Florida

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Man Upset With AT&T Trucks Outside Home Shoots Out Tires

Police say retired firefighter worried trucks would damage his driveway

(Newser) - A retired Florida firefighter who allegedly shot out the tires of two AT&T trucks parked in front of his house told police he "went bananas," Local 10 reports. The trucks were parked in front of the Hialeah home of 64-year-old Jorge Jove on Wednesday while workers hung...

Student Who Graded Ex's Apology Just Got Good News

Florida university reverses earlier decision to suspend him

(Newser) - The student who was suspended from the University of Central Florida because he graded an apology letter from an ex and posted it on Twitter is no longer suspended. UCF suspended Nick Lutz months after the tweet went viral, saying he broke the portions of the university's code of...

Florida County Has Banned the Bane of Kids' Existence

The superintendent wants nightly reading instead of homework

(Newser) - The superintendent of Marion County schools in Florida has just issued a "no homework" mandate for the district's 31 elementary schools starting this fall, reports WESH 2 . Superintendent Heidi Maier cites research that nightly homework assignments haven't been shown to directly impact a child's academic advancement,...

Self-Described Drug Dealer Calls 911, Reports Stolen Drugs

David Blackmon is charged with possession of cocaine

(Newser) - Calling 911 to report a stolen bag of cocaine probably wasn't the best idea for a self-described Florida drug dealer. But Okaloosa Sheriff's officials wrote on Facebook that 32-year-old David Blackmon did just that on Sunday morning. The post says Blackmon called 911 to report a robbery in...

Student Gives Ex's Apology a D-. College Gives Him a Suspension

College says Nick Lutz's viral tweet violated its student code of conduct

(Newser) - “Long intro, short conclusion, strong hypothesis but nothing to back it up,” Nick Lutz wrote in red pen on a four-page apology letter his ex-girlfriend left on his car. The 21-year-old college senior graded the letter—giving it a D- but stating his ex could revise it for...

Family of Man Killed by Cop Balks at Sheriff's $314K Bill

They want info on officer who killed him; lawyer says records fee is 'offensive'

(Newser) - When pedestrian Blane Land was struck and killed by a police officer in Jacksonville, Fla., in May, his family immediately began digging into the officer's prior conduct. As it turned out, Officer Tim James had been investigated at least 11 times by the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office and would...

Boy May Have Died After Contacting Fentanyl at Pool

Officials say 10-year-old is among youngest victims of opioid crisis

(Newser) - Prosecutors in Florida believe a 10-year-old boy who died with the painkiller fentanyl in his system is among the state's youngest victims of the opioid crisis, the AP reports. Preliminary toxicology tests show Alton Banks had fentanyl in his system when he collapsed and died at his home on...

Man Survives After 7K-Pound Piece of Metal Crushes His Van

Authorities are saying it's basically a miracle

(Newser) - Jesus Armando Escobar, 36, was exiting a Florida interstate on Saturday morning at the same time Antonio Santiago Wharton, 33, was driving a Mack truck loaded with scrap metal on the overpass above him. Wharton lost control of the truck going around the curve and it overturned, dumping a 7,...

Falling Mystery Meat Confounds Florida Family

Family woken up by crash of 15 pounds of frozen sausage

(Newser) - The weather in Florida can be wild, but we're not sure it's ever rained frozen meat before. WPLG reports a Deerfield Beach family was woken up by a loud noise Saturday morning. Travis Adair says it sounded "like thunder." The actual cause was less meteorological: The...

Skydiver Told Wife He Wasn't Going to Pull Cord

Costansa Litellini was 'moments too late' to save her husband

(Newser) - Costansa Litellini ran into Florida's Skydive DeLand on Tuesday begging them not to let her husband go up in a plane, the Orlando Sentinel reports. But the plane, with 27-year-old Capotorto Vitantonio inside, had already taken off. Vitantonio's body was found face down in a field a short...

Sad End for Baby Delivered After Mom Hit by Lightning

Owen Davidson died this week in Florida

(Newser) - The baby delivered last month by a woman who had been struck by lightning died this week, WBBH reports. Meghan Davidson was nine months pregnant and walking with her mother June 29 in Florida when she was hit by lightning . Davidson suffered a collapsed lung and went into cardiac arrest....

Sinkhole Swallows 2 Homes, a Boat
Sinkhole Swallows
2 Homes, a Boat
Jul 14, 2017 4:32 PM CDT

Sinkhole Swallows 2 Homes, a Boat

Yikes

(Newser) - A sinkhole that started out the size of a small swimming pool and continued to grow in Florida swallowed a boat, destroyed two homes, and prompted officials to evacuate residents from 10 other homes on Friday, the AP reports. Dramatic video showed the home, north of Tampa in Pasco County,...

Family Puzzled After Missing Cremains Turn Up on Beach

And not even on a beach in the state where they went missing

(Newser) - Authorities and relatives are at a loss to explain how the cremated remains of a Georgia woman mysteriously washed up on a Florida beach, the AP reports. The Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office said Wednesday that a box containing the ashes of an Atlanta-area woman was found by a man...

Bullet Fired in 1958 Just Claimed a Homicide Victim

Victim dies of complications related to the wound in Florida

(Newser) - A Florida man died of a gunshot wound nearly 60 years after the bullet was fired, a medical examiner says. John Henry Barrett , 77, died in May of an infection and complications related to the gunshot wound, leading the Palm Beach County medical examiner to rule it a homicide, per...

Amazing Human Chain: 'These People Are Not Drowning Today'

Bystanders at Panama City Beach in Florida step up

(Newser) - It could have been the worst story of the day. Instead, it's one of the best. Dozens of strangers formed a human chain and saved a family from drowning at Panama City Beach in Florida, per the News Herald . The Washington Post reports that 10 people were rescued in...

Fatal Airbag Explosion Triggered by a Hammer

Man killed in Florida while working on Honda Accord

(Newser) - Another person has died as a result of an exploding Takata airbag, though in this case the car involved wasn't even in a crash. Honda says it recently learned about an incident on June 18, 2016, in which a man was using a hammer to make repairs on a...

These 10 Cities Better Hope They Avoid a Hurricane

The damage would be brutal: 24/7 Wall St.

(Newser) - Florida may be the place to go for sunshine, but it's the place to escape if a hurricane hits. The state is home to a number of the US cities that are "vulnerable to the greatest damage" at the hands of a hurricane, reports 24/7 Wall St , which...

Venus Williams Granted Emergency Order in Crash Suit

Judge temporarily blocked inspection of car involved in the crash

(Newser) - Venus Williams is set to take on Japan's Naomi Osaka at Wimbledon Friday, but she's already scored a tiny win in a different kind of court. A Palm Beach County judge on Wednesday granted an emergency request by Williams' attorney to temporarily block an inspection of a car...

Florida Siblings' Cupcake Fight Ends in Arrests

Police say Eddie Yaddow kicked his pregnant sister in the stomach

(Newser) - Sweets turned sour early last Saturday in Florida when a pregnant woman and her brother were arrested following a cupcake fight, Fox 5 reports. Police say 24-year-old Latanya Daugherty and 30-year-old Eddie Yaddow were arguing about who should punish her child when Daugherty threw cupcakes at her brother. Yaddow then...

Name Change Coming for Controversial Fla. Streets

Names of Confederate generals in African-American neighborhood are being nixed

(Newser) - City commissioners in Florida have agreed to begin the process of changing the names of streets named for Confederate generals in the heart of an African-American neighborhood. During a contentious three-hour meeting Monday, the Hollywood City Commission voted 5-2 to begin renaming Lee Street, named after Confederate Gen. Robert E....

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