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The Daystarter: Examining new paths to high school graduation; PolitiFact Florida evaluates Rick Scott's support for Dreamers; rain is gone, but cold is here ... for now

Catching you up on overnight happenings, and what to know today.
 
Tampa Bay Times
Published Jan. 28, 2019

Catching you up on overnight happenings, and what to know today.

• After a soggy weekend, we'll have a chilly start to the morning with lows near 40, according to the National Weather Service. It will be mostly sunny today with highs in the lower 60s.

• Hurricane Michael recovery has a big problem: People aren't donating. A Times/Herald analysis found that donations to three top national charities for Michael recovery has lagged far behind gifts to other storms to hit the South, such as Florence, Irma and Harvey.

• Saturday, after the Jose Gasparilla docked at the Tampa Convention Center, pirates carried beads and goodies as they made their way along Bayhsore Boulevard. Visit our All Eyes Gallery of images for the annual spectacle that is Gasparilla.

Comedian Jon Stewart seemed to enjoy his first Gasparilla. The former Daily Show host, who has kept a fairly low profile since stepping down from that show in 2015, was in Tampa during the celebration, hanging out with some veterans and wounded warriors and riding the Warrior Games float in the parade.

• Sen. Rick Scott recently praised a proposal to swap border wall funding for protection for Dreamers, immigrants who came to the United States illegally as children, tweeting "I've always supported protections for our DREAMers." But that's not correct, according to Politifact Florida.

• Retired banker and philanthropist David Straz, one of seven candidates for Tampa mayor, has made non-specific references to "graft and corruption" at recent mayoral forums. But he expanded on the subject during a meeting with the Tampa Bay Times editorial board last week. He said he has a five-page letter "that's single-spaced and tells me about the graft and corruption that's going on in a certain department and there's names in it.''

• Florida lawmakers are again talking about broadening the list of ways students can graduate from high school while still meeting state standards. "One size doesn't fit all," one lawmaker says. Read today's report by education writer Jeff Solochek.

• With another mass shooting in Sebring last week, columnist Ernest Hooper writes that the search for solutions to the scourge of gun violence must be relentless.

• Tattoos in the workplace? Eleven employees of Big Sea, a St. Pete marketing firm, got matching anchor tattoos. It comes at a time when ink in the workplace is becoming less taboo.

• Dozens of residents fighting a proposed hotel at Clearwater Point on Clearwater Beach recently filled the Main Library to plead their case before the City Council. The residents, wearing white T-shirts declaring "Preserve Clearwater Point" and "Families and Taxpayers Matter," urged the council to protect their community's quiet character.

• For the latest in Florida politics, make sure to check The Buzz.

• For the latest education coverage, make sure to read The Gradebook. And check out the Gradebook podcast as education reporter Jeffrey Solochek leads a weekly discussion about Florida education.

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