Florida

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

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Fla. Governor Just Earned a Dubious New COVID Honor

DeSantis is first governor whose state is seeing more deaths than at any other point in pandemic

(Newser) - While New York state reconciles its numbers on COVID deaths, Florida has a sobering new set of its own. Nearly a year and a half after the disease shut the world down, the Sunshine State is experiencing more coronavirus infections, hospitalizations, and deaths than at any other point during the...

Cops: Man Killed Tourist Trying to Protect Baby Son

Tamarius Davis told police he was 'high on mushrooms'

(Newser) - A tourist from Colorado died protecting his 1-year-old son from a murderous stranger at a Miami Beach restaurant, authorities say. Police say 22-year-old Georgia resident Tamarius Davis Jr. told them he shot Dustin Wakefield, 21, because he was "high on mushrooms which made him feel empowered," the Miami ...

Student's Father Charged in Mask Clash at High School

Demonstrator was filming his daughter trying to defy Florida district's mandate

(Newser) - An anti-mask demonstrator was jailed and charged with aggravated child abuse after an officer said he shoved a student during a clash outside a Florida high school. Dan Bauman, 50, was filming his daughter's attempt to enter Fort Lauderdale High School on Wednesday morning while not wearing a mask,...

Vaccinated Mom Loses Both Unvaccinated Sons in 12 Hours

Meanwhile, South Florida doctors stage brief walkout to protest low vaccination rate

(Newser) - A Jacksonville mother and two of her sons all caught COVID. She was vaccinated, but they weren’t. She got a relatively mild case, but they died. "It’s a parent’s worst nightmare,” Lisa Brandon tells News4Jax . Brandon had three sons. David died five years ago. Aaron...

Florida Man Embezzles $12.8M, Spends Most of It at Adult Website
Florida Man 
Embezzles $12.8M,
Spends Most of It
at Adult Website
in case you missed it
Aug 21, 2021 5:00 PM CDT

Florida Man Embezzles $12.8M, Spends Most of It at Adult Website

He and his stepson's fiancee were allegedly in on scheme together

(Newser) - A Florida man pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $12.8 million from the nonprofit where he worked—and spending most of it at an adult website. Ralph Puglisi signed the plea agreement in June and it was filed last week, the Tampa Bay Times reports. The 59-year-old was the...

Florida Goes After Salaries in School Mask Fight

State warns districts amounts equal to board members' pay will be withheld

(Newser) - Florida officials are threatening to withhold funds equal to the salaries of school board members if school districts in two counties don't immediately do away with strict mask mandates as the state continues to battle through high hospitalization rates. School boards in Broward and Alachua counties received a warning...

Tens of Thousands of Students Are in Quarantine
As School Gets Underway,
Sobering Numbers
THE RUNDOWN
Aug 19, 2021 10:05 AM CDT

As School Gets Underway, Sobering Numbers

Tens of thousands of students already quarantined across the US, including 20K in Mississippi

(Newser) - More than 20,000 students in Mississippi—about 4.5% of the state's public-school population—were quarantined over the last two weeks due to coronavirus exposures, per USA Today . Almost 6,000 students in the state have tested positive for COVID-19 in the past two weeks, and two have...

After a Week, 8K Students in Florida District Are Quarantined
Florida's School Mask
Drama Heats Up
UPDATED
Aug 19, 2021 7:07 AM CDT

Florida's School Mask Drama Heats Up

Miami-Dade and Hillsborough school districts defy governor's ban

(Newser) - Two of Florida's biggest school districts have decided to join others that have defied Gov. Ron DeSantis and brought in mask mandates. In the Tampa-area Hillsborough County district, which has around 213,000 students, some 8,400 students and more than 300 teachers are in isolation after testing positive...

4 Broward Educators Die of COVID in 2-Day Span

Florida district, which just voted to flout Gov. DeSantis' ban on mask mandates, mourns its own

(Newser) - School is less than a week away for kids in Broward County, Fla., but there's sad news before the academic year even kicks off. Per WPLG , the Broward Teachers Union has reported that three teachers and an educational assistant all died of COVID between Tuesday and Wednesday, while an...

After 2 School Days, 440 in Quarantine in Florida District

Palm Beach superintendent blames policy allowing students to opt out of wearing masks

(Newser) - In Palm Beach County, Florida, students returned to school Tuesday—and by Thursday, at least 440 of them were in quarantine after testing positive for COVID-19 or being exposed to an infected person. Superintendent Michael Burke said Thursday that 57 COVID cases had been confirmed—37 students and 14 employees,...

Florida School District Defies Governor With Mask Mandate

Broward is requiring them, with opt-outs only for medical reasons

(Newser) - Broward County is keeping its school district's mask mandate, despite Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis threatening to punish districts that defy his ban on such mandates . The school board voted 8-1 Tuesday in favor of keeping the mandate, which allows only for medical opt-outs, Local 10 reports. "We are...

Residents of 8-Story Miami Condo Ordered to Evacuate
8-Story Miami Condo
Deemed Unsafe
Aug 10, 2021 12:05 PM CDT

8-Story Miami Condo Deemed Unsafe

All residents ordered to evacuate in wake of deadly collapse in Surfside

(Newser) - Residents of an eight-story condo building in Miami were ordered to evacuate after the building was deemed unsafe by city officials, per the AP . On Monday night, some six weeks after 98 people died in the collapse of the Champlain Towers South in nearby Surfside, residents of the 138-unit building...

DeSantis Raises Stakes in Fight Over Mask Mandates

Florida governor threatens to withhold pay of superintendents, board members who defy ban

(Newser) - Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is ratcheting up his stance against face-mask mandates with a controversial new threat. In a statement released to CBS Miami , DeSantis said the state might withhold the pay of school superintendents and school board members who require their students to wear masks. The governor outlawed such...

Friends of Anti-Vax Radio Host: He Changed Mind Before Dying

Dick Farrel told people he should have gotten vaccinated, encouraged them to do so

(Newser) - Joining the ranks of vaccine skeptics who later changed their tune after they became seriously ill with COVID: a former Newsmax anchor and conservative radio host in Florida who didn't make it to tell his tale publicly in person. Per WPTV and NBC News , Dick Farrel died Wednesday of...

Norwegian Cruises: 1, State of Florida: 0.

Company wins temporary stay against Florida's ban on businesses asking for vaccine passports

(Newser) - On Sunday, the Norwegian Gem will set sail to the Caribbean out of Miami, the cruise line's first sailing from Florida since the pandemic shuttered the cruise industry last year. Now, a judge has just given the parent company a win on its quest to make sure all passengers...

Church Loses 6 in 10 Days, Hosts Vaccination Event

Pastors at Jacksonville's Impact Church say most of the dead were young, healthy, and unvaccinated

(Newser) - A church in Jacksonville, FL, lost 6 parishioners in 10 days. Now, the church is hosting a vaccination event to encourage members and the community to protect themselves from the novel coronavirus. Pastor George Davis of Impact Church says masks are required at services, and they observe other COVID protocols,...

5 Miami Beach Cops Charged After 'Unspeakable' Actions

Footage shows officers kicking suspect and tackling, punching a bystander

(Newser) - Five police officers have been charged with battery after two Black men were violently arrested at a hotel in South Beach in Miami Beach. The arrests last week were captured on surveillance video recorded by the Royal Palm Hotel , the AP reports. The footage picks up Delonta Crudup running into...

School District Reverses Mask Mandate After DeSantis Order

Florida threatens to pull funding from schools that require face coverings

(Newser) - A South Florida school district that voted last week to require facial coverings has reversed itself after Gov. Ron DeSantis threatened to cut funding. With coronavirus caseloads surging as the much more contagious delta variant spreads infections, the Broward County school board unanimously voted last week to require students, teachers,...

Detective Adopts Boy Whose Father Tried to Kill Him
Cop Who Responded to 
Murder Scene Adopts Survivor
in case you missed it
Aug 1, 2021 7:00 AM CDT

Cop Who Responded to Murder Scene Adopts Survivor

Detective Mike Blair bonded with injured boy in the hospital

(Newser) - A Florida boy who was stabbed and set on fire by his own father now has a new dad—one of the officers who responded to the scene. Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office Detective Mike Blair says that when he arrived at the scene in March 2018, he was told...

Florida Sees Record 21K COVID Cases

It's the highest one-day total since the pandemic began for the state

(Newser) - Florida reported 21,683 new cases of COVID-19, the state’s highest one-day total since the start of the pandemic, according to federal health data released Saturday. The state has become the new national epicenter for the virus, accounting for around a fifth of all new cases in the US...

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