Florida

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

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UCF Suicide Case Planned Wider Attack

'Anti-social' ex-student had assault weapon, explosives

(Newser) - The man who killed himself at the University of Central Florida today was a former student who had planned to open fire in his school dorm, the Orlando Sentinel reports. UCF Police Chief Richard Beary identified him as James Seevakumaran, 30, and said writings in his room laid out "...

Florida Town Lifts Ban on Non-US Flags Ahead of St. Patrick's

Irish pub can put Ireland's flag back up

(Newser) - Just days ahead of St. Patrick's Day, a northeast Florida Irish pub has won the right to fly the Irish flag again. On February 20, Culhane's Irish Pub was told it had 24 hours to "cease display of flags other than American flag." The rule was...

Sinkhole a Big Headache for Florida Church

Church says it can't use building, but State Farm says there's 'no problem'

(Newser) - Florida has been hit with yet another suspected sinkhole —this one preventing a North Naples congregation from using a beloved church. "The floor in the main auditorium has sunk about four-and-a-half inches in one area," says the pastor at Faith Community Church. A landscaper has already tumbled...

Giant Mosquitoes May Strike Florida

'Gallinippers' are mean and bite hard, experts say

(Newser) - As if deadly sinkholes and Burmese pythons weren't enough, now Florida may find itself contending with another summer of giant mosquitoes that pack a ferocious bite, LiveScience reports. Dubbed gallinippers, the quarter-sized mosquitoes hatch after a flood or rainstorm, and saw a bumper crop after Tropical Storm Debby struck...

Sharks Put Scare Into Spring Break Beaches

Thousands spotted near shore in later-than-normal migration

(Newser) - Thousands of visitors are swarming to beaches in South Florida, but not the kind welcomed by the chamber of commerce: sharks. Their annual migration up the East Coast is taking place later than usual this year, coinciding with the start of spring break season, reports ABC News . Several beaches had...

Florida Woman Pulls Gun at Walmart Over $1 Coupon

Mary Frances Alday in jail on multiple charges

(Newser) - Take Florida, add in Walmart, and you have a recipe for a bizarre crime story: This time around, a woman was arrested after pulling a gun on Walmart employees ... because they wouldn't take her coupon. The kicker: The coupon was only for $1 off. Mary Frances Alday reportedly got...

2nd Florida Sinkhole Opens Near First

Initial site now considered missing man's grave

(Newser) - The residents of Seffner, Fla., are on edge after a fresh sinkhole appeared just three miles from where a sinkhole swallowed a man last week . The new sinkhole, which is about 10 feet deep, appeared between two homes yesterday afternoon, ABC reports. Authorities say the hole is not geologically connected...

Florida Imam Found Guilty of Supporting Taliban

Elderly cleric claimed he was lying about supporting them

(Newser) - Miami Muslim cleric Hafiz Khan was convicted of conspiracy and providing material support to terrorists today, charges that could, given his advanced age, land him in prison for the rest of his life. During the trial, prosecutors trotted out hundreds of FBI recordings in which Khan, 77, expressed support for...

Crew Saves Mementos From Sinkhole Home

Family watches, weeps

(Newser) - Crews have now razed about half of the Florida home that fell victim to a sinkhole last week , and workers managed to grab some keepsakes for its former residents in the process. Among them: photos, a Bible, a jewelry box, a purse, and a pink teddy bear belonging to the...

Crews Begin Razing Fla. Sinkhole House

They'll try to push house toward street so family can enter

(Newser) - Crews with heavy equipment have begun the demolition of a Florida home over a huge sinkhole where a man is presumed dead after being swallowed by the earth. The search for Jeff Bush, 37, was called off yesterday, and a heavy machine with a large bucket scoop was moved into...

Rescuers Give Up on Sinkhole Victim

Jeffrey Bush was sucked into cavity under his house

(Newser) - Rescuers have called off the search for a Florida man who was sucked into a sinkhole under his bedroom late Thursday night, the AP reports. Officials said they plan to destroy the home of 37-year-old Jeffrey Bush and ordered the next-door neighbors to move out before the sinkhole drags them...

Search Continues for Man Swallowed by Sinkhole

Florida's Jeffrey Bush, 37, vanished while in his bedroom

(Newser) - Engineers are still gingerly trying to find a 37-year-old Florida man who disappeared into a sinkhole that opened up in his bedroom yesterday. Jeffrey Bush is presumed dead, and authorities say the sinkhole is so dangerous they can't risk simply sending searchers into it, reports AP . It's about...

Giant Sinkhole Swallows Florida Man

Homes beside the sinkhole evacuated as hole said to be growing

(Newser) - A giant sinkhole opened up last night under a man's bedroom in Brandon, Florida, swallowing the 34-year-old, who is believed to be dead, reports CNN . The man's brother tried to rescue him from being swallowed by the hole, but was unable to and was pulled away by rescuers...

Man's Romantic Balloon Gesture a Felony: Florida

Anthony Brasfield faces felony under environmental crime statute

(Newser) - Warning to all Florida residents: Be sure to express your love in an Earth-friendly way. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports that a 40-year-old man faces up to five years in prison because of 12 heart-shaped balloons. Anthony Brasfield was with his girlfriend in the parking lot of a Motel 6...

GOP Governors Are Coming Around on ObamaCare

How lobbying, politics are making them change their tune

(Newser) - Rick Scott's stunning about-face on expanding Medicaid in Florida made him the seventh Republican governor to back the ObamaCare provision, a trend delighting the law's supporters, the New York Times observes today. "I think this means the dominoes are falling," says the head of one consumer...

Big Reversal: Florida Gov. Backs Key Part of ObamaCare

Scott now supports expansion of Medicaid

(Newser) - ObamaCare scored a big surprise victory today thanks to one of its most strident critics, reports Politico . Florida Gov. Rick Scott reversed himself and backed an expansion of Medicaid in the state, reports the Tampa Bay Times , which calls it an "amazing policy reversal." Scott said the death...

Florida Stadium to Be Renamed— After Prison Firm

GEO Group's boss is alumnus of Florida Atlantic

(Newser) - A 29,000-seat university stadium in Boca Raton, Florida, will soon boast the name of a private prison company—a move that has critics shaking their heads, the New York Times reports. GEO Group "is a company whose record is marred by human rights abuses, by lawsuits, by unnecessary...

Rubio's Water Bottles Bring in $100K

More than 3K sold for his PAC

(Newser) - It looks like Marco Rubio's self-deprecating fundraiser is working. After weathering merciless teasing over his infamous swig during the State of the Union response, the Florida senator began offering water bottles to benefit his political action committee, Reclaim America. Supporters have snapped up more than 3,100 bottles (the...

Oopsss: Fla. Python Hunt Names Wrong Winner

The real longest snake captured was returned to the Everglades

(Newser) - The wrong hunter nabbed some glory when Florida named the winners of its Python Challenge, reports the Miami Herald . A pair of hunters who bagged an 11 foot, 1 inch snake were the real winners of the longest-snake-captured category, but the winner was named as somebody who brought in one...

Obama Golfs With Tiger Woods

Prez 'counts all his shots,' coach says

(Newser) - President Obama beat former Dallas mayor Ron Kirk and Houston Astros owner Jim Crane on the links yesterday—with a little help from a guy called Tiger Woods. The foursome played 18 holes at Crane's Floridian Yacht & Golf Club in Palm City, Fla., reports the Palm Beach Post...

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