Florida

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Shakespeare Now Caught Up in Florida's 'Don't Say Gay' Laws

Excerpts, rather than full text, now read in class

(Newser) - Students in a Florida school district will be reading only excerpts from William Shakespeare's plays for class rather than the full texts under redesigned curriculum guides developed, in part, to take into consideration the state's new law that restricts classroom materials whose content can be deemed sexual, the...

Tampa Mayor Catches 70 Pounds of Cocaine

'It was a big catch,' she says

(Newser) - Tampa Mayor Jane Castor was the city's police chief for six years, and she knows a bale of cocaine when she sees one. The mayor helped haul in cocaine worth around $1.1 million during a recent fishing trip in the Florida Keys, WFLA reports. She says she was...

DeSantis Just Replaced His Campaign Manager

Florida governor continues to reshuffle operation as he struggles to gain ground on Donald Trump

(Newser) - Another sign of Ron DeSantis' struggle to gain traction in the polls: He now has a new campaign manager. The Messenger reports that the Florida governor has demoted Generra Peck to chief strategist and put adviser James Uthmeier in charge. Uthmeier is DeSantis' gubernatorial chief of staff and is described...

Cops Hear Weird Siren, Arrest Phony US Marshal

Florida man claimed he was investigating shootings

(Newser) - A man accused of impersonating a law enforcement officer was wearing a hat that said "Police US Marshal," police in Florida say, but it didn't take a real Marshal more than a few seconds to determine he wasn't the real deal. The Marion County Sheriff's...

6-Year-Old Falls From Florida Roller Coaster

Boy hospitalized in Orlando with traumatic injuries

(Newser) - A 6-year-old boy was hospitalized with traumatic injuries after falling from a roller coaster at a Florida amusement park. Fire officials said he was found on the ground about 20 feet below the Galaxy Spin's track at Fun Spot America, near Kissimmee, on Thursday afternoon, NBC News reports. Information...

Florida&#39;s Newest Woe: Leprosy
Florida's Newest Woe: Leprosy
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Aug 5, 2023 12:30 PM CDT

Florida's Newest Woe: Leprosy

CDC says Central Florida accounts for nearly 20% of cases nationwide

(Newser) - Florida is contending with invasive species , spiking insurance rates , worrisome warming waters , political tensions , and now ... leprosy? That's according to the CDC, who on Monday issued a release spelling out how the infectious condition, also known as Hansen's disease, has taken hold in the Sunshine State, especially the...

'This Guy Is Very, Very Good at Fooling People'

Allen Todd May, 58, who escaped from Colorado prison in late 2018, is captured in Fort Lauderdale

(Newser) - A career fraudster who escaped from a federal prison in Colorado nearly five years ago was captured this week while moving into a $1.5 million house near the ocean on Florida's Gold Coast, federal officials said Friday. Federal marshals arrested Allen Todd May, 58, at the house in...

Florida Says AP Psychology Course Is Illegal

Education Department demands removal of gender and sexuality topics, taught for 3 decades

(Newser) - After blocking the Advanced Placement course on African American Studies, Florida has now "effectively banned" AP Psychology, too, according to the College Board, which oversees the AP program. It says the Florida Department of Education instructed superintendents on Thursday "that teaching foundational content on sexual orientation and gender...

One-Star Google Review a Clue in Fatal Hit-and-Run

The man who left it witnessed the Florida crime

(Newser) - "The last thing I saw before I shut my eyes was the side of the truck." That's the recollection of Tiffany Fletcher, who was headed to a saloon in Riverview, Florida, with her boyfriend on June 9 when a truck made a U-turn into their lane. She...

Harris on Debate With DeSantis: Not Happening

VP tells Orlando crowd she won't accept Florida governor's invite to chat about curriculum, slavery

(Newser) - Last month, Kamala Harris visited Florida to speak up against the state's new educational standards. Those controversial guidelines mandate that public school students be taught how enslaved people developed skills that "in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit." Now, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has...

Family Wins $11M in Suit Over Florida Kratom Death

Krystal Talavera's son hopes award draws attention to dangers

(Newser) - A distributor has been ordered to pay more than $11 million to the family of a 39-year-old Florida woman who died after ingesting kratom. Judge Donald Middlebrooks said in his ruling, issued after a federal wrongful death lawsuit was tried in West Palm Beach, that no amount of money was...

Florida Has a Fresh New Invasive Species Hell
Florida Has a Fresh New
Invasive-Species Hell
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Jul 29, 2023 9:30 AM CDT

Florida Has a Fresh New Invasive-Species Hell

Green anacondas may be breeding, worrying locals and conservationists

(Newser) - A Burmese python incursion has become a headache for Florida over the past two decades, but that's not the only pesky reptile the Sunshine State is now contending with. The green anaconda, the world's heaviest snake, has also been setting down roots, with NBC2 reporting that the invasive...

She Left a Holocaust Survivor 'Penniless and Betrayed'

Peaches Stergo, who stole $2.8M from him, is handed a 51-month sentence

(Newser) - The Florida woman who "deceived an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor, maliciously draining his life savings so she could become a millionaire through fraud," will pay for her crime. Peaches Stergo, 36, pleaded guilty to wire fraud in April and was on Thursday sentenced to four years and three months...

College Board Speaks Out on Florida Slavery Lesson

Slavery was in no way 'a beneficial, productive, or useful experience for African Americans'

(Newser) - The College Board has spoken out against Florida's new African American history standards , which have been strongly criticized for suggesting some Black people benefited from being enslaved. "We resolutely disagree with the notion that enslavement was in any way a beneficial, productive, or useful experience for African Americans,...

Online Challenge Ends With 11-Year-Old Arrested

Florida youth sent police on a 90-minute goose chase, say deputies

(Newser) - An 11-year-old Florida girl has been arrested over a false kidnapping report—and she told officers it was part of a YouTube challenge. The Volusia County Sheriff's Office says the girl texted 911 at 9:45am Wednesday and claimed that a friend had been snatched by an armed...

Mayor: Police Chief Offered to Resign Before He Shot Himself

Miami-Dade's top police official is recovering and 'regaining his strength,' mayor says

(Newser) - Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava says the county's top police official offered his resignation hours before he tried to kill himself Sunday night. Police say Alfredo "Freddy" Ramirez, director of the Miami-Dade Police Department, shot himself after a dispute with his wife at a Tampa hotel. Levine...

Rush Limbaugh's $155M Estate Is Being Demolished

Cosmetics heir William Lauder, who bought Palm Beach property in March, has begun teardown

(Newser) - What does it feel like to have so much money that you can buy property worth more than $100 million, then knock down the posh home there just because? Ask William Lauder, who apparently serially razes mansions. Via Yahoo Finance , USA Today reports that the cosmetics billionaire, executive chair of...

At Tip of Florida, Sea Water Hits 'Hot Tub' Temps

Temperature reading exceeds 100 degrees two days in a row, though there are some issues

(Newser) - The water temperature on the tip of Florida hit hot tub levels, exceeding 100 degrees Fahrenheit two days in a row. And meteorologists say that could potentially be the hottest seawater ever measured, although there are some issues with the reading, the AP reports. Weather records for sea water temperature...

Hemingway Look-Alike Wins Contest, Despite Big Difference

'I only have one wife,' jokes Gerrit Marshall, 68, victor of annual Key West doppelganger contest

(Newser) - On his 68th birthday, a white-bearded Wisconsin man won the Hemingway Look-Alike Contest, a highlight of Key West's annual Hemingway Days celebration that ends Sunday. Gerrit Marshall, a retired television broadcast engineer from Madison, prevailed over the weekend at Sloppy Joe's Bar, a frequent hangout of Ernest Hemingway...

Report: Miami's Police Chief Shot Himself While With Wife

Mayor says Alfredo Freddy' Ramirez is in critical but stable condition

(Newser) - The director of the Miami-Dade Police Department was in stable condition after surgery in a Tampa area hospital, the Miami-Dade mayor said Monday, amid reports from local media that he had shot himself. Alfredo "Freddy" Ramirez, 52, was in Tampa for a law enforcement conference, officials said. "Following...

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