Remaining Church Volunteers Stranded In Haiti Now Back Home (Indialantic, FL) -- All members of a Brevard County church group are now back home from Haiti. The last five members of Indialantic's Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Church missionary team arrived in Florida yesterday.
They and six others, who flew back Tuesday, were stranded in Haiti when deadly protests shut down roads to the airport. One woman who flew home yesterday with her three daughters tells Florida Today words cannot express the relief she feels.
Police Officer On Leave After Takedown Incident (Sanford, FL) -- A police officer is on leave after an incident caught on video at a bar in Seminole County. Video shot at The Barn in Sanford this week shows Officer Adam Johnson perform a takedown maneuver on a man who was handcuffed.
An incident report claims the man elbowed Officer Johnson before the takedown, but witnesses who talked to Channel 9 dispute that. Chief Cecil Smith is asking for patience as internal affairs conducts a thorough and complete investigation.
Head Of Parkland Study Committee Urges Restraint On Criticizing Broward Deputies (Sunrise, FL) -- The head of a committee studying the response to the Parkland school shooting wants those criticizing deputies to show restraint. The Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission met yesterday at the BB-and-T Center in Sunrise. Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri leads the commission, and he says problems with radio communication hurt Broward Captain Jan Jordan's ability to organize deputies during the shooting.
Gualtieri says Jordan tried to take control of the situation, but technical problems turned her radio into a brick, and at that point, he tells the Miami Herald there wasn't much she could do.
Trailers Arrive In Franklin County For Fire Victims (Eastpoint, FL) -- Those who lost their homes in a Franklin County wildfire have one less thing to worry about for the time being. Two dozen trailers arrived in Eastpoint this week to house those displaced by last month's fire.
The trailers are free to use for six months. Meanwhile, four residents filed a lawsuit yesterday against the company that conducted the controlled burn that led to the fire.
Clerk Scares Off Would-Be Robber (St. Petersburg, FL) -- A store clerk is credited with scaring off a would-be robber in St. Petersburg. Police say a man armed with a knife tried to rob a 7-11 on Park Street North this week, but the clerk refused to comply.
Surveillance video shows the two fighting before the suspect runs away with the clerk chasing him. Fox 13 News reports the suspect remains on the loose.
99-Year-Old World War Two Vet Brings "No Regrets Tour" To Florida (Tallahassee, FL) -- A 99-year-old veteran of World War Two is making the rounds in Florida. Sidney Walton visited the governor in Tallahassee and is on a mission to visit all 50 states before he turns 100 in February.
As a boy in New York City, Sidney Walton had the opportunity to meet with Civil War veterans but never did, something he calls the biggest regret of his life. That inspired Walton's "No Regrets Tour," in which he's giving anyone who wants to the chance to meet a World War Two vet.
Hiker Who Prompted Needless Search Donates $3K To Fish And Game (Mt. Washington, NH) -- A New Hampshire man will donate three-thousand-dollars instead of paying a fine after sparking a rescue operation while he was sleeping. A search was launched in April after Christopher Chamley's wife reported him missing in the White Mountains.
The elderly man was not really missing at all but had bailed out on his hike and checked into a hotel room without letting his wife know. Fish and Game officials said they've agreed to accept Chamley's donation instead of charging him a much higher bill.
TODAY IN HISTORY:
2013, a Florida jury delivered a not guilty verdict in the closely watched trial of neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman in the 2012 shooting death of teenager Trayvon Martin.
1994, Tonya Harding's ex-husband Jeff Gillooly was sentenced to two years in prison for his part in the attack on rival skater Nancy Kerrigan -- he only served six months behind bars.
1863, angered by the mandatory Civil War military draft which gave exemptions to the wealthy, poor immigrant whites in New York City unleashed murderous hostility on innocent blacks and hanged them on lamp posts. "The New York Draft Riots" lasted three days and became one of the bloodiest race riots in American history.