SpaceX Rocket Damaged In Transport
(Cape Canaveral, FL) -- A SpaceX rocket that blasted off into space won't make it back to dry land intact. The company announced yesterday that the center core of the three boosters on the Falcon Heavy rocket was damaged during transport from the ship it landed on. While the booster was being taken back to Port Canaveral, rough seas prevented the booster from remaining upright. This appears to be the only setback of last week's launch from Kennedy Space Center of the most powerful rocket in operation in the world.
Jury Begins Deliberations In Jonchuck Trial
(Largo, FL) -- The jury is now in charge of what a Pinellas County judge calls the most interesting trial he has ever had. Deliberations began yesterday in the case of John Jonchuck, who threw his five-year-old daughter to her death off a bridge four years ago. Jonchuck's lawyers are using the insanity defense, and they want him sentenced to life in an institution. Prosecutors want him to serve a life sentence in prison.
Triple-Murder Suspect Explains What Happened
(Haines City, FL) -- A Polk County man accused of killing three people appears willing to accept the ultimate punishment. Ernst Cherizard was in court yesterday where's he's charged with killing his girlfriend, her six-year-old daughter and his girlfriend's aunt Friday in Haines City. Before surrendering to police on Sunday, the 38-year-old suspect wrote on Facebook that his girlfriend and he were fighting for the gun when he lost it. He also expresses regret for what happened and, when it comes to punishment, he writes he deserves the worst and nothing less.
Lawsuit Filed Over Taping Of Spa Massage
(Jupiter, FL) -- The massage parlor sting that involved NFL owner Bob Kraft is now the subject of a federal civil rights lawsuit. A Jupiter man identified as John Doe filed the suit yesterday against police and the state prosecutor in charge of the case. The plaintiff claims he received a legal, non-sexual massage at the Orchids of Asia Day Spa in January, and video of the massage recorded by police was illegal. He's asking for financial damages, and he also wants the tapes destroyed before they're released publicly.
Five Arrested In Check Cashing Fraud Scheme
(North Fort Myers, FL) -- A note passed to a tax office clerk is credited with exposing a possible fraud scheme in Lee County. Five people were arrested last week for allegedly threatening to harm two women if they didn't cash fraudulent checks for them. Deputies made the arrest after one of the alleged victims passed a note pleading for help to a clerk at the county tax collector's office. Deputies recovered 60-thousand dollars in fraudulent checks, 35-hundred dollars in cash and a credit card skimmer.
Teen Arrested In Attack On Principal Is Arrested Again
(Miami, FL) -- A teenager accused of attacking his school principal is in trouble again. Eighteen-year-old Gianny Sosa-Hernandez was arrested recently for vandalism at The Falls open-air mall in Kendall. He can be seen on video last month wrestling with a fake alligator on display at the mall and causing more than 35-hundred dollars worth of damage. His arrest comes a week after he was arrested for allegedly trying to perform a wrestling move on the principal at Miami Southridge Senior High School.
Connecticut Man Crashes, Wanders Around Home Naked
(Newton, CT) -- A Connecticut man is facing criminal trespassing and disorderly conduct charges for a strange incident over the weekend. Police say a family came to their home on Saturday to find 35-year-old Joseph Achenbach, of Watertown, roaming around inside naked. Investigators found that Achenbach ventured inside the house after he crashed his SUV into the resident's yard, and was probably naked the entire time. Police believe that he was drunk and high at the time of the accident.
TODAY IN HISTORY:
2016, then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump unveiled his new nickname for his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton. He called her "Crooked Hillary."
2007, in what was described as the worst ever shooting on an American college campus, a gunman opened fire on students and instructors at two locations on the Virginia Tech University campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, killing 32 people before turning the gun on himself. The gunman was later identified as 23-year-old Cho Seung-Hui.
1962, Walter Cronkite succeeded Douglas Edwards as anchorman of "The CBS Evening News." Cronkite would go on to become known as "the most trusted man in America" during his 18-plus years as anchor.
1900, the first book of postage stamps was issued. The two-cent stamps were available in books of 12, 24, and 48 stamps.