Florida

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

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Cops: Would-Be Ivy Leaguer Pistol-Whips Mom for Car

Now mom doesn't want to jeopardize daughter's scholarships

(Newser) - Don't mess with a wound-up teen obsessed with a car. A Florida high school honors student accepted into Ivy League schools pistol-whipped her mom when the mother refused to sign a car loan for her, according to cops. Rachel Hachero, 17, called her mom from a Fort Myers car dealership...

Parents to School: Boot Girl With Peanut Allergy

Floridians angered by regulations to keep 6-year-old alive

(Newser) - A 6-year-old in Florida suffers from a peanut allergy so severe and life-threatening it's considered a disability—but the parents of her classmates aren’t exactly showering her with sympathy. Instead, they’re demanding she be booted from the class and home-schooled because of the nuisance she’s causing to...

Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez
 Miami-Dade Mayor Ousted  
Mar 15, 2011 10:44 PM CDT

Miami-Dade Mayor Ousted

Carlos Alvarez recalled by huge margin

(Newser) - An overwhelming majority of voters in Miami-Dade county have decided to chuck their mayor out of office before the end of his term. Almost 90% of voters chose to oust Carlos Alvarez in the biggest recall of a local politician in American history, the Miami Herald reports. Alvarez, a Republican,...

Obama Joins Forces With... Bush?

Jeb Bush, that is, in education push

(Newser) - Barack Obama got a little help from an unlikely ally today in Florida, when Jeb Bush appeared with him at a speech promoting the administration's education agenda at Miami Central High School, the AP reports. Bush introduced Obama, saying that education shouldn't be a partisan issue. Obama shook his hand,...

Kids' Bodies Stuffed in Luggage, Dumped in Canal

Florida police trying to identify children's bodies

(Newser) - The bodies of two children have been found stuffed in luggage in a South Florida canal and police divers are searching the area in case there are more. A girl aged between 6 and 12 was found in a duffel bag in the canal near Boca Raton, and a boy...

Florida Politician's Deal: 1 Book, 1 Copy, $152K

Florida Senate president was well paid for (very) obscure book

(Newser) - Florida Democrats are having fun with an AP story noting that the Republican president of the state senate got the princely sum of $152,000 to write a book on politics for Brevard Community College. The kicker is that only one copy of Florida Legislative History and Processes exists—at...

Florida Town Reverses, Courts Spring-Breakers

Panama City Beach is looking to rev up tourism after BP spill

(Newser) - A year and a half ago, Panama City Beach in Florida decided to try to shift its image from party central for college students on spring break to a more family-friendly destination, reports the Wall Street Journal . The Deepwater Horizon oil spill has brought a quick change of heart. With...

Ex-MADD Honcho Arrested for Drunk Driving
Ex-MADD Honcho Arrested for Drunk Driving
Irony alert
Feb 25, 2011 8:31 AM CST

Ex-MADD Honcho Arrested for Drunk Driving

Debra Oberlin, head of Gainesville chapter in the '90s, blew .239

(Newser) - Pro tip: If you’re going to crusade against drunk driving, you should probably avoid doing it yourself. Actually, you should probably avoid doing it regardless. But these lessons were lost on Debra Oberlin, the former head of the Gainesville, Fla., chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving. The 48-year-old was...

3rd St. Pete Officer Shot to Death in Month

Florida city lost another as he was confronting suspect

(Newser) - Less than a month after two Florida police officers were killed in a St. Petersburg shootout , another officer was shot to death in the city, CNN reports. Police today formed a tight perimeter around the area where Officer David Crawford was shot only moments after leaving his police cruiser to...

Florida Law Firm Won't Take Women Clients

Firm says it's fighting for 'men's rights'

(Newser) - Florida’s Bar prohibits discrimination based on gender, but Kenny Leigh doesn’t care. He’s built a bustling firm on the slogan “Men Only. Family Law Only,” and though he’s since changed it, he says he’d still never take a female client. “The only...

Woman Jailed After Girl Scout Cookie Brawl

What can you say? She must really like her Thin Mints

(Newser) - Everybody loves Girl Scout cookies, but not everybody loves them this much: A Florida woman is in jail on charges of beating up her roommate Sunday in a dispute over Thin Mints. Hersha Howard, 31, is accused of bursting into Jasmin Wanke’s room while she slept and accusing Wanke...

Annual Shark Migration Swarms Florida Coast

They only look scary, say biologists

(Newser) - Large schools containing thousands of migrating sharks are once again appearing off the coast of Palm Beach County and other southern Florida beaches—sometimes right along the shore, reports NBC . As large numbers of black tip and spinner sharks make their annual trek northward for warmer waters, biologists have tried...

Acid Dad Charged With Attempted Murder

Jorge Barahona allegedly abused children found doused in chemicals

(Newser) - Jorge Barahona, the man whose adopted twin children were found doused in toxic chemicals inside his truck on the side of the highway Monday, has been charged with attempted murder for the injuries sustained by 10-year-old Victor, the Miami Herald reports. Barahona, who has not been charged in the death...

Girl's Body Found in Dad's Truck, Covered in Acid

Her twin brother, 10, is in intensive care

(Newser) - It's one of the more horrific allegations of a child abuse to come along for some time: Florida police found the corpse of a 10-year-old girl, covered in acid, in the back of her adopted father's truck. Her twin brother was in the front seat, nearly overcome by toxic fumes,...

Dalai Lama Nephew Killed in Florida

Jigme Norbu struck by car after setting off on 300-mile odyssey

(Newser) - The nephew of the Dalai Lama was killed after being struck by a car as he walked along a Florida highway during a 300-mile march to raise awareness for Tibetan independence. Jigme K. Norbu, 45, was hit by an SUV last night as he set off on a "Walk...

With Eye on Spring Break, Florida Bans Bath Salts

Spring breakers will need to find another cheap, dangerous high

(Newser) - On the heels of reports that bath salts are as bad as meth, Florida's not messing around: The Sunshine State has joined Louisiana in banning the sale of little white packets of crystals that people around the Southeast are smoking or snorting, because, "For lack of a better term,...

Lotto Winner Can Sue Cops Who Shot Him: High Court

Excessive force trial to move forward

(Newser) - The US Supreme Court ruled that a trial for two sheriff's deputies who shot a man at his Florida home should go forward, the Christian Science Monitor reports. Robert Swofford seemed to be a pretty lucky guy—he'd won $60 million in the Florida lottery two years before a tracking...

Arsonist Busted After Leaving Fingertip at Scene

Cops found Ismael Ortiz, not surprisingly, at a hospital

(Newser) - Ismael Ortiz left something kinda important behind after allegedly setting a Florida home on fire: the tip of his finger. Police found the evidence inside a latex glove; a detective says Ortiz slammed his finger in a door while fleeing the scene. They found Ortiz, 24, at a local hospital,...

Drug-Seeking Burglars Snort Man, Dog Ashes

Teen sniffers were hoping for cocaine, heroin, say cops

(Newser) - Oops. Burglars were so desperate for drugs when they broke into a Florida home that they snorted a powder found in a ceramic urn. But they didn't get even a hint of a buzz because they had inhaled some of the cremated remains of the former man of the house...

Cops Nab Fugitive After 30 Years on Run

Canadian dope smuggler had been living in Pennsylvania for decades

(Newser) - Thirty years after faking a heart attack to escape prison, a 71-year-old alleged dope smuggler has landed back in custody, reports CNN . Ian Jackson MacDonald escaped from a Miami-Dade prison hospital in 1980, after convincing a guard to unshackle his legs so he could take a shower. MacDonald had been...

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