Security Increased At Daytona Beach Event
(Daytona Beach, FL) -- Security is increased for an upcoming Daytona Beach event after a deadly attack in England. Law enforcement is expected out in full force starting Friday for the second annual Country 500 Music Festival. An estimated 70-thousand people could turn out at the Daytona International Speedway for the event that ends Sunday. Federal officials from the FBI and ATF will assist state and local agencies in maintaining patron safety. The effort is partly in response to the explosion attack on the Ariana Grande concert in England Monday night that left at least 22 people dead and dozens more hurt.
President Trump Proposed Budget Cuts Florida Amtrak
(Washington, DC) -- President Trump's proposed budget would cut Florida Amtrak service. His four-point-one-trillion-dollar 2018 budget proposal released yesterday would kill federal funding for Amtrak long-distance services, including Auto Train, and the Silver Meteor and Silver Star services between New York City and Miami. The cut, which would reduce grants for the quasi-governmental organization from one-point-four-billion to 774-million dollars, would also kill any immediate hopes of restoring Amtrak service along the Gulf coast, including to rural Florida cities like Marianna and Live Oak. Florida's senior U.S. Senator Democrat Bill Nelson said yesterday that the Amtrak cuts could have a tourism impact of nearly a million visitors to the state. Not buying that one, Bill!
National Guards Reviewing Background Check Procedures
(Tampa, FL) -- A deadly double shooting is raising questions about how thorough the National Guard's background checks are. Guardsman Brandon Russell is not a suspect in the shooting that killed two of his roommates in Tampa Palms over the weekend, but he is under arrest for having bomb-making materials in his garage. Investigators say a search of his apartment also turned up ties to a neo-Nazi group they say he founded online. A Guard spokeswoman tells the "Tampa Bay Times" it's investigating to see how Russell's background check was handled. At least there are SOME belief systems we aren’t expected to bow to…