Florida

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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...

Florida Hospitals See Most COVID Cases of Entire Pandemic

'The slope is pretty steep, and we haven’t seen the end of it'

(Newser) - The numbers at two University of Florida hospitals in Jacksonville are stark: a pandemic high of 140 hospitalized COVID patients, up from just 14 five weeks ago, and 90% of them unvaccinated. Doctors say another 5% of patients are partially vaccinated and the others are vaccinated but have "significant...

Anti-Maskers Shut Down School Board Meeting on Masks

Broward County School Board postponed discussing mask requirements, will revisit Wed.

(Newser) - Florida's Broward County School Board had planned to discuss mask requirements for the coming school year on Tuesday. But that discussion will have to wait after 20 or so anti-mask protesters showed up at the school board headquarters in Fort Lauderdale, CNN reports. Board member Sarah Leonardi says the...

Remains of Final Victim of Condo Collapse Identified

Estelle Hedaya is disaster's 98th victim

(Newser) - Two days after firefighters' search for bodies at the site of the Surfside condo collapse officially ended , the remains of the disaster's final victim have been identified. Ikey Hedaya tells CBS Miami he was notified by police Monday that the remains of his older sister, 54-year-old Estelle Hedaya, had...

Guy's 'Run' From Fla. to NY in 'Strange Vessel' Ends Early

Reza Baluchi washed ashore just one day into his quest in giant 'barrel-type' contraption

(Newser) - He may be an inspiration to both extreme athletes and hamsters alike, but Reza Baluchi's recent bid to "run" from Florida to New York has come to a frustrating and anticlimactic end. Per the Sun Sentinel , the Flagler County Sheriff's Office reported that the 49-year-old washed ashore...

Cops: Woman Skinny Dipping in Stranger's Pool Wouldn't Leave

Florida woman was charged with trespassing

(Newser) - A Florida man returning home from a doctor's appointment found a stranger skinny dipping in his backyard swimming pool, sheriff’s officials said. At first, the man only noticed clothes scattered across his lawn, Charlotte County Sheriff’s officials said in a social media post . Then, he saw the...

Judge: Condo Collapse Survivors Won't Be Asked to Donate Property

Surviving owners are split on future of Surfside site

(Newser) - There have been calls to turn the site of one of the deadliest building collapses in US history into a memorial, but the judge overseeing lawsuits in the Surfside condo collapse says survivors and the families of victims will not be asked to donate their property. "These victims who...

Experienced Cyclist Falls in Worst Possible Place

Man goes into water in Florida, is attacked by alligator

(Newser) - An experienced bicyclist's fall in Florida on Monday could have killed him, but not the for reason you might think. TCPalm reports the cyclist lost control while navigating a wooden bridge and tumbled into a small body of water some 6 feet down an embankment, where he was then...

Feds: Supremacist Group Required Violence to Join

16 members of 'Unforgiven' in Florida swept up in racketeering indictment

(Newser) - A white supremacist group rewarded members with tattoo "patches" for committing acts of violence, including assaulting peaceful demonstrators at a racial justice protest last summer, according to a federal racketeering indictment of 16 members in Florida. Members of the group, Unforgiven, also attempted to use corrupt law-enforcement officers and...

2 Bodies Found at Ex-Versace Mansion on Eve of Anniversary

Police suspect a double-suicide; designer was killed at Miami Beach site 24 years ago

(Newser) - Police are investigating the deaths of two men at the former mansion of designer Gianni Versace almost 24 years to the day when Versace was murdered there. Miami Beach police say their preliminary investigation suggests a suicide pact, reports CNN . The mansion now operates as a boutique hotel, notes the...

DeSantis T-Shirt: &#39;Don&rsquo;t Fauci My Florida&#39;
DeSantis Mocks
Fauci With Merch
Jul 14, 2021 4:17 PM CDT

DeSantis Mocks Fauci With Merch

The two have disagreed about pandemic restrictions throughout

(Newser) - Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has put his opposition to infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci in writing—on T-shirts and koozies. The governor, who's up for reelection next year, has begun selling anti-Fauci and anti-pandemic restrictions merchandise online. The launch comes during an increase in coronavirus cases: Florida's...

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