florida

Florida TV journalist and child shot dead at scene of earlier murder

A second reporter, Jesse Walden, and the girl's mother were shot and injured by the same gunman, who is also suspected of the other homicide.

The journalists were covering the killing of a woman when the teenage suspect returned, police say.

It is unclear if they were targeted.

The suspect was armed when he was arrested and was not co-operating with police, said investigators.

The other two victims in Wednesday's two attacks in Pine Hills, a suburb west of Orlando, have not yet been identified.

Florida nabs largest python ever found in state

Weighing in at 215lbs (98kg) and nearly 18ft long (5m), the female Burmese python was caught after researchers used a male "scout" to find her.

She wrestled with biologists for 20 minutes before she was "subdued", they said Wednesday.

Pythons have become pests in Florida as invasive snakes with no major predators, out-competing native species.

The serpents have been periodically found in the state since irresponsible pet owners released or allowed pet pythons to escape years ago, with many then going on to thrive in Florida's subtropical climate.

Florida lawmakers strip Disney of special tax status

The status gave Disney powers to levy tax, build roads and control utilities on the lands of its theme park.

The entertainment conglomerate did not respond when asked for comment.

The move is widely seen as retribution for Disney's opposition to a bill that bars primary school classrooms from discussing sexual orientation.

On Thursday, at the urging of Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, the state House passed a bill that would rid the company of its near-total power over the special district where its theme park is based. It had already passed the Senate.

Four Florida educators died of Covid within day of each other, says union

 

The deaths in Broward County come as a fierce debate rages across the US over what virus protocols should exist in schools when the academic year begins.

Florida's Republican governor has threatened to withhold pay from school leaders who require masks for pupils.

The highly contagious Delta variant is spreading across a majority of the US.

Three teachers and a teaching assistant died between Tuesday and Wednesday in Broward County - which is just north of the Miami-Dade area. Their names were not released.

Woods, Manning win charity match

Woods, a 15-times major champion, and two-time Super Bowl winner Manning jumped out to a three-hole lead on the front nine at the Medalist Golf Club in Hobe Sound.

While Woods's booming drives and Manning's solid putting saw the pair dominate the early holes, five-times major winner Mickelson and Brady won the 11th and 14th to shave the lead to one.

However, they were unable to force extra holes after Woods delivered a dagger putt on 18 as darkness descended on his home course.

US Air Force plane hits a bird, drops dummy bombs on Florida by mistake

The Moody attack aircraft assigned to the 23d Fighter Group "suffered a bird strike which caused an inadvertent release of three BDU-33s," 25-pound nonexplosive training munitions used to simulate the 500-pound M1a-82 bombs, the 23rd Wing Public Affairs Office said in a statement.

The dummy munitions fell somewhere off Highway 129 near Suwannee Springs in northern Florida. The Air Force is apparently still looking for the bombs.

Florida man dies after Hurricane Michael slams into Panhandle

Michael began dashing homes into pieces and flooding neighborhoods shortly after crossing near Mexico Beach as a Category 4 storm. It was the strongest storm to hit the continental US since Hurricane Andrew in 1992.

Live updates on Hurricane Michael

Hurricane Irma: Time runs out for Florida evacuation

Rick Scott said it was now too late to drive away from the danger areas.

After devastating several Caribbean islands, Irma is lashing Cuba with strong winds and heavy rain, and is due to make landfall in Florida on Sunday.

Some 6.3 million people, more than 25% of the US state's population, have been ordered to evacuate.

The hurricane made landfall on the Sabana-Camaguey Archipelago, in Cuba's north-east, late on Friday as a category five storm but has now weakened to a category three.

Missing Florida woman found after she bottled her scent

Citrus County Sheriff's Office said the anonymous woman had used a specialist scent preservation kit.

It can hold a person's scent for up to seven years.

In a Facebook post police said she stored the scent two-and-a-half years ago, and a picture of the jar showed it was dated January 2015.

Scent preservation kits involve rubbing a pad on a person's underarm, then sealing it in a sterile jar so police dogs have a reliable scent to smell before looking for a missing person.

Florida sinkhole stops expanding after swallowing homes

They say residents have been allowed to return to four adjacent homes.

The sinkhole, which is 50m deep, is full of water, household chemicals and pieces of septic tanks, and may take months to drain.

Authorities have warned that the sinkhole may expand again, especially if it rains.

No one was injured in the two homes that were destroyed nor the other nine that were evacuated, said Kevin Guthrie, assistant Pasco County administrator for public safety.