra Wilson.”

• Ocala Star-Banner ($): Marion County Commission: Library at Mary Sue Rich Community Center will be named Sankofa. “Marion County’s newest library branch, located within a local community center in West Ocala, a historic Black community west of Pine Avenue, will be named the Sankofa Public Library. Sankofa is a West African word – from the Akan community in Ghana – that means ‘it is not taboo to fetch what is at risk of being left behind.’”

---

---

• NPR News: A new lawsuit is challenging Florida Medicaid’s exclusion of transgender health care. “A new federal lawsuit has challenged the state of Florida’s effort to exclude gender-affirming health care for transgender people from its state Medicaid program, calling the rule illegal, discriminatory and a ‘dangerous governmental action.’ A coalition of legal groups filed the lawsuit Wednesday on behalf of four Florida Medicaid recipients, who are either transgender or parents of transgender youth, in the Northern District of Florida.”

• Politico: Miami Dade school board rejects LGBTQ history month over fears it violates ‘Don’t Say Gay.’ “Miami school board members passed a similar resolution acknowledging LGBTQ history month in 2021 by a 7-1 vote but found themselves in a different situation this fall under the Parental Rights in Education law. The Republican-led Legislature approved the law in March and it continues to affect how Florida schools address issues of sexual orientation and gender identity.”

• WLRN-Miami: With election wins and appointments, DeSantis expands his influence over Florida’s largest school districts. “DeSantis has a lot more power over local education policy after last month’s elections. His allies and appointees have taken seats on the boards of the state’s largest school districts and the new members are well positioned to implement the governor’s conservative agenda in public schools.”

• NPR News: This is the wild and opulent history of Mar-a-Lago, long before Trump and the FBI. “Mar-a-Lago has dominated the headlines in recent weeks, courtesy of the now famous FBI search on former President Donald Trump’s Florida residence. But long before it housed government documents, the opulent mansion had a rich and lively history. And it all begins with a wealthy heiress.”

• Daytona Beach News-Journal ($): NASA will try to fix Artemis I rocket at pad, but still might roll back to VAB. “NASA teams at Kennedy Space Center will try to fix the Artemis I moon rocket at the pad without rolling it back to the Vehicle Assembly Building, potentially saving time and setting the stage for a third launch attempt no earlier than late September.”

• WGCU-Fort Myers: UF/IFAS creates new Invasion Science Research Institute. “Florida is ground zero for invasive species in the United States, and more arrive every year. Now, the University of Florida’s Institute for Food & Agricultural Sciences is creating the Invasion Science Research Institute to focus on the issue — not only here in Florida, but around the world.”

• New York Times ($): Bird Flu Found in Dolphin in Florida and Porpoise in Sweden. “The findings represent the first time a highly pathogenic form of the virus, which has devastated bird populations this year, has been detected in cetaceans.”

• News4Jax: St. Augustine Amphitheatre to be run by nonprofit. What that means for the popular venue. “The decision came after an advisory board made up of five prominent community members took a hard look at the operations of the St. Augustine Amphitheater and the Ponte Vedra Concert Hall and decided the best way to maximize profit and keep the venue among the best, is to move management from the local government to a nonprofit group.”

---

• World: The 2nd suspect in the Saskatchewan stabbings has died in police custody

• Politics: The Obamas return to the White House for the unveiling of their portraits

• Science: A newly discovered planet 40% larger than Earth may be suitable for life

• Sports: Basketball icon Sue Bird plays her last game after two legendary decades in the WNBA

Favorite