Tag Archives: Florida

Multitude of Sinkhole Development During Last Two Days

A multitude of sinkholes around the country has struck in the last two days.

A massive Florida sinkhole that opened in February 2013 under the home of Jeff Bush, swallowing the man and his bedroom, reopened on Wednesday.  The sinkhole is now part of vacant lots after the government destroyed homes surrounding it and was filled in again for a second time.

“It brings back memories,” the victim’s brother Jeremy Bush told CNN affiliate WFLA with tears in his eyes. “I think about it every day. There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think about it.”

Another sinkhole in Leesburg, Virginia knocked out water to residents and left a 30 foot by 40 foot hole in the middle of a street.  The city has been monitoring the hole for further movement.

In Athens, Georgia, a sinkhole opened near a local business and swallowed an ice machine and the end wall of a car wash. Lynn Taylor, a neighbor to the business, said she heard noises beginning around midnight and awoke to find the hole the following morning.

“It sounded like somebody was ruffling my doors,” Taylor said.

Finally, Interstate 93 in Concord, New Hampshire reopened Thursday after a sinkhole closed the road down on Wednesday.  The 20-foot sinkhole closed the northbound highway between Exits 13 and 14 around Noon Wednesday.

In a fortunate situation, a staffer for the Department of Transportation was driving over the sinkhole as it began to collapse and they were able to stop traffic before anyone drove into it.

Florida Murder Investigated as “Ritualistic Killing” Connected to Witchcraft

An elderly mother and her two sons were found dead in their Florida Panhandle home last week and now police say it’s looking like they were killed as part of a witchcraft ritual.

At a news conference, Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan told reporters they are suspecting witchcraft because of the positioning of the victim’s bodies.

“Initial research has led us to believe it was a ritualistic killing,” Morgan said. “The method of the murder — positioning of bodies — and our person of interest has some ties to a faith or religion that is indicative of that. The time of the death on Tuesday also coincides with what’s referred to as a blue moon, which occurs every three years.”

The sheriff described the scene as “very complex.”

“There are different factions of (witchcraft). While it doesn’t bother me to release that particular thing, I most assuredly do not want to defame or demean any particular practice,” Morgan said.

One of the victims was an employee of the Department of Homeland Security.  Morgan said there was no sign of forced entry or robbery at the home.

Floridians Warned To Avoid Armadillos Because of Leprosy

Leprosy cases are on the rise in Florida and officials say most of the cases appear to be connected to armadillos.

The Florida Department of Health says that 9 cases have been confirmed so far this year, almost matching the state’s yearly average of 10 cases.

The head of the Duval County Medical Society told WKMG-TV that all of the cases could be tracked back to contact with armadillos.

“It is a devastating illness if you do get it,” said Dr. Sunil Joshi said.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) says that armadillos are the only animal that carries leprosy and that they can spread it through their saliva.

“We catch more armadillos than we do any other species,” said wildlife trapper Kyle Waltz to CBS Jacksonville.  “Especially if they’re trying to get out of a cage they can spit on you.”

“What’s happening in Florida is not necessarily concerning but what’s interesting is those cases were all with people who were in direct contact with armadillos,” Joshi said.

Florida has a large armadillo population although most of them live in the woods.  However, residents have found the animals living in their yards where they pose a danger to animals and children.

One reporter for CBS Jacksonville found six armadillos living under her home.

“It is still very, very unlikely to cause problems but be aware of armadillos and stay away from them,” Joshi said.

While armadillos are mostly nocturnal, it is currently their mating season and they can be out during the day, complicating the situation.

Two Boys Save Children From Burning Home

Two young boys in Orange County, Florida are being hailed as heroes after running into a burning mobile home to save the lives of two other children.

Isiah Francis, 10, called 911 when he saw the fire.  He then ran into the home with his friend, 11-year-old Jeremiah Grimes saw his friend rushing into the building and joined him.  The two saved two young children who had been trapped by the flames.

Firefighters then arrived and rescued two other children.

“I was in the place first trying to get those little kids out to save their lives,” Francis said. “I was nervous because there was so much smoke. It was hard for me to see and all that.”

Isiah said that Jeremiah stood at the door and directed him through the heavy smoke until they found the youngest children.

“I took the infant, he took the older one and we ran back to his house,” Grimes said.

“Although we never advise entering a building on fire,” said Fire Chief Otto Drozd III, “we must recognize the courage it took for those kids to risk their own lives to save the lives of others.”

The children rescued by firefighters are in critical but stable condition at Arnold Palmer Hospital.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

New Drug Sweeping Florida Stronger Than Bath Salts

A new drug sweeping through Florida has been found that is stronger than crystal meth or bath salts.

The drug, called flakka (Spanish for skinny), has resulted in a man trying to break down the door of a police station, a man impaling himself while climbing a fence and a nude man screaming on a rooftop according to CBS.

The drug can be snorted, snoked, injected or swallowed.  It can even be used in e-cigarettes.

“We’re starting to see a rash of cases of a syndrome referred to as excited delirium,” Jim Hall, an epidemiologist at the Center for Applied Research on Substance Use and Health Disparities at Nova Southeastern University, told CBS. “This is where the body goes into hyperthermia, generally a temperature of 105 degrees. The individual becomes psychotic, they often rip off their clothes and run out into the street violently and have an adrenaline-like strength and police are called and it takes four or five officers to restrain them. Then once they are restrained, if they don’t receive immediate medical attention they can die.”

The drug is usually made from the same class of chemical that is used to make bath salts, the drug that came to the public’s attention in 2012 when a man started chewing on another man’s face in public while high on the drug.

“On a scale of one to 10, Flakka is a 12,” Lt. Dan Zsido of the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office told 10 News Tampa Bay Sarasota. “It comes from a place where we don’t know how it’s being made, who’s making it, and what’s been added to it before it reaches the end user so it’s very dangerous.”

Florida City Removes Tax-Exempt Status From Church Hosting Nude Parties

Officials in Panama City Beach, Florida have revoked the local tax-exempt status of a “church” that has been running a sexually-themed nightclub during Spring Break.

“It’s very disturbing, especially inside our city limits here in Bay County,” Panama City Beach Police Chief Drew Whitman told reporters this week. “I think we’re better than that.”

The group calling itself “Life Center Church” has been hosting an event called “Spring Break Amnesia” since February that featured items local officials called “shocking” for a place of worship.

“A bottle club, charging $20 at the door and selling obscene T-shirts is not being used as a church,” Property Appraiser Dan Sowell told the Panama City News Herald. “A God-fearing, God-honoring church in January does not sponsor this type of debauchery in March.”

The “church” had been advertising events on their website that were anything but Christian.

“‘Slumber’ is a pajama and lingerie party hosted by the sexiest ladies on the beach,” the site’s event description read just three days ago. “‘Anything But Clothes’ showcases your artistic side, featuring your mind and body. How creative can you be? Bare as you dare to attend in anything but clothes (toga, body paint, etc.).”

The church’s “pastor” once had another church in the area called Faith Christian Family Church.  He was arrested and placed on probation for giving pot to teens.

Leprosy On Rise In Florida

A disease that has been feared since Biblical times is on the rise in Florida.

Officials near Daytona Beach say that three people have been diagnosed with leprosy over the last five months.  Two of the patients reportedly had been infected after close contact with armadillos.

Three cases are unusually high for a disease that is considered rare.

Brevard County officials say that 18 cases of leprosy have been found in their county in the last five years and most of those cases are patients who had some kind of contact with armadillos.

Health officials say that only 150 to 250 new cases of leprosy are found in the United States each year.  

Florida health officials say that the disease is not very contagious to the public at large.

Woman Arrested After Damaging Satanic Display at Florida Capitol

A woman was arrested Tuesday after she attempted to tear down the Satanic Temple’s display in the lobby of the Florida Capitol.

Susan Hemeryck, 54, told police officers she was sorry but that it was “not right” to allow the anti-Christian display.

Hemeryck tried to remove the display as an officer stopped her and said she had to put it back.  She responded by trying to tear down the display until the officers subdued and arrested her.

“It’s just wrong, when you remove baby Jesus two days before Christmas and put Satan in his place — that just can’t happen. I couldn’t allow it to happen,” Hemeryck told the Associated Press “I was there at the right time and the right moment and I needed to take a stand against Satan.”

Hemeryck faces a charge of criminal mischief.  She has no criminal record.

“I just yanked that little devil off the fishing line,” she told the AP when asked if she had any regrets. “I should have just done a better job and finished it off for good.”

Satanic Temple To Do Holiday Display At Florida Capitol

The Satanic Temple of New York will have a prominent place at the Florida State Capitol building during the Christmas season.

The group will be posting a display for “Festivus”, a fake holiday created on a television sitcom.  The display from the group will be a six foot tall stack of beer cans.

The display had been rejected last year by the Florida Department of Management Services as being “grossly offensive.”  There was no explanation by the group this year why the display was given approval.

A spokesman for the Satanists said the difference was that this year the group showed up with lawyers.

Christian groups say that these outside groups posting displays are not doing it to wish well to residents during the holiday season.

“This is not a religious endorsement by our state government. It’s freedom of religion and freedom of speech, and we will all be up there,” Pam Olsen of the Florida Prayer Network said. “But are they really putting them up to wish everyone a happy holiday from the atheists and the Satanists, or are they up there to protest baby Jesus?”

Pro-Lifers Take City To Court Over Citations For Loitering

A Florida city who has been harassing pro-life protesters is being taken to court by two women threatened with loitering citations for their protest.

The American Center for Law and Justice says they are representing Judith Minihan and JoAnn O’Connell in a federal suit.  The women hold protests and plead with women seeking to kill their children through abortion at the Fort Myers Women’s Health Center.

“When individuals who are driving into the medical office complex stop to speak with Plaintiffs, Plaintiffs will generally hand them literature and speak with them about abortion-related topics, including information about the possible emotional and physical effects of abortion, nearby maternity homes, local and national helplines, and fetal development,”  the ACLJ wrote in their complaint.

The women take care to stand on the public sidewalk while they are there and do not block pedestrians from entering the abortionist.  However, police have taken to harassing the women.

“Defendant Officer Conticelli stated that he would enforce the loitering ordinance against them if they (1) stood in one spot on the public sidewalk in front of the medical office complex and abortion clinic and did not keep walking on that public sidewalk, (2) approached any vehicles entering or leaving the medical office complex and abortion clinic to hand out literature or speak with the occupants of the vehicle, or (3) blocked vehicular traffic entering or leaving the medical office complex and abortion clinic by handing out literature or talking to the people in vehicles,” the complaint reads.

The women handed the officer a consent decree from a previous lawsuit with the city that said they would not interfere with their pro-life activities but the police continued their threats necessitating the current suit.

The city’s attorney said they would be reviewing the situation.