Florida

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2 Boys Vanish Aboard Fishing Boat

14-year-olds went missing Friday off coast of Florida

(Newser) - On Friday afternoon, Austin Stephanos and Perry Cohen bought $110 worth of gas for their 19-foot fishing boat and set off from Jupiter, Fla., in the direction of the Bahamas, in what NBC News reports is the last sighting of the two 14-year-olds. The two boys were reported missing when...

The Country's Youngest Murderer Will Soon Be Free

Curtis Fairchild Jones pleaded guilty to murder in 1999—at the age of 12

(Newser) - If Curtis Fairchild Jones walks out of South Bay Correctional Facility as scheduled Tuesday, it'll mark the end of a 16-year chapter for a man who, as a boy, became America's youngest murderer. On Jan. 6, 1999 , Curtis, 12, and his 13-year-old sister Catherine shot and killed their...

Florida Warning: Armadillos Are Spreading Leprosy

Playing with wild animals is a bad idea, state experts say

(Newser) - A spike in cases of one of history's most feared diseases has been blamed on a less-than-terrifying animal: the armadillo. Florida has seen nine leprosy cases so far this year, compared to as few as two in a typical year, and health officials believe the increase in cases has...

Toll Collector Fired for Paying Customer's Toll: Report

'Sam' Samsonov says he did it sometimes when customers were short

(Newser) - A Florida toll collector has lost his job of almost 30 years after putting his own money in the till to make up for a customer who hadn't paid enough, NBC2 reports. Vladislav "Sam" Samsonov, 77, known for giving lollipops to kids and dog bones to dogs, says...

Florida Orders Military Recruiters Out of Storefronts

Gov. Rick Scott says they'll work from local armories for protection

(Newser) - Gov. Rick Scott ordered Florida National Guard recruiters today to work from nearby armories in the wake of the attacks in Tennessee . In an executive order, the Republican governor said he wants recruiters to move from six storefront locations into armories until state officials can evaluate and make security improvements,...

Unintentional Smoke Signals Save Guy, Dog Stuck at Sea

Coast Guard spotted burning boat after man radioed for help

(Newser) - A man and his dog have a new best friend in the United States Coast Guard, after it picked them up after days at sea, using smoke pouring from their burning sailboat to home in on their position. As WFLA reports, the man's sailboat, which he was sailing from...

Florida County Again Raises Confederate Flag

Marion County puts it back up after it was taken down last week

(Newser) - With lawmakers in South Carolina poised to vote on whether to take down the Confederate flag, a county in Florida just decided to put its flag back up. The Marion County Commission voted unanimously yesterday to raise the flag again outside a government building in Ocala, reports MyNews13 . The county'...

Guy Who Had Sex on Beach Learns His Fate

Jose Caballero, 40, is sentenced by Florida judge

(Newser) - A man caught having sex with his girlfriend on a beach last year faced the judge today. The man's sentence: two-and-a-half years in prison. Jose Caballero, 40, will also have to register as a sex offender in the state of Florida, the Bradenton Herald reports. That's "horrifically...

Flying Fish Kills Girl, 5, on Fla. River

Jaylon Rippy was boating with her family

(Newser) - Florida's leaping sturgeon have occasionally proven more than a little hazardous to boaters on its Suwannee River , but the latest incident is as tragic as it is unprecedented: 5-year-old Jaylon Rippy was boating with her family late last week when a flying sturgeon—which can reach 8 feet and...

BP Ponies Up $18.7B to Gulf States in Spill

Settlement money to be spread among Florida, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi

(Newser) - Officials in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana announced an $18.7 billion settlement with BP today that resolves years of litigation over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The settlement comes as a federal judge was preparing to rule on how much BP owed in federal Clean Water Act...

Biggest Florida County to Treat Pot Users Differently

Miami-Dade county is first in state to loosen rules

(Newser) - People caught with small amounts of marijuana can now receive civil citations instead of jail time in Florida's largest county, the first in the state to treat marijuana possession as a non-criminal act. The Miami-Dade County Commission has approved a proposal to let police issue $100 civil citations or...

Car Crash Solves 40-Year-Old Mystery 10K Miles Away

 Car Crash Solves 
 40-Year-Old Mystery 
 10K Miles Away 
in case you missed it
Jun 27, 2015 8:29 AM CDT

Car Crash Solves 40-Year-Old Mystery 10K Miles Away

Raymond Grady Stansel Jr. disappeared in 1974 right before drug-smuggling trial

(Newser) - When an elderly man in north Queensland, Australia, died in a car crash in May, the local paper ran a story that described an "outpouring of grief" in the town where he ran his crocodile-cruise company for almost 30 years. But as the Tampa Bay Times details in a...

These Are America's 10 Sweatiest Cities

Tampa, Miami, Orlando make the top 5

(Newser) - Let's hope Tampa has a steady supply of deodorant. A new survey from the makers of Honeywell Fans has produced a list of the 10 sweatiest cities in the country, based on temperature and humidity levels, population, housing density, wind speed, and more, per a press release . The consensus:...

Floridian Is Now 3rd to Die of Seawater Bacteria

But he got the infection in Mississippi

(Newser) - At least three people in Florida have now died from a nasty warm-water bacteria called vibrio vulnificus this year, but the latest case should put people outside of Florida on alert, too. That's because the victim contracted it while on vacation in Mississippi, reports Tampa's Fox 13 . Florida...

Snail-Devouring Worm Has Invaded Florida

Invasive New Guinea flatworm will even chase its prey up trees

(Newser) - It's considered one of the " world's worst invasive alien species ," sucks snails into a ravenous mouth located in the middle of its belly, and has now invaded US shores for the first time. "It" is the New Guinea flatworm, and researchers are afraid that now...

Boy Bitten in Fla. 'Shark Bite Capital'

NC town eyes shark fishing ban to protect swimmers

(Newser) - Volusia County, Fla., was declared the "shark bite capital of the world" this year by the International Shark Attack File, according to NBC , and it doesn't seem to be in danger of losing the title. A 10-year-old boy was in chest-deep water at Daytona Beach Shores yesterday when...

Cops: Guy Tried to Burn House With Bowling Ball Bomb

Which is one way to foil bank from selling it

(Newser) - As the Sun-Sentinel puts it, "it's hard to stand out when it comes to crime in South Florida," but that's exactly what one 21-year-old Loxahatchee resident has allegedly done. Per the AP , Tyler Butler was arrested on charges of arson and using an explosive device after...

'Flesh-Eating' Water Bacteria Kills 2 People

Vibrio vulnificus can be vicious if it enters the bloodstream

(Newser) - A bacterium that flourishes in warm, brackish water has killed two people in Florida this year and will likely take more lives—but people can easily lower their chance of infection. Florida health officials say one person picked up the bacterium, known as vibrio vulnificus, via "raw seafood exposure"...

Truck Crash's Odd Victim: a Shark

4 sandbar sharks were being transported from Florida to Coney Island

(Newser) - One died, three survived. That was the outcome for four sandbar sharks being hauled from Marathon, Fla., to an aquarium in Coney Island, NY, after the truck they were in crashed during a storm on Interstate 95 yesterday afternoon, the Florida Highway Patrol tells Florida Today . The semitrailer blew a...

Queen of Versailles Stars' Daughter Dead at 18

Victoria Siegel found unresponsive at Fla. home of parents David and Jackie Siegel

(Newser) - Authorities say the 18-year-old daughter of the stars of the documentary Queen of Versailles has died after being found unresponsive at their home near Orlando. Orange County Sheriff's spokesman Jeff Williamson says Victoria Siegel was found by deputies at the family's home in Windermere on Saturday afternoon. She...

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