Orange County Teen Sentenced For Deadly Shooting
(Orlando, FL) -- An Orange County man is upset with the sentence given to his son's killer. Arden Torres was sentenced to five years in prison yesterday after he pled guilty to killing 18-year-old Jacob Farrell in Apopka. Torres was 16 at the time of the shooting in 2023. He faced up to 30 years in prison if convicted at trial, but State Attorney Monique Worrell says she agreed to the plea deal because the shooting was an accident. She also says a longer sentence wouldn't have brought Farrell back, and a trial would have been terrible for everyone involved. Farrell's father calls the sentence a slap on the wrist.
DeSantis Visits Pasco County For Bill-Signing Ceremony
(Dade City, FL)-- Governments in Florida are no longer allowed to add fluoride to drinking water. Governor Ron DeSantis was in Pasco County yesterday to sign the Florida Farm Bill.It includes a ban on adding fluoride to public drinking water. It'll take effect July First. At a ceremony in Dade City, DeSantis said local governments cannot engage in this fluoride forced medication. Florida is the second state to ban fluoride in drinking water. Utah is the other.
Man Accused Of Attacking Women In Jacksonville
(Jacksonville, FL) -- A homeless man is accused of attacking two women in Jacksonville. Talmadge Billingslea, Jr. was arrested after Monday afternoon's alleged incident near the Southbank Riverwalk. The women say they were walking together when he hit one of them in the neck, and the other was hit in the back of the head. They called 911 and followed him until police arrived and arrested him.The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office says it found a third victim who was attacked just before the incident with the two women. Billingslea is charged with battery and is being held on bond. One of the women wonders if locking him up is really the best approach, though. She tells First Coast news we need to get to the root of the problem and get him the mental help he needs.
Man Arrested For Road Rage Incident In Broward County
(Fort Lauderdale, FL)-- A man is facing charges for an apparent road rage incident in Broward County. The sheriff's office released video yesterday of last month's incident. John William Morici allegedly pointed a gun at a woman outside Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on Terminal Drive. No one was hurt. NBC 6 reports Morici is charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill.
GOP Anti-Pornography Legislation
(Washington, DC)-- Republican senators are moving to introduce legislation that could make pornography a crime in the U.S. Current law only classifies pornography intended to "abuse, threaten, or harass" someone as illegal. However, the Interstate Obscenity Definition Act would add all pornography, including any depiction of sexual acts that "lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value," to the definition of obscenity. This would make it illegal to distribute or consume pornography regardless of the material's intent.
Harvard's $30 Magna Carta Turns Out To Be 700-Year-Old Original
(Cambridge, MA)-- A copy of the Magna Carta that's been sitting in a Harvard library for 80 years turns out to be one of the originals from 1300. The New York Times says the faded parchment was purchased by Harvard for about 27 dollars in 1946, and it received little attention until about two years ago. That's when two British professors stumbled upon it by accident while looking through the school's digital archives. After some hi-tech authenticating, they discovered it was one of the seven original copies of the Magna Carta from over 700 years ago and could be worth millions of dollars.
Today in History
2011, Space Shuttle Endeavour blasted off for its final mission in space. Endeavour and its six-man crew were tasked with delivering a two-billion dollar Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer designed to illuminate dark matter and exotic forms of nature for scientists to examine. The mission was led by astronaut Mark Kelly.
1939, food stamps were introduced in the U.S.A.
1866, a bill was passed to allow the United States Treasury Department to begin minting the nickel.