Florida

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Cops: Teen Carjacker Wanted to See Grandmother

18-year-old in Florida allegedly apologized to his victim

(Newser) - An 18-year-old in a ski mask apologized as he pointed a gun at a woman and took her SUV, saying he needed it to visit his grandmother, according to authorities in Orange County, Florida. Deputies say Kenneth Shears approached the woman as she sat in her parked vehicle on Saturday,...

Trump Impeachment Witness Is Running for Senate

Democrat Alex Vindman challenges GOP Sen. Ashley Moody, says she's in billionaires' pocket

(Newser) - Alex Vindman is testing whether his fame from the first Trump impeachment can translate into a Senate seat in increasingly red Florida. The retired Army lieutenant colonel and former National Security Council official launched a Democratic bid Tuesday for the seat now held by Republican Sen. Ashley Moody, an appointee...

Florida Man Accused of DUI After Driving Burning Car

Deputies say burning vehicle sparked brush fire along US 192

(Newser) - Drivers on a central Florida highway got a disturbing show Friday: a car rolling down US 192 while on fire, deputies say. The Brevard County Sheriff's Office says 60-year-old Patrick Rinaldi was arrested on suspicion of DUI after witnesses reported seeing him stop his smoking vehicle, then get back...

Man Sneaks Into Sundance Party, Punches Lawmaker: Cops

Suspect allegedly shouted racist remarks, threatened deportation during attack

(Newser) - A late-night party on the sidelines of the Sundance Film Festival turned violent for Rep. Maxwell Frost on Friday, ending with a 28-year-old man in jail and facing multiple charges. The Florida Democrat said on X that a man told him President Trump was going to deport him, then punched...

Cops: Husband Fatally Shot Wife's Would-Be Kidnapper

Fla. deputies say husband acted in self-defense, gunned down 36-year-old man who threatened couple

(Newser) - A dog walk on New Year's Day ended in gunfire that authorities now say was justified self-defense. The Manatee County Sheriff's Office says the trouble began when 36-year-old Nicholas Palomo allegedly tried to force a woman into his vehicle as she walked her dog in Bradenton, per FOX...

For Trump-Supporting Cubans in Florida, Growing 'Unease'

Government policies end special protections, expand detentions and family separations

(Newser) - Cubans in Florida who long believed they were largely shielded from US deportation policies are discovering that their safety net is essentially gone. The New York Times traces how the Trump administration has sharply escalated removals to Cuba, deporting more than 1,600 people in 2025 alone—about twice that...

Tate Brothers Visit Miami-Area Club, Dance to Ye's Hitler Song

Mayor, ADL denounce antisemitic display, song at Vendome amid visit by siblings, Nick Fuentes

(Newser) - Miami Beach's Vendome nightclub is under fire after video showed a DJ blasting an antisemitic track by the rapper formerly known as Kanye West while a group of high-profile right-wing influencers appeared to cheer it on. Clips circulating online show Ye's song "Heil Hitler" playing inside the...

Fla.'s State Bird May Be Booted From Its Nest After 99 Years

Bill sponsored by GOP lawmaker wants the flamingo swapped in for the northern mockingbird

(Newser) - Florida lawmakers are mulling a question for the birds this session: Should the mockingbird give way to the flamingo as the official state bird? State Rep. Jim Mooney, a Republican from the Florida Keys, is leading the charge with a campaign that leans hard into pink, complete with flamingo-themed ties...

Snow Crosses Florida Line
Snow Crosses Florida Line
Jan 18, 2026 1:58 PM CST

Snow Crosses Florida Line

New England is looking at greater accumulations, forecasters say

(Newser) - A small part of Florida is the Snowy State for the second year in a row. Snow briefly covered the grass and rooftops in parts of the western Florida Panhandle on Sunday morning as just enough frigid air rushed in behind a cold front to turn the last rain showers...

Cops Say Woman Intentionally Drove Car Into Courthouse

Damages may reach $200K at federal building in West Palm Beach, Florida

(Newser) - A woman intentionally crashed her vehicle through the front entrance of a South Florida federal courthouse building after regular hours, causing about $200,000 in damage, authorities said. Investigators determined the 55-year-old woman drove into the Paul G. Rogers Federal Building in West Palm Beach around 11pm on Wednesday, police...

'In My 25 Years, I've Never Handcuffed an Emu'

That changed Friday when a Fla. deputy captured one of the large flightless birds that had escaped

(Newser) - A Florida deputy has captured a runaway emu and safely returned the large flightless bird to its home. A St. Johns County deputy responded last Friday to a rural area west of St. Augustine following reports of the bird's escape, the sheriff's office said in a Facebook post...

Paraglider's Experience Goes a Bit South

Man drops 500 feet into ocean off of Florida's Singer Island, escapes major injury

(Newser) - Witnesses on a South Florida beach watched a powered paraglider plunge hundreds of feet into the Atlantic last week—then saw the pilot walk away virtually unharmed. Police in Riviera Beach say the 52-year-old man from Pompano Beach fell an estimated 500 feet into the ocean on Friday off of...

Florida Deputies Help Rescue Trapped Shark

It was snagged on a crab trap buoy

(Newser) - A shark in trouble off Florida's Gulf Coast ended up getting help from an unlikely source: sheriff's deputies on routine patrol. The Manatee County Sheriff's Office Marine Unit says it was cruising near Manatee Public Beach on Friday when a dorsal fin breaking the surface looked just...

Jan. 6 'Podium Guy' Running for Office in Florida

Pardoned Jan. 6 participant challenges incumbent for Manatee County seat

(Newser) - The man once photographed grinning with Nancy Pelosi's lectern is now asking voters to hand him an official one. Adam Johnson, dubbed "Podium Guy" or "Lectern Guy" after an image of him carrying the then-House speaker's lectern during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack went viral,...

Latest Entry in Race Is Rioter Who Took Pelosi's Lectern

Adam Johnson seeks county commission seat in Florida

(Newser) - A Florida man who posed for photos after taking House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's lectern during the Capitol riot has filed for public office in Florida. Election records show Adam Johnson filed Tuesday—the fifth anniversary of the attack—as a Republican to run for an at-large seat on the...

Google's Founders Appear to Be Cutting California Ties

As a big tax looms, their business interests are uprooting, and Page bought 2 Miami mansions

(Newser) - Larry Page appears to be voting with his real-estate portfolio. The Google co-founder and longtime California resident has quietly bought a pair of estates in Miami for a combined $173.4 million, reports the Wall Street Journal . The move comes ahead of a proposed one-time tax on billionaires in California...

DeSantis Calls Special Session to Redraw Congressional Map

GOP governor puts session on calendar for April to redraw Florida districts

(Newser) - Florida's governor is pushing the congressional map fight right up to the wire. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday ordered a special legislative session for April 20-24 to redraw Florida's US House districts, timing it just days before the current April 24 candidate filing deadline. He said the extra session...

Probation for Man Involved in Boating Death of 15-Year-Old

Ella Adler was killed in a wakeboarding outing near Miami

(Newser) - An elderly South Florida boater will not serve prison time in connection with the 2024 death of a teenage wakeboarder in Biscayne Bay. Carlos "Bill" Alonso, 79, reached a plea deal with prosecutors that calls for six months of probation and a mandatory boater safety course, NBC 6 reports....

DeSantis Mulls State Charges Against Maduro

Fla. governor backs seeking separate state case over Venezuela leader's alleged drug crimes

(Newser) - Florida could try to pile on Nicolas Maduro's legal troubles. Gov. Ron DeSantis said this week that the attorney general's office in Florida is "looking very seriously" at bringing state charges against the Venezuelan leader, days after Maduro was brought to the US and pleaded not guilty...

There's a New Lightning Strike Capital in the US

Oklahoma overtakes Florida with highest lightning density in 2025

(Newser) - Florida just lost a long-held weather title. A new report from environmental consulting firm AEM names Oklahoma as the state with the highest lightning density in the country last year, averaging about 73 lightning flashes per square mile. Florida, often dubbed the nation's lightning capital, slipped to second place,...

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