News Update for 8/08/24
The Highlands County Sheriff’s Office is warning residents of a phone scam involving fictitious warrants. The scam includes spoof calls coming in asking for money for outstanding warrants and using the names of actual Highlands County Law Enforcement employees. The phone number coming through on Caller ID for a lot of these scams, often mimics the Highlands County Sheriff’s Office number. Highlands County Public Information Officer, Scott Dressel, says that Highlands County Sheriff’s Office will never ask for money for these types of incidents over the phone , and wants residents to be extra vigilant so that they do not fall victim to this type of scam.
Nearly a dozen people are facing charges in connection to a multi-agency street gang investigation in Central Florida. Orange-Osceola State Attorney Andrew Bain held a news conference yesterday morning, saying Orange County and Orlando police helped take down a fentanyl trafficking operation. A grand jury indicted eleven suspects tied to the “Respect, Money, Structure, Everybody Killer” gang last week, ending a nearly year-long investigation. The case launched last September led to charges of death by distribution, racketeering, drug trafficking, and illegal firearm sales.
The Florida Institute of Technology is working to combat a nationwide pilot shortage. The school is investing more than four-million dollars to bring state-of-the-art training resources to its Melbourne campus. Florida Tech held a ceremony Tuesday to welcome eight aircrafts to its growing fleet of nearly 50. The university is also planning to buy new flight simulators for students. President Dr. John Nicklow said Florida Tech’s pilot program has grown by 80-percent over the last three years.
The Florida Highway Patrol is cracking down on drivers who illegally customize their license plates. The agency released a statement yesterday trying to raise awareness of a state law prohibiting people from airbrushing, vinyl-wrapping or altering their plates. Authorities say the altered tags could potentially impact validation stickers. Violators could face a 60-dollar fine and three points on their driver’s license. FHP says citations for unlawful alterations have increased by nearly one-hundred-percent over the last four years.
The qualifying period for the 2024 Avon Park Municipal Election ended with 7 qualifying candidates running for the Avon Park City Council. In addition to 3 incumbents running for reelection, new candidates include former councilwoman Maria Sutherland, Louis Edwards Bates SR., Jonathan “JJ” Moore, and Terrence Wills. Early voting for the city election commences on October 26th. The city election as well as the General election, will be on November 5th.
A death row inmate who attended a notorious reform school in Jackson County is asking a judge to spare his life. Loran Cole’s lawyers filed a motion Saturday in Marion County to get his death penalty sentence vacated. The 57-year-old is set to be executed in three weeks. He was convicted of killing an FSU student in Ocala National Forest in 1994. Cole’s lawyers say their client was traumatized by his time as a teenager at the Dozier School for Boys in Marianna. They claim he suffered horrific abuse while confined at the reform school for six months, and the state was complicit. Cole’s lawyers claim if the jury had known about the severe abuse he suffered, there’s a reasonable probability he would have been given a less severe sentence. In a response filed on Sunday, the state says there’s no reason to believe highlighting his treatment at Dozier would have led to a different sentence. The judge’s ruling is expected by Friday afternoon.
Faculty at UF and FSU are part of a new lawsuit against the state. The faculty unions at Florida State University, the University of Florida and the United Faculty of Florida filed a lawsuit yesterday against the Board of Governors and trustees at UF and FSU. The plaintiffs claim the state’s ban on arbitration that went into effect last year stifles their academic freedom. According to the lawsuit, five faculty members have been fired since the law took effect, and the former employees had no way to challenge the firings. United Faculty of Florida President Teresa Hodge tells the Tampa Bay Times the law amounts to union busting.
Still no word on when astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni (sonny) Williams will return to the home planet. NASA provided another update Wednesday on the Boeing Starliner test flight to the International Space Station which has been complicated by thruster and helium leak problems since blasting off from Kennedy Space Center back on June 5th- on a mission that was only supposed to last a week. Meanwhile as managers decide when to bring the Starliner crew home, this month’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission featuring 4 astronauts has been pushed back to next month- September 24th at the earliest.