Category: Broward News

He sparked massive search after calling 911 about child kidnapping. It was fake, police say.

A witness’ report of a teenage girl being abducted by two men prompted a massive law enforcement response. There was just one problem: The story was fake, Hollywood police said Wednesday. Wilker Joseph’s report to 911 about an abduction on Feb. 12 “strained and spent valuable resources investigating this false claim,” a police report said. Agencies that joined the search or helped investigate the case included the FBI, U.S. Marshals, school resource officers, school board... Read More

‘Jeopardy!’ host Alex Trebek reveals stage IV pancreatic cancer diagnosis

Alex Trebek made a heartbreaking announcement Wednesday when the longtime “Jeopardy!” host announced that he has been diagnosed with stage IV pancreatic cancer. “I have some news to share with all of you and it’s in keeping with my longtime policy of being open and transparent with our Jeopardy! fan base,” Trebek, 78, said in a video message recorded on the iconic set. “I also wanted to prevent you from reading or hearing some overblown or inaccurate reports regarding my health.... Read More

Hollywood cut pension benefits in 2011. Eight years later, they’re being restored.

Slashed pay and extreme pension cuts caused a rift between Hollywood and its police and firefighters that has lasted almost a decade. Hollywood took steps to end the feud with the city’s firefighters on Wednesday, a month after mending fences with police. A plan that would restore pension benefits at an estimated cost of $2.6 million a year won unanimous commission approval. A final vote will take place on March 20. “Long overdue,” Commissioner Peter Hernandez said before Wednesday’s... Read More

Medical marijuana smoking ban close to being repealed in Florida

TALLAHASSEE — With plenty of breathing room before a March 15 deadline set by Gov. Ron DeSantis, House and Senate leaders are close to doing away with a state ban on smoking medical marijuana. State Sen. Jeff Brandes and state Rep. Ray Rodrigues confirmed Wednesday they’ve reached an accord on a proposal that would allow patients to purchase up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana for smoking every 35 days, ban smoking of medical marijuana in public places and allow terminally ill children to... Read More

U.S. journalist Cody Weddle, a freelancer for South Florida news outlets, feared detained in Venezuela

The family of a Caracas-based American reporter who freelances for South Florida news outlets fears he has been detained in Venezuela by the embattled government of Nicolas Maduro. According to media reports, the U.S.-based relatives of journalist Cody Weddle do not know what has happened to him but they think he was detained sometime around 8 a.m. Wednesday after authorities apparently raided his home in Caracas, the Venezuelan capital. Weddle’s sister Kelsey McMahan said the family has... Read More

Life in plastic: Celebrate Barbie’s 60th birthday at Wilton Manors ‘Art of Barbie’ party

It took six weeks of allowance and an agonizing wait before Constance Ruppender had scraped together enough savings – three bucks – to buy her first Barbie doll at a Woolworths in 1959. She was beautiful, slender and everything like the doll she saw advertised on “The Mickey Mouse Club,” with late-‘50s bubble-cut hair and a Jackie Kennedy-style orange coat and gray dress. To then-8-year-old Ruppender, she was perfect. Which perhaps explains why Ruppender never stopped buying... Read More

Officer injured in fall while training on tower

A Coral Springs police officer was injured in a fall from a tower during a training exercise Wednesday, officials said. The officer was airlifted to the hospital with several injuries, according to fire spokesman Mike Moser. His injuries are not life-threatening, said police spokesman Tyler Reik. The tower is about 40 feet tall, but it wasn’t immediately known where the officer fell from on the tower, Reik said. The officer’s name hasn’t been released. lhuriash@sunsentinel.com,... Read More