SpaceX knocks out overnight Space Coast launch while Starship attempt from Texas could come soon

SpaceX went about its Falcon 9 business again with an overnight launch of a communications satellite from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, but over in Texas, the Starship and Super Heavy have been stacked and await the OK to go from the Federal Aviation Administration. The launch at 12:30 a.m. Friday from Canaveral’s Space Launch Complex 40 sent the Intelsat IS-40e satellite to geosynchronous transfer orbit. Attached to the satellite is a NASA instrument built by Ball Aerospace known as... Read More

Florida Supreme Court refuses to block execution

TALLAHASSEE — The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday rejected arguments aimed at sparing the life of Death Row inmate Louis Gaskin, setting the stage for his execution next week in the 1989 murders of a Flagler County couple. Gov. Ron DeSantis last month signed a death warrant for Gaskin, who is scheduled to be put to death by lethal injection Wednesday at Florida State Prison. Advertisement Gaskin’s attorneys last week filed a motion for a stay of the execution and raised... Read More

Three sentenced to life in prison for murder of XXXTentacion

The three men convicted of ambushing, robbing and murdering rising rap star XXXTentacion in Deerfield Beach nearly five years ago were sentenced Thursday to spend the rest of their lives in prison. Attorneys for Michael Boatwright, Trayvon Newsome and Dedrick Williams say they will appeal the conviction, which came March 20 after more than a week of deliberation. Advertisement The rapper, whose real name was Jahseh Onfroy, was 20 when he was gunned down outside Riva Motorsports in... Read More

DeSantis threatens Disney, praises Florida GOP’s ‘culture of winning’ in Michigan visit

Gov. Ron DeSantis’ nationwide swing took him to Michigan on Thursday, where he referred to Donald Trump’s indictment by attacking “ideological” prosecutors and compared Florida Democrats to roadkill. He also vowed the state would get even with the Walt Disney Co., saying the company “tried to pull a fast one” by having the outgoing Reedy Creek board granted 30 years of development control to the company just days before a DeSantis-appointed board took... Read More

Lolita’s former trainers fight against the orca’s release to home waters. They fear it’ll end in tragedy.

Though it may look like Lolita the orca’s life will have a fairytale ending of freedom, a group of her former trainers have come out against the idea of releasing her in the wilds of Puget Sound, where she was captured in 1970. Lolita, the 57-year-old orca, has lived for more than 50 years in cramped quarters at the Miami Seaquarium, where she would perform live shows daily. She was deemed officially retired last year. Advertisement Last week, new Seaquarium ownership, along with... Read More

Teacher charged with animal cruelty recommended for termination

A Broward teacher criminally charged with beating his dog to death may get fired on Tuesday. Daniel Gray Jr., 29, a teacher of students with behavioral issues at Pine Ridge Education Center in Fort Lauderdale, was arrested by Pembroke Pines police on Aug. 11. Advertisement He was charged with aggravated animal cruelty, a felony, as well as misdemeanor charges related to animal cruelty and improperly disposing of a dead animal. Gray has pleaded not guilty and is contesting his... Read More

Could Florida curb parades with drag performers? Here’s what a new bill proposes.

A bill under consideration in Florida’s Legislature could curb gay pride parades in public places statewide if such events were deemed to be “lewd” and children were watching, say gay advocates who worry about the proposal’s chilling effect. But state Sen. Clay Yarborough, a Republican from Jacksonville, says the proposal is about protecting children from watching performances only meant for adults. “When we see things, we cannot unsee them,” he... Read More

Abortion funding groups urge Florida lawmakers to allow public money for travel

Florida’s abortion funding organizations held an advocacy day in Tallahassee Wednesday urging lawmakers to support women who need to travel out of state for procedures. The Florida Senate passed a bill on Monday that bans abortion after six weeks and also prohibits state agencies, cities, counties or universities from spending money for woman to travel to another state to receive abortion care. Advertisement The city of St. Petersburg has proposed an allocation of $50,000 for the... Read More

Delray Beach man who worked at credit union accused of using job to defraud account holders

State officers arrested a Delray Beach resident Tuesday, over a year after he allegedly used his job at a Pensacola-area credit union to defraud more than three dozen account holders out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Johnathan Coleman Jr., 28, worked at the Navy Federal Credit Union for about two months and, in a 37-day span from July to August of 2021, defrauded a total of 38 credit union members by accessing their accounts and funneling that information to someone who posed as the... Read More

FAU, FIU join Florida universities banning TikTok, other social media apps on campus and from school-owned devices

College students across Florida tried to open their TikToks Wednesday, only to find that they could no longer load the app. Many state universities, including Florida Atlantic in Boca Raton and Florida International in Miami, have officially banned TikTok from their campus WiFi networks and university-owned devices to comply with an emergency amendment passed by the Florida Board of Governors last week. Advertisement The universities so far with bans include Florida Atlantic... Read More