Florida

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Black Men Accused in 1949 Rape Get Pardon

The case of the Groveland Four is now seen as a blight on Florida's history

(Newser) - After a dramatic, hour-long meeting that recalled events from nearly seven decades ago, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and the state's three-member Cabinet granted posthumous pardons Friday to four African-American men, known as the Groveland Four , accused of raping a white woman in a 1949 case now seen as a...

Police: Man Fooled Family Into Thinking His Wife Was Alive

Shelby Svensen was arrested in Ohio last week

(Newser) - Four members of the Ivancic family are dead, and the timeline is a chilling one. It began to unravel on New Year's Day, when police arrived at a home in Tarpon Springs, Fla., to do a welfare check. Ohio natives Richard and Laura Ivancic, 71 and 59, lived there...

Fla. County Charges Its Oldest Murder Suspect Ever

Cops say 86-year-old Ramona Lund beat husband to death with her cane; she's being evaluated

(Newser) - Investigators say an 86-year-old Florida woman fatally beat her 89-year-old husband with a walking cane, reports the AP . Santa Rosa County Sheriff's officials say Ramona Maxine Lund is charged with murder and is being held in the jail's infirmary on $250,000 bond as authorities work together to...

McDonald&#39;s Worker Fights Back After Man Loses It Over Straw
McDonald's Worker 
Fights Back After
Man Loses It Over Straw
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McDonald's Worker Fights Back After Man Loses It Over Straw

'My family, they know how to box,' she says

(Newser) - A Florida man infuriated by his failure to find a plastic straw lunged at and grabbed a McDonald's worker. Unfortunately for him, the young woman knew how to box, according to Kinie Biandudi, who shared video of the altercation . Mother Brenda Biandudi, who recorded the video, tells the Washington ...

7 Die in Fiery Crash, Fuel Spill
A Deadly, Fiery Crash in Florida

A Deadly, Fiery Crash in Florida

2 big rigs hit 2 passenger vehicles

(Newser) - Two big rigs and two passenger vehicles collided and spilled diesel fuel across a Florida highway Thursday, sparking a massive fire that killed seven people, authorities say. The wreck happened on Interstate 75 about a mile south of Alachua, near Gainesville. The flames were fed by about 50 gallons of...

Student: My SAT Score Rose, and They Assume I Cheated

Kamilah Campbell is demanding Educational Testing Service release her score

(Newser) - Kamilah Campbell wanted to improve her March SAT score. So the 18-year-old Florida high school senior "studied harder than she ever studied before," says her attorney. The result was a 330-point increase when she took the test again in October, getting a score of 1230. But then she...

Girl, 2, Falls Into Rhino Enclosure at Florida Zoo

She was injured by animal's snout

(Newser) - A 2-year-old was injured at a Florida zoo Tuesday after its "Rhino Encounter" turned into a terrifying experience. The girl was hospitalized after slipping and falling into the rhino enclosure at the Brevard Zoo during the hands-on experience, NBC reports. Authorities say the girl was injured after coming into...

Cops: Florida Men Stole Truckload of Tequila

They were arrested near truck stop

(Newser) - Four Florida men spent New Year's Eve in jail after allegedly stealing enough tequila to fuel dozens of parties. The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Department says the men were tracked down early Monday after a trucker reported that a trailer full of Patron tequila worth more than $500,000...

Florida Fisherman Hooks 60 Pounds of Cocaine

The angler spotted the package beneath a dock in the Keys

(Newser) - A Florida fisherman recently found something fishy beneath a dock in the Keys. Per ABC News , the angler was in Islamorada on Saturday when he spotted a mysterious package. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be upwards of 60 pounds of cocaine wrapped in plastic. According to the Sun-Sentinel...

Toddler Crashes Dad's Motorcycle Into Fence

The 3-year-old was seriously injured

(Newser) - Authorities say a Florida toddler was seriously injured after crashing her father's three-wheel motorcycle into a fence, the AP reports. The Miami Herald reports that the crash occurred Wednesday evening in a Miami-area neighborhood. Miami-Dade police say the father had just used the vehicle to get groceries. Minutes after...

Girl Shot by Coast Guard Dad Dies 9 Days Later

Case is now a triple murder-suicide

(Newser) - McKenna Presnar should have spent Christmas Day celebrating with her family. Instead, the 8-year-old succumbed to her injuries Christmas morning at Nicklaus Children's Hospital in Miami—nine days after she was shot by her own father . Police say the case is now a triple murder-suicide, WPLG reports. Police say...

Shock Mall Shootout Goes Badly for Canine Officer

Cigo went after the gang member, police say

(Newser) - A Florida sheriff's K-9 officer was shot and killed in the line of duty Christmas Eve while helping officers take down a suspect, USA Today reports. The encounter began at a mall in Wellington, Fla., when officers confronted two men wanted for attempted murder and armed robbery. Justin Vazquez,...

They Set Out the Krispy Kremes. Then, 'the Worst of the Worst'

9 accused of luring bears with doughnuts, then letting hunting dogs attack them

(Newser) - A nearly yearlong inquiry into a case that's been called "the worst of the worst" has led to the arrest of nine people in three states. Those are the words of Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, who says the case in her state is "one of the...

Judge: School, Cops Had No Legal Duty to Protect Parkland Teens

But another judge last week had a different view about officer Scot Peterson

(Newser) - A federal judge has tossed a lawsuit claiming sheriff's deputies and school officials failed to protect students during the Feb. 14 Parkland shooting. Claiming severe trauma and psychological injuries, 15 students of Florida's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School argued their civil and due process rights were violated. "...

Alligators Didn't Get Him. Jury Decides His Wife Did

Denise Williams found guilty on all 3 charges in Mike Williams murder case

(Newser) - Though Denise Williams didn't pull the trigger , a Leon County, Fla., jury found her guilty on Friday of first-degree murder in the 2000 death of her husband, determining she did indeed help mastermind the plot. The 48-year-old was also convicted on charges of conspiracy to commit murder and accessory...

Nursing Home Staff Smelled the Stench, But 'Did Nothing'

York Spratling developed a terrible condition

(Newser) - Nursing home staff could smell the stench but did nothing for days—and when York Spratling was finally sent to a Florida emergency room in February 2017, the cause was hard to stomach. The doctor "said he had never seen anything like that before, especially in this day and...

10 State Names, Deciphered
10 State Names, Deciphered

10 State Names, Deciphered

24/7 Wall St. traces origins to Europe, indigenous cultures

(Newser) - You need look no further than a map to find America's reputation as a melting pot. The evidence is written across the states—specifically in their names, according to 24/7 Wall St. , which surveyed state websites and online resources to trace the origins of those names to England, France,...

Her Lover Killed Her Husband. He Just Testified Against Her

Denise Williams is on trial for murder, though she didn't pull the trigger

(Newser) - On Tuesday, Brian Winchester took the stand and cried. He recounted looking for his missing best friend on Florida's Lake Seminole 18 years ago. But while his father "was searching ... I was just lying," he testified. That's because Winchester knew exactly where Mike Williams had ended...

Can Your Rare Blood Save This Toddler With Cancer?
Wanted: 'Extremely
Rare Blood' for
Sick Toddler
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Wanted: 'Extremely Rare Blood' for Sick Toddler

Donors for Florida girl need 'O' or 'A' blood type, with parents 100% Pakistani, Iranian, or Indian

(Newser) - A toddler in Florida has spurred a hunt for compatible blood donors, and the requirements are incredibly rigid. The little girl, identified as Zainab, 2, was diagnosed just a few weeks ago with neuroblastoma , a rare kind of blood cancer that typically only strikes children ages 5 and younger, WPLG...

Her Baby Died After Birth 69 Years Ago—or So She Was Told

An emotional reunion for Genevieve Purinton and the daughter she never knew she had

(Newser) - For nearly 70 years, Genevieve Purinton believed the baby girl she delivered in an Indiana hospital died soon after birth. This week in Florida, however, she met that baby girl, now a 69-year-old mother and grandmother, very much alive and working as a massage therapist in Vermont. "I'm...

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