Florida

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Swing States: Romney Doesn't Care About Us

Voters back Obama, and really back his plan to hike taxes on top 2%

(Newser) - Barack Obama is leading in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Florida, in part because voters don't think Mitt Romney is looking out for them, according to a new Quinnipiac / New York Times /CBS News poll. Both candidates polled fairly evenly when it came to how voters thought they'd handle...

Gator Bites Off Man's Hand —and Man Gets Charged

Wallace Weatherholt was illegally feeding the creature

(Newser) - He's either a candidate for a Darwin award or the most pitiable man in Florida right now. Wallace Weatherholt's hand was bitten off by a 9-foot alligator on June 12 ... and on Friday the airboat captain got slapped with charges related to the incident. The 63-year-old was charged...

Ex-Florida GOP Chair: Yep, We Disenfranchised Blacks

Current GOP officials say Jim Greer just distracting from his own crimes

(Newser) - Liberals have been accusing recent GOP-led voter ID laws of aiming to disenfranchise minorities , who tend to vote Democrat. Now former Florida GOP chairman Jim Greer is saying on record that, yes, those laws are actually about stopping black people from voting, reports Salon , picking up on a story in...

Florida Man Denies Spending $50K at Strip Club

Lokesh James claims charges were fraudulent

(Newser) - Fifty thousand bucks—on strippers? No way, says an outraged Florida man. Lokesh James insists he spent only $600 on Michelob Ultras and a little fun in the Champagne Room at the local strip club. The rest of his staggering $50,000 credit-card bill? All fraudulent charges and forged signatures,...

In Florida Skies This Week: Saharan Dust

Annual visitor helped along by trade winds

(Newser) - Residents of South Florida this week might find the sky a little hazier and the temperature a little higher, and they can thank the African Sahara. As the Miami Herald explains, desert dust will be making an appearance, a regular summer event. The dust particles travel across the ocean on...

Florida Is a &#39;Coin Toss&#39;
 Florida Is a 'Coin Toss' 
Jul 14, 2012 1:21 PM CDT

Florida Is a 'Coin Toss'

Which isn't great news for Romney: Tampa Bay Times

(Newser) - Gallup's latest poll once again shows a dead heat between President Obama and Mitt Romney on the national stage, and the Tampa Bay Times says the same holds true in pivotal Florida. Obama's up 46-45 in the newspaper's survey, and even if Romney picks favorite son...

Sanford Takes Down Trayvon Memorial

Some are outraged, but officials say it had gotten 'incredibly shabby'

(Newser) - The city of Sanford, Fla., is taking heat for removing a makeshift memorial to Trayvon Martin that cropped up outside the gated community where he was shot. The memorial consisted of a curbside heap of teddy bears, laminated photos, silk flowers, and other bric-a-brac, and some activists say removing it...

Miami School Board Members: Ax Michelle Event

Michelle Obama's campaign event inappropriate, they argue

(Newser) - A couple of Republicans on the Miami-Dade School Board are not happy with Michelle Obama's plan to hold a campaign event at one of their high schools tonight. The first lady plans to push voter registration and enlist residents to volunteer for President Obama's re-election campaign—and two...

Alligator Bites Off Teen&#39;s Arm
 Alligator Bites Off Teen's Arm 
Jul 10, 2012 1:15 PM CDT

Alligator Bites Off Teen's Arm

Officials retrieved Kaleb Langdale's limb, but it couldn't be reattached

(Newser) - Another harrowing tale from Mother Nature : An alligator at least 10 feet long lunged at a teenager swimming in a Florida river and bit off the teen's right arm below the elbow, state wildlife officials said today. Kaleb Langdale, 17, survived yesterday's encounter in the Caloosahatchee River—but,...

Florida Kept Lid on Worst TB Outbreak in Decades

Strain linked to 13 deaths and 99 cases: Palm Beach Post

(Newser) - Florida is in the midst of the worst tuberculosis outbreak the CDC has seen in two decades—and the Jacksonville outbreak was largely hidden from the public, finds the Palm Beach Post in a disturbing report. The outbreak apparently originated in 2008, when a schizophrenic patient came down with TB...

Fired Hero Lifeguard Rejects Rehiring Offer

Tomas Lopez will stick to studies for now

(Newser) - The lifeguard sacked for saving a life outside his assigned area has been offered his job back—but he's not interested. Tomas Lopez, 21, "humbly declined" the offer, though he noted that "the company offered a real good apology." Lopez, a Broward College student, plans to...

Lifeguard Fired for Saving Drowning Man

6 others fired for saying they'd do the same

(Newser) - Florida lifeguard Tomas Lopez got fired this week for helping save a man whose life he wasn't being paid to guard. After being alerted to a man struggling in the water, the 21-year-old lifeguard ran out of his patrol zone to help the man. He helped other beachgoers pull...

Florida Nixes 2 ObamaCare Features

Gov. Rick Scott says state can't foot the bill

(Newser) - And then there were three: Florida will join Wisconsin and Louisiana in refusing to implement two features of the Affordable Care Act, said Gov. Rick Scott yesterday, stating that Florida does not have the money to expand Medicaid or to create a private insurance exchange, reports Reuters . The Medicaid expansion...

Strong Currents End Palfrey's Cuba-Florida Swim

Palfrey was about 26 miles from Florida when she got out of water

(Newser) - Endurance swimmer Penny Palfrey has abandoned her effort to become the first woman to swim unassisted from Cuba to the Florida Keys, ending her odyssey after almost 41 hours in the water and about three quarters of the way through the more than 100-mile swim, her support team said early...

Palfrey Passes Halfway Point in Swim From Cuba to Florida

Penny Palfrey cruising along in warm waters

(Newser) - Endurance swimmer Penny Palfrey crossed the halfway mark today as she pushed through the Florida Straits, enduring jellyfish stings but otherwise encountering perfect conditions in her attempt to become the first woman to swim unassisted more than 100 miles from Cuba to Florida. A GPS tracking device on Palfrey's...

Guy Cleared in 'Stand Your Ground' Case Shot Dead

Stray bullet hits Greyston Garcia

(Newser) - In a stunningly ironic turn of events, a Miami man who was freed just three months ago in a controversial "Stand Your Ground" case was killed by a stray bullet this week. Greyston Garcia—who was granted immunity by a judge in March after chasing down and killing a...

Tropical Storm Debby Still Soaking Florida

Northern part of the state can expect lots more rain

(Newser) - Tropical Storm Debby is weakening and just barely keeping her name with winds about 40mph, but she's still not done with Florida, reports AP . Some areas could get about 2 feet of rain before Debby finally heads out into the Atlantic on Thursday, though most of northern Florida and...

Debby Changes Track, Stays Close to Florida

Forecast to hit panhandle on Thursday, disrupting oil production

(Newser) - Tropical Storm Debby slowly closed in on Florida last night, leaving one person dead in tornadoes spawned by its winds, and one man missing and presumed drowned at an Alabama beach, reports Reuters . The National Hurricane Center reported significant changes for Debby's predicted path. No longer expected to grow...

Oil Workers Flee; Tropical Storm Brewing in Gulf

Florida could see storm warnings, localized flooding

(Newser) - High winds are whipping up a 90%-chance tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico today and causing oil companies to evacuate rig workers, MSNBC reports. If Tropical Storm Debby does form, the northern Gulf Coast may see tropical storm warnings, and localized flooding and heavy rain could strike Mexico, Cuba,...

Millionaire Missing From Florida Yacht

Guma Aguiar's empty yacht runs aground in Fort Lauderdale

(Newser) - A Florida millionaire's yacht came ashore this week—without the millionaire. Fort Lauderdale police are hunting for Brazilian-born Guma Aguiar after his empty yacht beached with the ignition running and lights on. The Coast Guard suspended its search yesterday after 70 hours hunting for the missing man in vain,...

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