Water Rescue Crews From Tampa Bay Head To Panhandle Following Sally
(St. Petersburg, FL) -- Rescue crews from the Tampa Bay area part of relief efforts in the Panhandle following Hurricane Sally. Task Force three is made up of 40 fire rescue crew members from Hillsborough County, Tampa and St. Petersburg that staged in Tallahassee as Sally made landfall along the Florida-Alabama line. The crew will use 20 vehicles and seven boats to perform water rescue missions as part of search efforts in flooded areas of Escambia County. Parts of the Panhandle have already seen upwards of 30 inches of rain as the storm moves into Alabama and Georgia.
Tampa Council Rejects Calls To Defund Police
(Tampa, FL) -- The city of Tampa is rejecting calls to defund the police. The city council yesterday unanimously approved Mayor Jane Castor's budget of almost one-and-a-half-billion dollars. Before the vote, dozens of speakers spent two hours asking the council to fire the police chief and divert police funds for social services. Instead, the city budget increases the police budget by 13-million dollars.
Miami-Dade, Broward Teachers Express Concerns About Returning To Classrooms
(Miami Springs, FL) -- Teachers in Miami-Dade and Broward counties are uniting to ensure their safety. The superintendents of both districts have discussed reopening schools next month, but the presidents of both teachers unions expressed concerns yesterday. The heads of United Teachers of Dade and the Broward Teachers Union say they have yet to see plans ensuring teachers and students will be safe in the classroom. Unless proper precautions are taken, United Teachers of Dade President Karla Hernandez-Mats says lives will be lost.
Teen Punched Shark To Get Free
(St. Augustine, FL) -- A teenager credits his martial arts training for helping him survive a shark encounter in Volusia County. St. Augustine's Cole Smyth was surfing in Ponce Inlet Tuesday morning when he was bitten on the hand by what he believes was a tiger or bull shark. The 15-year-old is a second-degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do, and he got the shark to release its grip by punching it, in his words, really hard. Smyth needed 40 stitches on his hand, and he has surgery scheduled for today, but he tells the News-Journal nothing's going to stop him from surfing again.
Facebook, Luxiotta Set To Release Smart Glasses Next Year
(Undated) -- Facebook is teaming up with the maker of Ray-Bans to create smart glasses. The social media giant's CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced on Wednesday that Luxottica is teaming up with Facebook to release smart glasses in 2021. Zuckerberg said while he can't reveal too much, "they're really the next step on the road to augmented reality glasses." He also said the glasses "look pretty good too."
British Man Uses Snake As Face Mask On Bus
(England) -- It seems there is nothing people won't use as a face mask these days. In the latest report, a British man decided to use a live snake as one while riding the bus. Fellow passengers on the way to Manchester spotted the man but thought he was just wearing a "funky" makeshift mask. However, when it began to slither, they realized it was an actual reptile wrapped around his face. Pictures of the man have since sprung up online. Local authorities are saying an animal is not a proper face covering during the COVID-19 pandemic.
TODAY IN HISTORY:
1991, the sitcom, "Home Improvement," made its debut on ABC.
1983, Vanessa Williams became the first black woman to be crowned Miss America.
1976, the public saw The Space Shuttle Enterprise for the first time.
1972, the classic sitcom, "M*A*S*H," debuted on CBS.
1966, "Mission: Impossible" premiered on CBS.
1920, the American Professional Football Association, the precursor to the National Football League, was formed.
1862, Confederate forces under General Robert E. Lee were crushed by Union forces at the Battle of Antietam in Maryland.
1787, the Constitution of the United States was signed at the end of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia.