Orlando Democrat Blasts DeSantis' Proposal On Violent Protests
(Tallahassee, FL) -- A Central Florida Democrat is among those blasting the governor's new plan to crack down on violent protesters. Governor Ron DeSantis, this week, announced a proposal to impose harsher penalties on protesters who cause injury or property damage. Orlando State Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith said yesterday this is a desperate ploy to distract from DeSantis' deadly record and indifference to the pain and suffering of vulnerable Floridians. Smith also says DeSantis is targeting those who did the very same thing Martin Luther King and John Lewis did in the 1960s.
City Council Votes To Give JSO Full Funding
(Jacksonville, FL) -- A proposal aimed at the JSO criticized as irrational will not go forward in Jacksonville. Councilman Garrett Dennis proposed funding the JSO in installments, but he withdrew the plan last night for a lack of support from his colleagues. Instead of granting the JSO's entire budget of almost 500-million dollars, Dennis proposed giving the JSO half the money up front and asking the sheriff to come before the council in six months to get more funding. After the proposal was withdrawn, the council approved Mayor Lenny Curry's one-point-three-billion-dollar budget.
Arrest Made In Metromover Beating
(Miami, FL) -- The search for a man who attacked an elderly Metromover passenger appears to be over. Miami Police announced yesterday they have arrested 62-year-old Robert Lee Ribbs for the weekend attack on 74-year-old Eduardo Fernandez. Police claim in their arrest report that Ribbs told officers Fernandez deserved the beating for calling him the 'N' word and denouncing Black Lives Matter. Police, though, claim the attack was unprovoked, and one of the charges against Ribbs is strong-arm robbery.
Duval School Bars Student From Waving Police Flag
(Neptune Beach, FL) -- A Duval County school is blocking a student's effort to recognize his late father. Fletcher High School's Caelan Lavender had been leading his football teammates onto the field carrying the Thin Blue Line police flag since last season, but this week, the school ordered him to stop. Calean's dad, Andy, was a Jacksonville Beach Police officer for almost 30 years before his death last year. Principal Dean Ledford says the flag has been seen by some as a political statement, and it's no longer appropriate. Caelan's mom tells News4Jax the flag only represents her son's love for his dad and his memory.
Trump Signs Defaced With Swastikas
(Jacksonville, FL) -- Some neighbors in Jacksonville are dealing with what one woman calls an abhorrent act of hatred. Neighbors in one community awoke this week to find swastikas spray-painted on their 'Trump' lawn signs. One neighbor, the president of the Jewish Federation of Jacksonville, tells Action News Jax no one benefits from displaying those thoughts and feelings.
Indiana Woman Googled 'Deadly Mushrooms' Before Husband's Death From Poison Fungi
(Pendleton, IN) -- An Indiana woman is facing murder charges for the death of her husband. Fifty-year-old David Fouts, of Pendleton, was found dead in a ditch earlier this year before an autopsy determined he died from consumption of poisonous fungi. Investigators searched the phone records of his wife, Katrina, and discovered several Google searches, including "deadly mushrooms, "Indiana homicide laws," "crime of passion law in Indiana," and "how to pass lie detector test." DNA evidence also linked her to Fouts' body. She, along with family friend Terry Hopkins, is being held in county jail without bond.
TODAY IN HISTORY:
2019, an Orlando police officer was fired after arresting two six-year-olds at school in Florida.
1969, "The London Daily Mirror" became the first to print a rumor that Beatle Paul McCartney was dead.
1962, "The Jetsons" premiered on ABC. It was the first program to be carried by the network in color.
1846, the planet Neptune was discovered by a German astronomer.