News Update for 8/30/24
There will be planned water outages in Lake Placid next week as the town replaces the old water main along Interlake Blvd. Aging valves will also be replaced. Most of the work is scheduled to be done at night to help minimize disruptions to businesses, schools, and residences. A major outage is planned for overnight Tuesday, September 3rd to Wednesday September 4th from 9:00pm to 5:00am. This outage will shut off water for everyone on the west side of US Hwy 27 from Lake June Road to Lake Pearl. Smaller localized outages between Dal Hall and Interlake from Main street to US HWY 27-will occur overnight Wednesday, September 4th to Thursday, September 5th. Residents are urged to prepare by filling pitchers for drinking water and filling up bath tubs or buckets to refill toilet tanks. It is also recommended that when the water is turned back on, to run your tub for a few minutes before using any sinks or showers, to help flush the system of possible debris.
A Polk County woman is accused of leaving a child in a hot car. Lake Wales Police arrested Jykerria Allen yesterday. The 29-year-old allegedly left her child alone in a hot car for about an hour while she was at a health care clinic. Police say staff told her she couldn’t bring the child in with her, and she told them she’d have a family member pick up the child. Instead, police say she put the child in the car and went back inside. A passerby saw the child crying and notified the staff. Allen left the clinic before police could get there, but police found her and pulled her over. During the traffic stop, police say the officer noticed the child wasn’t in a car seat. Allen is charged with child neglect and operating a vehicle with an unrestrained child. Medical personnel say the child was not hurt and is now in the care of a relative.
Three people will spend years behind bars for trafficking drugs through Orlando International Airport. Federal prosecutors announced yesterday that Jevonn Clayton, Richardson Sid and Venus Lott were sentenced after pleading guilty. Lott got five years, Sid got six-and-a-half years, and Clayton got more than 13-years. The scheme went back three years to when Clayton agreed to transport suitcases containing meth from L.A. to Orlando on behalf of a trafficker. Prosecutors say Clayton eventually recruited Sid and Lott to help him. They were found at OIA with 77 pounds of meth in their suitcases.
Governor Ron DeSantis says Florida is ready for anything the Tropics may throw at the state as the peak of the 6-month hurricane season approaches. The Tropics are showing signs of becoming more active. A wave out in the central Atlantic could be a depression approaching the Lesser Antilles next week. The statistical peak of the hurricane season is around Sept. 10.
An elected official is confident she’ll be publicly vindicated after her recent indictment. That’s what Windemere State Rep. Carolina Amesty said in a statement released yesterday after she bonded out of the Orange County Jail. She turned herself in after she was indicted Wednesday for forgery and three other felonies. Her campaign says the prosecution is based on misleading reports from a partisan newspaper. They appear to be referring to the Orlando Sentinel, which published several stores that she allegedly forged a signature three years ago while working at Central Christian University. Amesty sued the paper for defamation but dropped the suit three months ago. The 29-year-old Republican is in her first term representing House District 45. She’s up for re-election in November.
A Lake County woman is in custody in connection to the death of her boyfriend’s daughter. Thirty-four-year-old Tyshael Martin was arrested Wednesday on charges of first-degree murder, child abuse, and child neglect. The investigation started on June 17th at a Montverde home near Lake Florence after there was a report of an unresponsive child. The sheriff’s office says nine-year-old Jamaria Session was found dead at the home with a number of bruises and signs of physical abuse. Authorities found videos of Martin commanding the family’s Rottweiler to attack Session and the suspect kicking the child. Martin is being held without bond.
Book publishers, parents and authors are joining forces to sue the state. The lawsuit was filed yesterday challenging HB 1069 that passed last year. The law was meant to stop school libraries from carrying books with sexual or pornographic content. Publishers like HarperCollins and Simon and Schuster say the law unfairly targets their books, and it ignores the books’ literary, artistic, political or educational value. The authors who joined the suit say the law causes personal and professional harm. A spokeswoman for the Department of Education tells News Service of Florida the lawsuit is a stunt, and sexually explicit material and instruction are not suitable for schools.