Florida

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Florida&#39;s Newest Woe: Leprosy
Florida's Newest Woe: Leprosy
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Aug 5, 2023 12:30 PM CDT

Florida's Newest Woe: Leprosy

CDC says Central Florida accounts for nearly 20% of cases nationwide

(Newser) - Florida is contending with invasive species , spiking insurance rates , worrisome warming waters , political tensions , and now ... leprosy? That's according to the CDC, who on Monday issued a release spelling out how the infectious condition, also known as Hansen's disease, has taken hold in the Sunshine State, especially the...

'This Guy Is Very, Very Good at Fooling People'

Allen Todd May, 58, who escaped from Colorado prison in late 2018, is captured in Fort Lauderdale

(Newser) - A career fraudster who escaped from a federal prison in Colorado nearly five years ago was captured this week while moving into a $1.5 million house near the ocean on Florida's Gold Coast, federal officials said Friday. Federal marshals arrested Allen Todd May, 58, at the house in...

Florida Says AP Psychology Course Is Illegal

Education Department demands removal of gender and sexuality topics, taught for 3 decades

(Newser) - After blocking the Advanced Placement course on African American Studies, Florida has now "effectively banned" AP Psychology, too, according to the College Board, which oversees the AP program. It says the Florida Department of Education instructed superintendents on Thursday "that teaching foundational content on sexual orientation and gender...

One-Star Google Review a Clue in Fatal Hit-and-Run

The man who left it witnessed the Florida crime

(Newser) - "The last thing I saw before I shut my eyes was the side of the truck." That's the recollection of Tiffany Fletcher, who was headed to a saloon in Riverview, Florida, with her boyfriend on June 9 when a truck made a U-turn into their lane. She...

Harris on Debate With DeSantis: Not Happening

VP tells Orlando crowd she won't accept Florida governor's invite to chat about curriculum, slavery

(Newser) - Last month, Kamala Harris visited Florida to speak up against the state's new educational standards. Those controversial guidelines mandate that public school students be taught how enslaved people developed skills that "in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit." Now, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has...

Family Wins $11M in Suit Over Florida Kratom Death

Krystal Talavera's son hopes award draws attention to dangers

(Newser) - A distributor has been ordered to pay more than $11 million to the family of a 39-year-old Florida woman who died after ingesting kratom. Judge Donald Middlebrooks said in his ruling, issued after a federal wrongful death lawsuit was tried in West Palm Beach, that no amount of money was...

Florida Has a Fresh New Invasive Species Hell
Florida Has a Fresh New
Invasive-Species Hell
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Jul 29, 2023 9:30 AM CDT

Florida Has a Fresh New Invasive-Species Hell

Green anacondas may be breeding, worrying locals and conservationists

(Newser) - A Burmese python incursion has become a headache for Florida over the past two decades, but that's not the only pesky reptile the Sunshine State is now contending with. The green anaconda, the world's heaviest snake, has also been setting down roots, with NBC2 reporting that the invasive...

She Left a Holocaust Survivor 'Penniless and Betrayed'

Peaches Stergo, who stole $2.8M from him, is handed a 51-month sentence

(Newser) - The Florida woman who "deceived an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor, maliciously draining his life savings so she could become a millionaire through fraud," will pay for her crime. Peaches Stergo, 36, pleaded guilty to wire fraud in April and was on Thursday sentenced to four years and three months...

College Board Speaks Out on Florida Slavery Lesson

Slavery was in no way 'a beneficial, productive, or useful experience for African Americans'

(Newser) - The College Board has spoken out against Florida's new African American history standards , which have been strongly criticized for suggesting some Black people benefited from being enslaved. "We resolutely disagree with the notion that enslavement was in any way a beneficial, productive, or useful experience for African Americans,...

Online Challenge Ends With 11-Year-Old Arrested

Florida youth sent police on a 90-minute goose chase, say deputies

(Newser) - An 11-year-old Florida girl has been arrested over a false kidnapping report—and she told officers it was part of a YouTube challenge. The Volusia County Sheriff's Office says the girl texted 911 at 9:45am Wednesday and claimed that a friend had been snatched by an armed...

Mayor: Police Chief Offered to Resign Before He Shot Himself

Miami-Dade's top police official is recovering and 'regaining his strength,' mayor says

(Newser) - Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava says the county's top police official offered his resignation hours before he tried to kill himself Sunday night. Police say Alfredo "Freddy" Ramirez, director of the Miami-Dade Police Department, shot himself after a dispute with his wife at a Tampa hotel. Levine...

Rush Limbaugh's $155M Estate Is Being Demolished

Cosmetics heir William Lauder, who bought Palm Beach property in March, has begun teardown

(Newser) - What does it feel like to have so much money that you can buy property worth more than $100 million, then knock down the posh home there just because? Ask William Lauder, who apparently serially razes mansions. Via Yahoo Finance , USA Today reports that the cosmetics billionaire, executive chair of...

At Tip of Florida, Sea Water Hits 'Hot Tub' Temps

Temperature reading exceeds 100 degrees two days in a row, though there are some issues

(Newser) - The water temperature on the tip of Florida hit hot tub levels, exceeding 100 degrees Fahrenheit two days in a row. And meteorologists say that could potentially be the hottest seawater ever measured, although there are some issues with the reading, the AP reports. Weather records for sea water temperature...

Hemingway Look-Alike Wins Contest, Despite Big Difference

'I only have one wife,' jokes Gerrit Marshall, 68, victor of annual Key West doppelganger contest

(Newser) - On his 68th birthday, a white-bearded Wisconsin man won the Hemingway Look-Alike Contest, a highlight of Key West's annual Hemingway Days celebration that ends Sunday. Gerrit Marshall, a retired television broadcast engineer from Madison, prevailed over the weekend at Sloppy Joe's Bar, a frequent hangout of Ernest Hemingway...

Report: Miami's Police Chief Shot Himself While With Wife

Mayor says Alfredo Freddy' Ramirez is in critical but stable condition

(Newser) - The director of the Miami-Dade Police Department was in stable condition after surgery in a Tampa area hospital, the Miami-Dade mayor said Monday, amid reports from local media that he had shot himself. Alfredo "Freddy" Ramirez, 52, was in Tampa for a law enforcement conference, officials said. "Following...

Some Slaves Cited by Florida as Beneficiaries Weren't Slaves

Historic sources conflict with examples cited in defense of state's new school policy

(Newser) - The day after approving a new requirement that middle school students be taught that some enslaved people learned skills to their personal benefit, Florida's Board of Education issued a statement in its defense. The board listed the names of 16 historical figures it said were helped by the "...

In Florida, Harris Condemns Slavery Lesson

DeSantis says Democrats are lying

(Newser) - Vice President Kamala Harris went to Florida on Friday to denounce the state's new educational standards that mandate teaching middle school students that some Black people benefited from being enslaved . "It is not only misleading, it is false and pushing propaganda—pushing propaganda on our children," Harris...

Scientists Probe the Possibility of 'Cocaine Sharks'

Investigation to air as part of Discovery's Shark Week

(Newser) - Last month alone, the US Coast Guard seized more than 14,100 pounds of cocaine in the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean. That's a lot of cocaine and suggests the drug, dumped by smugglers and picked up by currents, could make its way to marine life, including sharks. You'...

Florida Students to Learn a 'Personal Benefit' of Slavery

New policy mandates teaching that enslaved people developed skills

(Newser) - Florida education officials have changed state standards, in keeping with Gov. Ron DeSantis' policies, to mandate teaching public school students that some Black people benefited from being enslaved because they learned useful skills. The state Board of Education immediately defended the policy, unanimously approved Wednesday, by saying lessons will still...

Family Awarded $800K in Chicken McNugget Burn Suit

McDonald's, franchisee had already been found liable

(Newser) - A Broward County jury on Wednesday awarded the family of a girl who was burned by a Chicken McNugget from her McDonald's Happy Meal $800,000, CNN reports. That covers pain and suffering, disfigurement, mental anguish, inconvenience, and loss of capacity for enjoyment of life, with half of the...

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