Brevard Public Schools To Consider Extending Mask Mandate
(Brevard County, FL) -- Brevard Public Schools will revisit extending its mask mandate. The issue is expected to be addressed at tonight's school board meeting. Brevard Public Schools is among more than a dozen school districts to defy Governor Rick DeSantis' order to prohibit mask mandates.
MIA Leads Nation For Airports With Most Coronavirus Cases
(Miami, FL) -- Miami International Airport is leading the nation for airports with the highest number of COVID cases. That's according to data from the TSA, which reports Miami International Airport has had 515 COVID cases since the pandemic began. Of those cases, 492 were TSA Screening officers.
Florida House Opens to Public During Committee Meetings
(Tallahassee, FL) -- The Florida House is open to the public this week during its committee meetings. The meetings will take place up until the 2022 legislative session on January 11th. Under COVID-19 House protocols, masks will be optional for state representatives, their staff and the public. Visitors will also be required to wear masks.(?) Seating in House committee meetings will be distanced and on a first come, first serve basis.
Millions Of Dollars Of Prepaid Tuition In Florida Unclaimed
(Tallahassee, FL) -- There are millions of dollars in prepaid college tuition going unclaimed in Florida. Officials say over 30-thousand families have not yet claimed more than 200-million-dollars in refunds from the state's Prepaid College Tuition Program. Prices for the plans were rolled back last year, leaving many accounts paid off with refunds due. Reports say that the average refund for families is 47-hundred-dollars.
Former Sheriff's Office Dispatcher Arrested After Chatting With Undercover FBI Agent Regarding Child Exploitation
(Jacksonville, FL) -- A former Jacksonville Sheriff's Office dispatcher is accused of distributing sexually explicit images and videos of children. Thirty-seven-year-old Scott Matthew Yotka was arrested by FBI agents in his home Friday. According to a report, Yotka used a social media account to contact and chat with who he thought was a parent of a young child regarding the exploitation of that child. The person he was chatting with turned out to be an undercover FBI agent with a task force aimed at catching online sexual predators.
Ocala Man Claims He Doesn't Know How Explicit Images Got On His Cell Phone
(Ocala, FL) -- An Ocala man is facing more than a dozen counts of possession of child pornography. The Marion County Sheriff's Department received a tip last month about 44-year-old Carl Wilson. After obtaining a search warrant, deputies seized a phone containing the illegal images at Wilson's home on Northwest 61st Court. Wilson says he is innocent and does not know how the images got on his phone.
Sixth Grader Receives A Scholarship From Oregon
(Undated) -- A sixth grader who threw a 40-yard touchdown pass is receiving an offer to play for Oregon. Graham Simpson, who is 12-years-old, went viral after his brother Ty shared Graham's highlights in a tweet. Ty, who is an Alabama commit, tagged his school, but it was Oregon's offensive coordinator Joe Moorehead who quickly took action and offered Graham a scholarship. Graham comes from a football family that is supportive of his future on the gridiron.
Rare First-Edition Copy Of U.S. Constitution Up For Auction
(New York, NY) -- An extremely rare first-edition copy of the U.S. Constitution is heading to auction. And it won't be cheap. Just one of eleven surviving copies, Sotheby's auction house in New York is expecting a bid of up to 20-million-dollars for the rare document. In a press release, Sotheby's described the document as "rarer than the first printing of the Declaration of Independence." The first-edition Constitution up for sale is from the very first printing of the document's final text, produced for delegates of the 1787 Constitutional Convention and Continental Congress. The historic document will go up for auction in November. Prior to the sale, the first-edition Constitution will be exhibited at locations across the U.S., starting at Sotheby's New York galleries, before moving onto Chicago and Dallas.
TODAY IN HISTORY
2003, Galileo space mission ended when the probe was crushed in Jupiter's atmosphere.
1993, Steven Bochco's crime drama "NYPD Blue" first aired on ABC.
1970, "Monday Night Football" debuted on ABC. Howard Cosell, Don Meredith and Keith Jackson made up the show's first broadcast team.