Florida Wants Zuckerberg To Appear Before Human Trafficking Council
(Tallahassee, FL) -- Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody is calling on the CEO of Meta to testify regarding concerns of human trafficking. Moody wants Mark Zuckerberg to appear before the Statewide Council on Human Trafficking to discuss how social media could have contributed to criminal activity.Prosecutors would like Zuckerberg to address the public threat, while also discussing ways to discourage the activity. Moody is requesting a response by September Fifth. Since 2019, more than half of the state's human trafficking cases have involved Instagram, Facebook, Messenger and WhatsApp.
Another Insurance Company Leaving Florida
(Tallahassee, FL) -- Another major insurance company is leaving Florida. Farmers Insurance says it's dropping home, auto and umbrella policies across the state.It's the fourth company to separate from the Sunshine State in the last year with a majority of them citing the heightened risk of hurricanes. The latest move could impact more than 90-thousand customers. State Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis is vowing to explore every avenue for holding Farmers accountable. Insurers are required to give customers a 120 day notice before their policies are dropped in Florida.
Man Wanted For Armed Burglaries Arrested In Brevard County
(Cocoa, FL) --A man is in custody after a three-hour standoff with police in Brevard County. Cocoa Police yesterday arrested Merritt Island's Peter Samonas on Highland Drive. Police were called to the area for a report of an armed burglar, and they found Samonas hiding inside a parked car. The 33-year-old had a gun and was suicidal. The Crisis Negotiation Team was called to the scene, and Samonas eventually surrendered. He's charged with armed burglary for at least two incidents since Monday. Police say that's when he stole the gun he had yesterday.
Latvala's Lawyer Wants Ethics Complaint Dismissed
(Tallahassee, FL) --A former Pinellas County lawmaker could get an ethics complaint against him dismissed. A lawyer filed a request Monday with the Florida Commission on Ethics to dismiss a complaint made against former Clearwater State Rep. Jack Latvala. He resigned six years ago after he was accused of sexual harassment. He also admitted to an affair. The women he allegedly harassed and had the affair with refused to cooperate with ethics investigators, though, and the person who filed the complaint asked for it to be withdrawn. The News Service of Florida reports the request to dismiss could be discussed at an ethics commission meeting in two weeks.
Street Sweeper Named After Star Wars Character
(Oregon City, OR) --Oregon City has released the name of its new street sweeper. Kids younger than 17 were allowed to enter suggestions at the Oregon City Library.Names from five finalists were posted on Facebook and seven-year-old Kennedy Gibb's suggestion was the favorite choice. The streetsweeper will be named "C-SweePO" after the Star Wars character C3PO.
Ohio City Ranks As #1 Most Stressed City In America
(Toledo, OH) --An Ohio city finds itself at the top of the list in a new survey of the most stressed cities in America. In putting their results together, WalletHub compared numbers from 180 American cities in 39 key metrics including average weekly work hours, median credit scores, food insecurity and divorce rates.Toledo placed as the 16th most stressed city in America, with Cleveland at number-one. Four Ohio cities are in the top-25.
TODAY IN HISTORY
1982, the last of the distinctive looking Checker taxicabs rolled off the assembly line in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
1979, Disco Demolition Night took place at Chicago's Comiskey Park. Fans were asked to bring unwanted disco albums to the stadium for the game between the Chicago White Sox and Detroit Tigers. The fans got out of hand by throwing, and later burning, the albums. The unruly crowd swarmed onto the field and the second game of the baseball doubleheader was cancelled.
1976, the first "Family Feud" game show debuts on ABC hosted by Richard Dawson.
1960, the first Etch-A-Sketch went on sale. More than 50 million of the products were sold over the next 25 years.