Florida

Read recent news stories and current events about Florida on Newser.com

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911 Dispatcher Demoted for Playing Video Games on Job

He missed a shooting and hit-and-run

(Newser) - A Florida 911 dispatcher has been reprimanded and demoted for playing video games on the job. The Palm Beach Post reported Tuesday that 52-year-old Charles Morris was demoted from training officer to dispatcher. The paper reports that an internal investigation conducted by the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office revealed...

Dartmouth Swimmer Dies Trying to Do Laps Without Breathing

Tate Ramsden went into distress while still underwater

(Newser) - Tate Ramsden swam for Dartmouth College as a freshman and sophomore, but the Tennessee 21-year-old, who was planning to graduate from Dartmouth in 2017, died Saturday at a Sarasota, Fla., YMCA pool while visiting the city with his family over the holiday weekend. Ramsden was swimming there with his sister,...

345-Mile Boat Chase 'Out of a Mission Impossible Movie'

Coast Guard pursues alleged boat thieves across Gulf of Mexico

(Newser) - Some Christmas Eve: Members of the US Coast Guard spent it in high-speed pursuit of three suspected boat thieves across the Gulf of Mexico, NBC News reports. The chase began when a sheriff's marine unit in Fort Myers, Fla., responded to a tip about a 36-foot powerboat being stolen....

Cops: Woman 'Consumed Everything She Could' in Walmart

Josseleen Elida Lopez tells police she knew it was wrong

(Newser) - From psychosis to tooth decay, the ravages of meth are well documented. Here's a new one: Police say a 25-year-old woman told them she shot up meth, after which she allegedly drove a motorized shopping cart through a Florida Walmart while gorging on purloined grub and guzzling five-finger-discount wine,...

Toddler in Critical Condition After Swallowing Tack

Preschool instructor found girl bleeding from the mouth and struggling to breathe

(Newser) - A little girl who swallowed a thumbtack Monday at her Florida preschool remained hospitalized on Christmas, the AP reports. According to the Ocala Star-Banner , a preschool instructor was on the other side of the classroom when she heard a child say 3-year-old Honesty Eads "looks like a vampire."...

Woman Dies While Begging to Be Readmitted to Hospital

Barbara Dawson had been kicked out, arrested before she collapsed

(Newser) - A Florida woman collapsed while begging to be readmitted to a Blountstown hospital she had just been kicked out of, and ended up dead hours later, the Tallahassee Democrat reports. Barbara Dawson, 57, was taken to Calhoun Liberty Hospital via ambulance Sunday night after experiencing stomach pain; the AP says...

Wife Jailed for Battery in Florida Fart Fight

Her husband wouldn't stop passing gas in bed

(Newser) - Farts are always funny until somebody gets hurt. The Smoking Gun reports a 55-year-old Florida woman was arrested for allegedly beating up her husband when he wouldn't stop passing gas in bed. Dawn Meikle's husband Donald broke the seal early Dec. 11 while they were both lying in...

Teen Boy, Girlfriend Accidentally Die in Parked SUV

SUV was running inside family's garage

(Newser) - Police say two teenagers were found dead inside an SUV in a garage, though their deaths appear to be accidental. In a news release Monday, police in St. Petersburg, Fla., said a woman found her 17-year-old son with his 14-year-old girlfriend in the family's garage, which was not attached...

Weirdest Dime You'll Ever See Heads to Auction

It was struck onto a nail and could fetch more than $10K

(Newser) - In probably one of the oddest items to come to the world of coin collecting, Heritage Auctions has announced the sale of a Roosevelt dime that was accidentally (or some say deliberately) struck onto a zinc nail—and the dime/nail is estimated to be worth roughly $10,000. In the...

America's Oldest European Settlement Has Been Found

The colony in Pensacola predates Jamestown by nearly 50 years

(Newser) - The Pensacola News Journal has a highly interactive and informative look at a major discovery out of Florida: the oldest multi-year European settlement in the United States. “This is one of those almost once-in-a-lifetime type things,” University of West Florida professor John Worth says. "I didn’t...

Prof Who Says Sandy Hook Was a Hoax Getting Fired

Parents of victim say he harassed them

(Newser) - A Florida Atlantic University professor has been making waves for years with his conspiracy theories about the Sandy Hook massacre, and now the school is taking action. James Tracy has been claiming on his blog since 2013 that the Newtown, Conn., elementary school shooting was staged, and FAU has reprimanded...

Major Theme Parks Around US Are Beefing Up Security

You'll have to pass a metal detector to enter the happiest place on Earth

(Newser) - With the Department of Homeland Security publicly worrying about potential attacks on crowded places, the three major theme parks in Orlando—Disney World, SeaWorld, and Universal Orlando—added metal detectors on Thursday, the Orlando Sentinel reports. The security devices are also being installed at Disneyland and Universal Studios in Los...

Cops: Kid Who Won't Stop Stealing Cars Busted Again

He's only 12, has more than 20 arrests

(Newser) - It might seem difficult to discern the thief in a grainy surveillance video , but police didn't have much trouble, per WFLA . After a boy made off with an 89-year-old man's vehicle in St. Petersburg, Fla., last week, police arrested a suspect they know pretty well: a 12-year-old who'...

Hit-and-Run Suspect Ratted Out by Her Own Ford Focus
Hit-and-Run Suspect Ratted
Out by Her Own Ford Focus
in case you missed it
Dec 12, 2015 4:15 PM CST

Hit-and-Run Suspect Ratted Out by Her Own Ford Focus

Florida woman insisted she hadn't hit anything, but cops, 911 believed the car

(Newser) - A driver accused of hit-and-run insisted she hadn't been in an accident when confronted by both a 911 dispatcher and cops, but officials believed the testimony of a reliable witness: the woman's own car. Anna Preston was driving in Port St. Lucie, Fla., on the afternoon of Nov....

Fla. Police on Murky Hunt for Women Seen in Photos

6 have been found safe in Windermere case

(Newser) - Police in central Florida have left many scratching their heads after sharing photos of seemingly unconscious women in an effort to identify them, then attempting to scrub the photos from the net. On Tuesday, Windermere police released screenshots of videos—recorded between 2006 and 2013—showing women lying on a...

Cops: Man Went to Strip Club After Killing

Rodney Chavers said he wanted to clear his head

(Newser) - Police in Florida say a man went to a strip club to clear his head after killing another man in Riviera Beach. Police tell the Palm Beach Post 41-year-old Rodney Chavers killed 42-year-old Tarrie Wilder on Nov. 13. Following the incident, police say Chavers, who was ordered held without bail...

Lots of Free Coffee Just Washed Ashore in Florida

Beachgoers are snapping it up

(Newser) - Hundreds of sealed coffee cans and vacuum-packed coffee bricks have washed ashore along Florida's Space Coast and officials believe they may be from containers that fell off a barge last weekend. Florida Today reports that the yellow-and-red packages of Cafe Bustelo dotted the beach Tuesday in Indialantic, where delighted...

US Mayors Call for Ban on Donald Trump

At least 'until we fully understand the dangerous threat posed by all Trumps'

(Newser) - Well, well, well. It looks like the ridiculous hairdo is on the other head. In the wake of Trump proposing a ban on Muslims entering the US , two US mayors have expressed interest in doing the same to Trump. "I am hereby barring Donald Trump from entering St. Petersburg...

Burglary Suspect Hides in Lake, and a Gator Gets Him

Matthew Riggins picked the wrong hiding spot—an alligator-inhabited lake

(Newser) - A burglary suspect in Brevard County, Fla., said to be hiding from the cops drowned after an alligator apparently dragged him underwater in a Barefoot Bay lake, USA Today reports. Matthew Riggins, 22, had reportedly told his girlfriend on Nov. 13 that he'd be in the Barefoot Bay area...

Man Tried to Electrocute Dad on Thanksgiving: Cops

The older man reportedly passed out briefly

(Newser) - A central Florida man is accused of trying to electrocute his father after finding out he was the sole beneficiary of the elderly man's will. Ormond Beach police said Monday that 81-year-old John Knudsen told them his 44-year-old son, also named John Knudsen, held two black wires to his...

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