Your Florida Daily: 9-foot alligator attacks man, Florida clarifies misconceptions about ‘Parental Rights’ law

ORLANDO, Fla. – A Lake County fisherman is recovering from injuries after being attacked by a 9-foot-long alligator.

FWC officials say a man was bitten while fishing in the Grand Vista Trail area in Leesburg.

Emergency calls made Sunday described the attack.

“There’s a gator attacking a man in my backyard,” one caller stated.

“The guy is walking around with blood on his hand.”

Officials say the man suffered injuries to his wrist and arm and was rushed to the hospital. Experts say gator mating season technically begins next month, however, they say activity can pick up in March with alligators most active from dawn until dusk.

Read more here.

Florida clarifies misconceptions about school rules for gender identity, sexual orientation in settlement

After a monthslong fight, lawyers for the state and LGBTQ advocates have reached a settlement in a lawsuit over Florida’s Parental Rights in Education Law.

The actual law itself remains unchanged and bans the teaching of topics like sexual orientation and gender identity in public schools.

What has changed is some of the language clarifying that students and teachers can still discuss the topics as long as it’s not instruction.

It also protects gay student groups and makes it clear teachers can display things like pictures of their partners.

Read more here.

Four astronauts from four countries return to Earth after six months in orbit

The astronauts of the Crew-7 mission are back on Earth after a splashdown off the coast of Pensacola.

The return wrapped up a six-month trip to the International Space Station.

“A gorgeous reflection off the ocean,” commented one NASA communications member during the livestream of the splashdown.

“Heard a really nice sonic boom, and we tracked dragon all the way down to splash down. It’s great to see Crew-7 back home and wow, what a way to start the morning.”

While onboard the space station, the astronauts worked on scientific research to prepare for human exploration beyond earth orbit.

Their replacements, Crew-8, arrived last week in their own SpaceX capsule.

Read more here.

Random Florida Fact

It was just before Christmas in 1996, a stain was discovered on the glass windows of the Seminole Finance Company in Clearwater.

The massive stain evoked the traditional shape of the Virgin Mary, drawing hundreds of thousands of religious visitors.

The building was renamed Our Lady of Clearwater.

Eight years later, a kid used a slingshot to break the glass — effectively turning Our Lady of Clearwater into nothing more than a boring office building on the side of a highway.