Editor’s note: If you are having thoughts of suicide, call or text 988 to reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline or go to SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for a list of additional resources. Kaleb Boateng, a walk-on player for the University of Florida football team until last year, died of a self-inflicted gunshot …
Read More »Lawmakers propose making it easier to impose death penalty in Florida
After a jury couldn’t agree on the death penalty in Florida’s deadliest school shooting, Republican lawmakers in Tallahassee are proposing to make it easier to send condemned convicts to death row. The changes – which would allow a jury to recommend the death penalty even when only eight of 12 …
Read More »Year starts with high numbers of manatee deaths across Florida
TAMPA, Fla. – Lluvia and her calf Morado glide to the bottom of their habitat to munch on romaine lettuce; this is hour one of the eight they spend eating daily. They are the lucky ones, survivors from what wildlife experts are worried could be another year full of unusually …
Read More »Stop the scroll: Pressure builds to ban TikTok on Florida campuses
Is TikTok dead for Florida college students? The University of Florida is warning there is a “strong possibility” it will ban TikTok from its wired and wireless computer networks on campus. That would effectively block access to the popular social media platform for students and faculty in dormitories, classrooms, lecture …
Read More »UF to spend $300,000 on new pool for incoming university president
The University of Florida is making sure its newly hired president, former Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska, can dive into the job: It is spending $300,000 to build a new swimming pool behind the stately mansion where Sasse will live with his family, the school confirmed. Construction on the expensive …
Read More »Remembering Rosewood: Descendants mark racial violence that razed Florida town 100 years ago
ROSEWOOD, Fla. – Lizzie Robinson Jenkins’s living room walls are covered in neat rows and columns of early 1900s history. Tables are littered with artifacts from her aunt, including frayed handkerchiefs and a metal coin purse — family heirlooms almost lost to hate. The 84-year-old’s expression changed as she remembered …
Read More »Musk threatens legal action against Florida university student who tracks his private jet in real time
Under new owner Elon Musk, Twitter has banned the Twitter accounts of one Florida college student, including one account that was using publicly accessible information to track Musk’s private jet flights in real time. Late Wednesday, Musk threatened legal action against Jack Sweeney – a student at the University of …
Read More »‘I don’t care what she says’: Prosecutor says ex-congressional candidate mischaracterizes agreement in hacking case
Former Florida congressional candidate and fired pandemic health manager Rebekah Jones agreed in a court document to admit she was guilty of a hacking-related felony. But she now disputes prosecutors’ claims that she illegally used a government messaging service to send mass texts criticizing Gov. Ron DeSantis’ handling of the …
Read More »Legal drama in Florida Supreme Court hearing whether police names can be kept secret in deadly shootings
Florida’s Supreme Court on Wednesday wrestled during a hearing in Tallahassee over questions about whether a new law protecting the rights of crime victims can be used to keep secret the identities of police officers who kill a suspect in the line of duty. The immediate case involved separate, fatal …
Read More »Legal question: Are police officers victims when they shoot someone in line of duty?
The Florida Supreme Court will consider arguments Wednesday in Tallahassee in a case that considers whether the identities of police officers who kill civilians in violent encounters can be withheld from the public. Law enforcement is among one of the only civilian professions in which the use of deadly force …
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