Florida

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

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Zimmerman Threatened Me With Hand on Gun: Wife

Estranged wife Shellie called police this afternoon

(Newser) - George Zimmerman's estranged wife called police to a Lake Mary residence this afternoon for a "possible domestic battery," police tell the Orlando Sentinel . The AP reports soon-to-be ex-wife Shellie Zimmerman called police from her father's house, saying that Zimmerman threatened her and her father "with...

Suspect in Home Invasions, Rapes Killed in Gunfight

Charlie Christopher Bates accused of break-ins, assaults last night

(Newser) - Police shot and killed a 24-year-old man yesterday after a dramatic chase and shootout following an even more dramatic crime spree. Charlie Christopher Bates allegedly broke into several homes last night, Fox 13 reports. In the first, police say he tied up a group of men who were watching the...

Florida's Plan: Sell Land So It Can ... Buy Land

Some 5K acres may be up for grabs to raise $50M for other properties

(Newser) - Florida may be about to put a whole lot of land up for sale. The goal: sell off the less significant stuff—some 5,000 acres of beaches, forests, and wetlands originally bought to keep out of development—to raise $50 million to buy land deemed more important to save,...

Shooter's Defense: Stand Your Ground, Bush Doctrine

Florida man shot 3 people he said were threatening him

(Newser) - A Florida man who shot three people in a surprise attack during a Labor Day barbecue has an unusual two-pronged defense: His lawyers cite both the state's "Stand Your Ground" law and the "Bush Doctrine," reports Florida Today . William Woodward, 44, told police that the men...

Florida Family's $300K Find: Underwater Gold

300-year-old chains, coins among haul

(Newser) - A 65-year-old Florida man has spent his life searching for treasure off the coast—and Rick Schmitt and his family have just made their biggest-ever discovery. Some 150 yards off the coast of Fort Pierce, and about 15 feet underwater, the Schmitt family found 64 feet of gold chain, five...

3 Miami Area Mayors Arrested for Corruption in 1 Month

One files for re-election 2 days later

(Newser) - Miami's suburban mayors are doing little to help shake Florida's image as the corruption capital of America, reports the New York Times . Last week, Steve Bateman, the mayor of Homestead, was arrested for allegedly receiving payments from a health care chain looking to build a clinic in the...

She Did It! Nyad Finishes Epic Cuba-Fla. Swim

Swimmer completes 110-mile journey on 5th, final try in 35 years

(Newser) - The fifth try was indeed the charm: Diana Nyad has completed her 35-year-old odyssey to become the first swimmer to cross the Florida Straits Cuba without a shark cage. She was in the water roughly 53 hours, reports CNN . Nyad's team posted this message earlier on her website : "...

Secret Weapon Buoys Nyad's Final Cuba-Fla. Swim

Swimmer thus far avoiding jellyfish, thanks to special mask

(Newser) - American endurance swimmer Diana Nyad is "doing remarkably well" in her fifth attempt in 35 years to become the first person to successfully swim 103 miles from Cuba to Florida without a shark cage. She made it through the first night without any of the jellyfish stings that have...

Excavation of Graves Begins at Former Reform School

Ex-inmates at Florida facility say abuse needs to be investigated

(Newser) - University of South Florida researchers will begin exhuming dozens of graves today at a former reform school in hopes of identifying the buried boys and learning how they died. Former inmates from the 1950s and 1960s have detailed horrific beatings that took place in a small, white concrete block building...

Zimmerman's Wife Pleads Guilty to Perjury

Will avoid jail in a deal with prosecutors

(Newser) - Shellie Zimmerman plead guilty to a misdemeanor perjury charge today, in a plea deal that will allow her to avoid prison. Zimmerman had been charged with felony perjury for lying during a bond hearing for husband George. She told judge Kenneth Lester that she and her husband were broke, when...

New Drone Target: Mosquitoes
 New Drone Target: Mosquitoes 
Aug 27, 2013 2:41 PM CDT

New Drone Target: Mosquitoes

They'll try to find breeding areas in Florida Keys

(Newser) - The ever-expanding list of drone targets now includes mosquitoes in the Florida Keys. The drones won't be zapping or spraying the bugs, but rather looking for their breeding areas, reports the Miami Herald . The idea is to have the camera-equipped drones buzz into remote thickets and pinpoint the breeding...

Man Kills Boss, Co-Worker, Himself in Shooting Spree

Was the step-grandfather of Buffalo Bills' CJ Spiller

(Newser) - A Florida man went on a shooting spree at his former workplace today, killing two, injuring two others, and finally killing himself, CNN reports . According to local authorities, Hubert Allen Jr., 72—the step-grandfather of Buffalo Bills running back CJ Spiller—fatally shot his former boss, Marvin Pritchett, 80, and...

Florida Beaches Desperately Seeking Sand

With supplies running out, officials go looking for a new source

(Newser) - Some South Florida beaches are running low on one very critical supply: sand. The Army Corps of Engineers had been bringing in sand for beaches in Miami-Dade and Broward counties from offshore sources, but now those reserves have run out. That's a problem not just for castle-building enthusiasts, but...

Baby Dies After Eating Detergent Packet

7-month-old might be first such death in the nation

(Newser) - A Florida baby might be the first in the nation to die from ingesting a packet of laundry detergent, reports the Orlando Sentinel . The 7-month-old Kissimmee boy ate the packet after plucking it out of a laundry basket and immediately went into distress. Michael Williams died later at the hospital,...

Alleged Wife Killer Wrote Self-Help Book on Marriage

Discusses solving problems 'thru communication'

(Newser) - The Florida man who admitted killing his wife, then posting a photo of her body on Facebook was also a self-published writer—one who urged communication to resolve marital disputes. In one of his volumes, How I Saved Someone’s Life and Marriage and Family Problems Thru Communication, Derek Medina...

Florida Executes Man Who Says He Controlled Sun

Court didn't buy insanity argument

(Newser) - “I just want everyone to know that I am the prince of God and I will rise again." Those were the last words of mass killer John Errol Ferguson yesterday and a prime example of why his lawyers say he shouldn't have been executed in the first...

Guy Reports Girlfriend Kidnapped to Stop Her Moving Out

Cops see through his cunning plan

(Newser) - Brilliant idea of the day: Stop your girlfriend from dumping you and moving out by calling 911 and telling them your "wife" has been kidnapped by two men in a U-Haul truck. That didn't get Florida man Matthew Corp, 35, his girlfriend back, but it did get him...

Florida Gunman Ranted About Witchcraft

He called 911 hours before he killed 6 people

(Newser) - The motive for Pedro Vargas' murder of six people is still unclear, but a newly released 911 call gives some insight into his mind before the South Florida shooting spree . In the call, made several hours before the rampage, the 42-year-old complained that he was followed and somebody was casting...

Workers Missing After Huge Florida Gas Plant Explosion

 Explosions Blow Roof 
 Off Fla. Gas Plant 
UPDATED
Jul 30, 2013 7:49 AM CDT

Explosions Blow Roof Off Fla. Gas Plant

7 injured as human error, equipment fail blamed

(Newser) - All 15 night shift workers reported missing have been accounted for after a series of huge explosions at a plant that refills gas grill propane tanks in central Florida. A spokesman for the sheriff's office in Tavares says workers fled the scene—some driving themselves to the hospital—after...

Cops ID Florida Gunman Who Killed 6

42-Year-Old Pedro Vargas

(Newser) - Police have identified the now-dead gunman they say was behind the death of six people in a South Florida shooting spree as Pedro Vargas, 42, reports NBC Miami . At a press conference today, authorities also named five of the six victims: Italo Pisciotti, 79, Camira Pisciotti, 69, Carlos Javier Gavilanes,...

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