All posts tagged: Florida

At least 2 deaths attributed to Isaias after hurricane bashes Florida and Alabama

At least 2 deaths attributed to Isaias after hurricane bashes Florida and Alabama

Published by Sam Flores

A driver look at his overturned truck in a flooded parking lot on Saturday morning in Tiger Point, Fla., close to where Hurricane Isaias made landfall Friday night. Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption i Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP via Getty Images Emergency crews in Florida and Alabama are surveying damage wrought by Hurricane Isaias, after the storm bashed into the Gulf Coast as a Category 2 storm Friday night. At least two people have died from storm-related incidents, NPR has confirmed. Isaias brought 105 mph winds onshore, snapping trees and knocking out electricity. Officials warn that flash flood threats persist, but further inland. One death occurred in Escambia County, in the far west of the Florida Panhandle. Shortly before 9 p.m. local time Friday, a rescue team found a person pinned under a large tree, according to Sgt. Melony Peterson of the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office. “The victim was inside the home when the tree collapsed,” Peterson said via email. Another death was reported in Jefferson County, Ala., which includes Birmingham. “We did …

Florida Sweepstakes Casinos Lawsuits

Florida Sweepstakes Casinos Lawsuits

Published by Miika Tikkanen

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier is suing the operators behind Chumba Casino, Global Poker and Stake.us, alleging that their sweepstakes casino platforms violate state gambling law and seeking to shut them down. The cases put more than the operators’ access to Florida at stake: the state is also seeking civil penalties and recovery of Floridians’ losses. As South Florida Reporter describes it, the lawsuits mark a shift from a proposed statewide ban to litigation targeting two major companies. Florida seeks bans and player-loss recovery One suit targets VGW, which operates Chumba Casino and Global Poker, along with payment processors. The other targets Stake and related parties. Florida is seeking to bar the sites from operating in the state and recover money lost by Florida players. The state is also seeking penalties of up to $10,000 for each willful violation, rising to $15,000 per violation when play involves a minor, senior or disabled customer. Those are requested penalties, not fines already imposed: the cases remain at an early stage, and no court has ordered the sites …

Adult female pythons cause the most trouble in Florida

Adult female pythons cause the most trouble in Florida

Published by Jenni Sidey

The Burmese python (Python bivittatus) is such a problem for Florida that it’s legal to hunt the massive invasive species throughout the year. The state even hosts an annual 10-day competition that challenges participants to bag as many snakes as possible. But a free-for-all approach may not be the best way to cull Florida’s estimated 100,000–300,000 of these predators. In a study published in the journal Ecological Applications, conservationists argue that if you really want to make a dent, you need to be more selective about your targets. “Our previous work treated all Burmese pythons as contributing equally to the population,” University of Florida (UF) Croc Doc Wildlife Research Team ecologist Alex Romer said in a recent profile. “But removing the biggest female we’ve ever caught is very different from removing a tiny snake that might not survive next year.” Romer and his colleagues analyzed data from South Florida Water Management District’s Python Elimination Program to develop a new system called the Weighted Removal Index (WRI). Points are awarded to a snake depending on various …

You Can Buy New York’s Hottest T-Shirt at the Deli

You Can Buy New York’s Hottest T-Shirt at the Deli

Published by Jenni Sidey

Death Metal, Florida, is not a real place. But if you hang out in Lower Manhattan, you may have seen it advertised in Helvetica Bold across the torsos of its denizens. The allure of a dirtbag wonderland tucked away in the panhandle really needs no explanation, especially in a golden era of irreverent graphic tees. Death Metal, Florida resonates because its punkdom is self-evident. It is also fleeting: Most, if not all, of these tees were purchased at Dimes Deli, a diner that helped the micro-neighborhood of Dimes Square earn its nickname, and sprang from the mind of a 29-year-old server named Brandon Santana who is “trying to get out of the shirt business.” The concept of Death Metal, Florida came to Santana years after a college friend created a T-shirt featuring a map of Mount Vernon, Washington that looked nothing like Mount Vernon, Washington. This ultra-insider, somewhat solipsistic brand of humor, and the way it messed with onlookers, unlocked a dormant sensibility for Santana, who claims his current mission is “to confuse people as …

From Florida to Wisconsin, governments are turning off Flock cameras

From Florida to Wisconsin, governments are turning off Flock cameras

Published by Miika Tikkanen

The cameras are coming down in Florida. Partially. On Monday, the Florida Department of Transportation officially revoked permission for law enforcement agencies to operate automated license plate readers on state highway rights-of-way. Police agencies have 30 days to remove them. The order represents one of the broadest government actions yet against the increasingly controversial technology. And although Flock Safety has become almost synonymous with automated license plate readers, Florida’s directive applies to the entire category, including cameras supplied by competitors such as Axon and Motorola. Florida officials cited the “recent exponential increase” in camera deployments, along with “concerning reports of misuse, data privacy concerns, and surveillance schemes.” Florida appears to be the first state to order the wholesale removal of automated license plate readers from its state highway system, rather than pausing new installations, limiting their use, or cutting funding. SEE ALSO: What are Flock cameras and why are they so controversial? The order applies statewide but only to cameras installed within state highway rights-of-way. It does not prohibit license plate readers on local roads …

Florida zoo treats a manatee, a duck, and a chick with acupuncture

Florida zoo treats a manatee, a duck, and a chick with acupuncture

Published by Jenni Sidey

Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. By signing up, you confirm you are 16+, will receive newsletters and promotional content and agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe at any time. Just like some humans, animals can benefit from acupuncture, too. ZooTampa at Lowry Park in Tampa, Florida is using veterinary acupuncture to treat some of its animals with complex medical conditions. The patients that have received this treatment include a manatee (Trichechus manatus) named Sloth, a black-bellied whistling duck (Dendrocygna autumnalis) named Earl Grey, and a roseate spoonbill chick (Platalea ajaja). According to the Mayo Clinic, acupuncture involves putting very thin needles through the skin at strategic points on your body, and is most commonly used to treat pain. “Acupuncture has a wide range of applications that can be applied to some of our diverse animal cases here at the zoo,” Alex Mason, the staff veterinarian who is certified in veterinary acupuncture and leading …

What Florida Students Have Been Mandated To Learn Will Make Leftists Lose It

What Florida Students Have Been Mandated To Learn Will Make Leftists Lose It

Published by Jenni Sidey

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity News, Florida is doing what no blue-state classroom dares: forcing students to confront the actual body count of communism instead of romanticizing it. Starting this fall, every public school student from sixth grade onward will receive mandatory instruction on the history and evils of communism under standards signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis. The curriculum covers the Soviet Union, the Chinese Communist Revolution, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela, and the recent capture of Nicolás Maduro. ? BREAKING: Florida students are being REQUIRED this Fall to learn about the evils of Communism under a law signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis BASED ???? “Starting in 6th grade, they will touch [on] the dangers of the Soviet Union, the Chinese Communist Revolution, North Korea, Cuba… pic.twitter.com/LcqfyOhrzU — Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) August 21, 2026 It details the mass deaths under Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, and Castro, the failure of collectivism, and the superiority of free enterprise and private property. ?? COMMUNISM — This fall, Florida will make it MANDATORY for every middle …

Florida lawsuits target Stake and VGW as sweepstakes pressure grows

Florida lawsuits target Stake and VGW as sweepstakes pressure grows

Published by Miika Tikkanen

Florida has become the latest state to take legal action at sweepstakes-style gaming, with Attorney General James Uthmeier suing the businesses behind Stake US and Virtual Gaming Worlds’ (VGW) Chumba Casino, LuckyLand and Global Poker. The two complaints, filed Wednesday (August 19) in Hillsborough County Circuit Court, accuse the operators of running illegal online casinos while presenting their products as sweepstakes or social gaming. Payment companies and other businesses that allegedly helped the platforms process transactions are also defendants. If it looks like a casino, takes money like a casino, and pays out like a casino, it is a casino—and it’s illegal in Florida. That’s why we’re suing predatory online gaming sites Stake and VGW to stop illegal gambling and recover money lost by Florida consumers. pic.twitter.com/JMboneyvxN — Attorney General James Uthmeier (@AGJamesUthmeier) August 19, 2026 “If it looks like a casino, takes money like a casino, and pays out like a casino, it is a casino—and it’s illegal in Florida,” Uthmeier said in announcing the lawsuits. He made the same case in a video …

Florida Republicans did what Mike Johnson is too partisan to do — they showed disgraced Rep. Cory Mills the door

Florida Republicans did what Mike Johnson is too partisan to do — they showed disgraced Rep. Cory Mills the door

Published by Sam Flores

On Tuesday evening, Florida Republicans in the 7th district did something that House Speaker Mike Johnson so far has refused to do: they booted Rep. Cory Mills. Mills lost to former news anchor Ryan Elijah. This came after the House Ethics Committee opened an investigation into Mills for allegedly violating campaign finance laws, misusing congressional resources and engaging in sexual misconduct or dating violence. Last year, a judge hit Mills with a restraining order prohibiting him from contacting an ex-partner after she claimed that Mills threatened to leak nude videos and images to blackmail her. Over time, he had become a liability and Republicans feared he could cost them the seat in hyper-Republican Florida. Tellingly, despite President Donald Trump having endorsed Mills back in February, he did not support Mills publicly before the primary. The day after, though, Trump claimed he told Mills to step aside. “I told Congressman Cory Mills of Florida, a friend of mine, to get out of the Race, but he wouldn’t listen. He thought he could win, so who can …

280 snakes killed at 2026 Florida Python Challenge

280 snakes killed at 2026 Florida Python Challenge

Published by Jenni Sidey

Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. By signing up, you confirm you are 16+, will receive newsletters and promotional content and agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe at any time. The full list of this year’s top python hunters is finally here. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) announced the results of this year’s Florida Python Challenge, which featured 907 participants from 30 states as well as Vietnam and Canada. Over 10 days, hunters scoured locations like Everglades National Forest to remove as many Burmese pythons (Python bivittatus) as possible in an effort to promote ongoing mitigation efforts against the destructive invasive species.  Challenge participants collectively removed a total of 280 snakes from south Florida, bringing the annual competition’s overall tally to more than 1,600 pythons. While Tom Rahill walked away with the $10,000 grand prize for removing 96 snakes, Rahm Levinson won $1,000 with the longest python measuring an impressive …