Florida

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Florida Preparing for 'Direct Hit' From Hurricane

Gov. Rick Scott warns 'massive destruction' is possible

(Newser) - Florida Gov. Rick Scott is warning residents to "prepare for a direct hit" from Hurricane Matthew, expected to arrive on the US coast as soon as Thursday. The "extremely dangerous" storm crossed Haiti and Cuba on Tuesday, killing seven people, and is expected to hit the Bahamas on...

Florida Shaping Up to Be Key Battleground
Here's Why
Trump Needs
to Win
in Florida
OPINION
Oct 4, 2016 1:57 PM CDT

Here's Why Trump Needs to Win in Florida

Polling site's model shows candidate only has a 5% chance of winning without carrying the Sunshine State

(Newser) - Another year, another election, and Florida still continues to be one of the most influential states in the Electoral College. Political pundits have paid special attention to this swing state after its unique role in determining the winner of the 2000 election, and the story isn't any different this...

Woman Arrested in 2014 Slaying of FSU Law Professor

Police allege she was the connection between his ex's family and his killers

(Newser) - Police have made a third arrest in the 2014 killing of a Florida State University law professor , a woman who they say has ties both to the family of the victim's ex-wife and one of the alleged shooters, the AP reports. The Tallahassee police said Sunday that Katherine Magbanua,...

Only in Florida: Man Jailed Over Milk Crate Attached to Bike

Betcha didn't realize people actually got arrested for that

(Newser) - A man was arrested in Polk Country, Florida, Thursday after deputies spotted him riding around town with a dairy crate attached to his bicycle, reports WFLA . Timothy Troller claims he found the dairy crate on the side of the road and attached it to his bicycle— a common modification many...

Lawsuit: Deputy Sent 'Sorry I Tased You' Cake Pic to Woman

Michael Wohlers allegedly shot her with a stun gun for no reason

(Newser) - Sometimes a cake just makes everything worse. The Pensacola News Journal reports a Florida woman is suing a sheriff's deputy she says shot her with a stun gun then attempted to make it right with a questionably frosted cake. The lawsuit claims that in June 2015, deputy Michael Wohlers...

Arrest Made in 26-Year-Old Murders of Girl, Her Babysitter

DNA match found when suspect arrested for another crime

(Newser) - A southwest Florida man has been charged with raping and killing an 11-year-old girl and her babysitter 26 years ago, the AP reports. The Cape Coral Daily Breeze reported Wednesday that Cape Police Chief David Newlan says detectives learned last week that a recent arrestee at the Lee County Jail...

Cops: Woman's Getaway Vehicle Doesn't Work Well

Floridian accused of robbing Arby's, grabbing a cab

(Newser) - An alleged robber in Gainesville, Florida, managed to successfully get away from an Arby's restaurant, only to be foiled in part by her choice of getaway vehicle: a taxi cab. The Gainesville Sun reports that 20-year-old Keshunte Taylor is in custody after police say she robbed the restaurant at...

Health Club Mogul Drinking Before Fatal Crash: Cops

Roger Wittenberns, girlfriend were allegedly speeding in matching yellow sports cars

(Newser) - Florida police say a heath club chain mogul and his girlfriend had been drinking when they hopped into matching luxury yellow sports cars shortly before Roger Wittenberns' speeding Lamborghini plowed into an SUV, killing the 82-year-old driver last Wednesday. Wittenberns, 60, and longtime girlfriend, Patty Ann McQuiggin, 61, were allegedly...

3 People Bitten by Sharks in One Day at Florida Beach

All are expected to be OK

(Newser) - Three people were bitten by sharks Sunday at Florida's New Smyrna Beach, a place the News-Journal refers to as the "shark bite capital of the world." A 43-year-old male surfer was bitten on his lower leg and ankle and taken to the hospital with "significant lacerations"...

'Weirdest Tropical Storm' Forms Over Florida

Meteorologists have never seen this before

(Newser) - Julia, the tropical storm expected to soak Georgia and South Carolina over the next few days, is probably the strangest storm of the year, forecasters say. Julia strengthened from a tropical system into a tropical storm a few miles west of Jacksonville, Fla., around midnight on Tuesday, marking the first...

Man Arrested in Connection With Arson at Florida Mosque

The mosque was sometimes attended by Pulse shooter Omar Mateen

(Newser) - Police have arrested a suspect in the fire that left a 100-square-foot hole in the roof of a Florida mosque occasionally attended by Pulse nightclub shooter Omar Mateen, WKMG reports. According to Reuters , 32-year-old Joseph Schreiber is believed to be behind Sunday's arson at the Islamic Center of Fort...

Mosque Where Orlando Gunman Prayed Goes Up in Flames

Cops say it wasn't an accident

(Newser) - Before Omar Mateen shot up the Pulse nightclub in Orlando and killed 49 people in June, he had been a longtime regular at the Islamic Center of Fort Pierce, showing up at Friday services for 13 years. That mosque went up in flames early Monday, per the St. Lucie County...

Cops: Man Shot Cousin to See if Bulletproof Vest Worked

It didn't, Tampa man discovered

(Newser) - A Florida man is behind bars after becoming the latest person to realize too late that bulletproof vests shouldn't be tested when people are wearing them. Cops say Alexandro Garibaldi, 24, fatally shot his 23-year-old cousin, Joaquin Mendez, in Tampa on Saturday night after Mendez tried on the vest...

Firefighter Charged in Young Son's Hot Car Death

Police say there's no evidence father left toddler in car deliberately

(Newser) - There was no evidence that a Tampa-area firefighter deliberately left his toddler son in a hot pickup truck for eight hours, but the circumstances amount to criminal neglect, a sheriff told a Florida newspaper, per the AP . Troy Whitaker, 41, of Palm Harbor, faces an aggravated manslaughter charge in the...

84 Pregnant Women in Florida Have Tested Positive for Zika

At least 1 baby has been born with microcephaly

(Newser) - Not only are locally acquired Zika cases on the rise in Florida, but 84 pregnant women have tested positive for the virus in the state, including at least 15 who've already given birth, say health officials. It isn't clear how many of those pregnancies had complications, but doctors...

Jeep Fire Blamed on Exploding Phone
Jeep Fire Blamed
on Exploding Phone
Sep 8, 2016 11:21 AM CDT

Jeep Fire Blamed on Exploding Phone

'Not the barbecue I wanted on my day off'

(Newser) - One more reason to swap out your Note 7 : Nathan Dornacher says his Jeep Grand Cherokee was totaled in a fire after he left his Samsung smartphone charging in the console, reports Fox 13 . On Facebook , the St. Petersburg, Fla., resident says he opened the vehicle door to grab his...

Couple Married 52 Years Match Outfits Every Day

Ed and Fran Gargiula say they match on the inside, too

(Newser) - Late last month, 17-year-old Anthony Gargiula tweeted pictures of his grandparents in carefully coordinated outfits, accompanied by a matter-of-fact caption: "My grandparents have been married for 52 years and they match outfits every day." That tweet has since earned more than 83,000 favorites and 40,000-plus retweets...

Cops: Woman Set Fire to Guy's Car, Only It Wasn't Her Ex's

The 19-year-old was caught on surveillance video in Florida

(Newser) - A young woman police have identified through surveillance video as 19-year-old Carmen Chamblee is charged with setting fire to a Honda Civic in Clearwater, Fla., and she says she thought it was her ex-boyfriend's, reports WFTS . It wasn't. Thomas Jennings, the man who owned the vehicle, says he'...

Grandma Living in Trees for 25 Years Told to Destroy Home

Miami-Dade County officials says Shawnee Chasser's treehouse is unsafe

(Newser) - For almost a quarter-century, Shawnee Chasser has returned home in the evenings to a house in the trees, the latest one a wooden two-story structure built high above the ground on the Florida property where her late son used to live. But Miami-Dade County officials are now ordering the 65-year-old...

Man Makes Wanted Poster His Facebook Pic, Is Arrested

Made it easy to discover Mack Yearwood had outstanding warrants

(Newser) - Most people hate their mugshots even more than the picture on their driver's license, but a Florida man found a wanted poster with his picture on it pleasing enough to put on Facebook—and it helped cops bust him, the Palm Beach Post reports. Stuart police responded to a...

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