June 5, 2018

Arkansas faces more fights over abortion limits after court ruling

LITTLE ROCK — The U.S. Supreme Court's decision to let Arkansas enforce a law that critics say effectively bans abortion pills in the state is a setback for abortion rights supporters who have been fighting a wave of restrictions in the predominantly Republican state. The court fight over that restriction and others is far from over.

The nation's high court last week rejected an appeal from Planned Parenthood, which wanted justices to reverse an appeals court ruling and reinstate a lower court order that blocked the law from taking effect. The law says doctors who provide the abortion pills must hold a contract with another physician who has admitting privileges at a hospital and who would agree to handle complications—and Planned Parenthood says it has been unable to find any able to do so.

The legal fight doesn't end, but the ruling means Arkansas can enforce the law for the time being. Planned Parenthood said it has started telling patients they couldn't access medication abortions because of the ruling and has asked for a new temporary restraining order from the lower court. A federal judge plans to hold a hearing on that request Friday morning.

The courts have essentially been a revolving door for legal fights over abortion limits in Arkansas since Republicans took control of the state Legislature six years ago. Here's where other cases stand:

Read more: http://www.texarkanagazette.com/news/arkansas/story/2018/jun/04/arkansas-faces-more-fights-over-abortion-limits-after-court-ruling/729141/

June 5, 2018

Victoria, Texas, mosque opens doors to displaced congregation

VICTORIA, Texas—A Texas mosque that was destroyed by a fire last year is opening its doors to a Unitarian congregation that lost its place of worship after a car crashed into the church.

The Victoria Islamic Center offered its worship space Sunday to about 30 members of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Victoria, the Victoria Advocate reported . A vehicle barreled through the church on May 29. No one was injured.

"You can use this place as long as you want—as many Sundays as you wish," Abe Ajrami, the Islamic center's treasurer, told the churchgoers Sunday. "When you're finished, just turn out the lights."

The mosque itself is under construction after being burned down last year. Federal prosecutors have accused Marq Vincent Perez of starting the fire that destroyed the Victoria mosque, located about 125 miles (200 kilometers) southwest of Houston. Perez is charged with a hate crime.

Read more: http://www.texarkanagazette.com/news/texas/story/2018/jun/05/victoria-texas-mosque-opens-doors-displaced-congregation/729235/

June 5, 2018

Wasserman Schultz, other South Florida Democrats face scant primary opposition in 2018

WASHINGTON -- Two years ago, South Florida was home to the last vestiges of Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign.

Donors from around the country poured millions into Tim Canova's primary challenge against Democratic U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, upset with her leadership of the Democratic National Committee and supposed favoritism toward Hillary Clinton over Sanders.

And Randal Hill, a former University of Miami wide receiver, waged a serious primary challenge against Rep. Frederica Wilson, arguing that the longtime elected official didn't do enough in Washington for her constituents.

But in 2018, none of the five Democrats who represent South Florida in Congress face serious primary challengers. Wasserman Schultz didn't get a primary challenger after Canova decided to run as an independent. Wilson faces a candidate who lives in California and won 246 votes after running for an open congressional seat on the West Coast last year. Reps. Ted Deutch and Alcee Hastings face little-known Democratic challengers, while Rep. Lois Frankel is already assured another term in Congress after no one filed to run against her.

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/article212328174.html

June 5, 2018

An FBI agent loses his gun doing a backflip on the dance floor. Watch as it goes off

A video shows an off-duty FBI agent dancing early Saturday at a Denver bar as onlookers crowd around, smiling and laughing.

But as the man performs a backflip, a handgun falls from his waistband holster onto the dance floor, a video obtained by KMGH shows. The agent scrambles for the gun, which fires as he picks it up.

The gunshot struck a bystander in the leg, police told The Denver Post. “He appears to have non-life threatening injuries,” Marika Putman, a Denver Police Department spokeswoman, told the publication. In a press release, police said the injured man had a "good prognosis."

In the video, the off-duty agent quickly holsters his gun as some patrons flee and others appear shocked and confused. He then walks off the dance floor with his hands up.

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/national/article212440994.html

June 5, 2018

Police chief was fired while investigating mayor. Now he's filed a whistle-blower suit.

Former North Bay Village Police Chief Carlos Noriega filed a whistle-blower lawsuit in federal court Friday, naming the city as primary defendant. The summons was served to Mayor Connie Leon-Kreps.

Noriega alleges that his April 5 firing was retaliation for several criminal investigations into Leon-Kreps and her allies, most notably a complaint involving the alleged blackmail of a former commissioner.

City Attorney Norman Powell called the lawsuit "frivolous" and "meritless."

Under Florida law, it is illegal to fire or otherwise retaliate against an employee who reports illegal or unethical acts of an employer. And documents filed in the suit show that as early as May 24, 2017, Noriega had informed city officials of a potential criminal case involving the mayor that he had passed on to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/miami-beach/article212317264.html

June 5, 2018

A door on a Royal Caribbean ship crushed her hand. She sued for $20.3 million -- and won

Royal Caribbean International may be on the hook for $20.3 million after losing a case against a former employee who suffered a catastrophic injury in 2008 while she was working on board.

In August 2008, New Zealander Lisa Spearman was a marketing and revenue manager on the Miami-based cruise line's Voyager of the Seas, which was sailing from Barcelona, Spain.

While in port, the ship was conducting a routine fire safety drill in which some of the vessel's semi-water tight doors — powerful doors that prevent water from flooding the ship — are closed, according to Deborah Gander, Spearman's attorney. A nurse from the port who was unaware of the drill tried to open one of the doors with a handle. Spearman was on the other side.

As the nurse tried to pass through the door, she fell, according to the suit, and Spearman lunged forward to help her. When Spearman put her hand on the handle to keep the door open, the sliding door lurched back into its recess pocket in the wall, mashing Spearman's hand into a space only big enough to fit a pencil.

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/tourism-cruises/article212495699.html

June 4, 2018

Daytona police write 2,000 tickets during truck meet

DAYTONA BEACH — The truck meet that attracted thousands of modified, big-wheeled, jacked up pick-ups to the area got plenty of police attention as officers wrote more than 2,000 citations adding to the pile of complaints from locals.

The number of citations issued this weekend for the Daytona Truck Meet — this year with organized events at Daytona International Speedway — more than quadrupled over the three-day truck event held in July 2017 at the Ocean Center. Last year residents complained of rude behavior by the visitors, including public drinking and urination, and litter. Volusia County leaders vowed never to host such a group again at the Ocean Center, which runs the convention center.

A total of 2,151 citations were issued Thursday through Sunday, a 381 percent jump, compared to 447 tickets given out over three-day event in 2017. Daytona Beach police also made 77 arrests and dealt with 23 crashes throughout the city, officials said on Monday.

“Citations were given out for reasons ranging from equipment failure to careless driving,” said Daytona Beach police Chief Craig Capri.

Read more: http://www.news-journalonline.com/news/20180604/daytona-police-write-2000-tickets-during-truck-meet

June 4, 2018

Koger Center landlord files lawsuit over state's 'shade' deal, plan to vacate building

Tallahassee -- Nearly a half dozen state agencies and more than 2,000 employees are planning to vacate the Koger Center along Apalachee Parkway when leases expire next year.

Most of the workers will be reassigned to buildings under construction in an office park going up at Blair Stone Road near Capitol Circle SE.

Eight agencies’ leases expire in October 2019 and so far, only one, the Department of Juvenile Justice, has said it will stay at Koger. Two have yet to decide.

Two have located new offices in north Tallahassee and three intend to move to a complex being built near Southwood by developer Nathan Lee Head, barring a court challenge to his winning bids.

The Koger owner has filed suit in Leon County Circuit Court to reopen lease negotiations. Todd Hakimi said the Department of Management Services was wrong when it waived a requirement for the agencies to negotiate with its current landlord before seeking new space.

Read more: https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/2018/05/28/thousands-state-workers-moving-south/644544002/

June 4, 2018

Neglected: Florida's largest nursing home chain survives despite legacy of poor patient care

They told Billy Seigler he’d never walk again. Not because of his broken pelvis or busted right leg, but because his nursing home refused to provide the therapy he so desperately needed.

Seigler relied on Governors Creek Health and Rehabilitation in Green Cove Springs to help him return to the independent life he lived before a 2010 attack and attempted robbery. Each time Seigler pleaded for physical therapy, the nursing home's rehabilitation director told the 45-year-old his government benefits didn't pay for it.

But that was a lie.

The state paid the Jacksonville-area nursing home a flat rate to provide Seigler care, including his needed therapy. But Governors Creek routinely denied treatment and services to patients like Seigler, according to a 2011 federal whistleblower lawsuit filed by a former nurse.

"I think it's all about money," Seigler's older brother Philip said. "I think profit and money and benefits come before patients."

Read more: https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/local/state/2018/05/31/neglected-fraud-and-abuse-nursing-homes-florida/660371002/

June 4, 2018

Billionaire Jeff Greene enters Democratic contest to be Florida's next governor

Greene made his fortune in California and now lives a few doors from Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club.


Palm Beach billionaire Jeff Greene has filed to be a Democratic candidate for Florida governor.

He brings an estimated $3.8 billion personal fortune to a five-way race that is still taking shape. Greene filed his campaign paperwork with the Division of Elections Friday.

Greene spent about $23 million of his own money in a losing 2010 Senate bid, pulling in about 30 percent of the vote in a Democratic primary won by then-Congressman Kendrick Meek.

The 63-year-old Greene earned an MBA from the Harvard Business School and made his fortune in real estate and other investments. In 1982, he ran as a Republican in a California congressional race.

Read more: https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/2018/06/04/jeff-greene-enters-florida-governors-race/668702002/