Here's a local and state news update from Florida Today and WFIT. I'm Evan Niemczyk.
A school safety debate will be hashed out at an administrative hearing next Friday.
State education officials say a 2025 law authorizing classrooms to use secondary locks could make it harder for first responders to provide care. The agency put restrictions on the law, beyond what lawmakers included.
Jack Taylor is the co-owner of barricade lock company Nightlock. He says the Florida Department of Education is going beyond its authority. And he says the state's take is wrong.
"Having a second layer of security away from the window and down near the floor is an essential piece of equipment during that type of event. These temporary door locks are like fire extinguishers; you never use them. You only use them if you have to."
Nightlock challenged the restriction, which prompted the hearing. The Department of Education did not respond to questions.
Florida will be actively testing 'flying cars' by the end of the year. WFIT’s Terri Wright explains.
"SunTrax AirGround in Polk County will actively test electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft throughout the Central Florida aerospace region. SunTrax is located along the I-4 corridor and is 775 acres. The facility was initially built to test autonomous vehicle technologies. But last year, the Florida Department of Transportation began building two vertiports there.
Advanced Air Mobility technology has the potential to be used as air taxis, cargo delivery, medical transportation and emergency response."
The University of Florida introduced a partnership with Google today.
It would expand programs that use AI to diagnose and treat diabetes patients.
WUFT's Sofia Dinka has more.
"The partnership would do a few things…
First . . . provide funding to help better educate primary care doctors on how to diagnose and treat those who might have diabetes.
Patients could even get help from a special glucose monitoring device that uses AI to detect problems.
Another part of this partnership?
Using AI to help determine who might actually be at risk of type 1 diabetes.
Dr. Michael Haller is an endocrinologist at UF and is helping lead the program.
"So, using artificial intelligence, we can scan large sets of data on patients to pick out the likeliest patients who have the highest risk for Type 1 diabetes based on other features, family history of Type 1 diabetes."
Haller says, if successful, he hopes the use of the AI technology could eventually expand across the country.
I’m Sofia Dinka in Gainesville."
An AI-powered private school had announced plans to open a location in Tampa last fall.
As WUSF's Gabriella Paul reports, it's still in the works.
"A spokesperson says there's been a couple roadblocks with building safety and permitting.
The concept, called Alpha School, is advertised as a way to make learning more efficient.
Enrolled students learn traditional subjects with an AI tutor, instead of a teacher, that's capped at two hours a day.
Tuition for the for-profit school can run as high as sixty thousand dollars a year.
Alpha School is based in Texas and is opening new locations across the U.S., including Florida. Schools in Miami Beach and Boca Raton are scheduled to open this fall.
There's already one in Miami.
I'm Gabriella Paul, in Tampa"
For these stories and more, visit FloridaToday.com and WFIT.org. I'm Evan Niemczyk