As the U.S. has seen an uptick in organized retail theft, authorities in North Carolina and Florida are contending with a wave of smash-and-grab robberies. Officials in Florida announced Thursday they have created a new task force dedicated to combating retail theft. Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody said she had launched the Florida Organized Retail Crime Exchange, "a first-of-its-kind, statewide task force and a new interactive database to help spot trends, identify suspects and take down massive, organized retail theft rings." "We are seeing lawlessness and out-of-control mobs preying on businesses and consumers in major cities outside of Florida, and we will not allow these crime sprees to harm Floridians or our retailers," Moody said in a statement. "While we have done a good job of catching and prosecuting major retail theft rings in Florida, the threat is growing, and we must evolve with it." Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said in the statement that organized retail …
Florida flood warnings as Fort Lauderdale Airport closes due to severe weather
Flood warnings are in effect for Florida, South Carolina and Georgia following heavy rainfall overnight, resulting in the closure of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) According to its Twitter account, FLL has closed due to "severe rain and flash flooding." In its latest advisory, the airport says: "The entrance roadway to FLL is now open, and passengers are being allowed into the terminals. Flight operations have not yet resumed but are expected to shortly." Passengers affected or planning to travel from FLL are advised to follow updates on social media or visit its website. The National Weather Service's (NWS) forecast for Florida says heavy showers and thunderstorms will "drench" the state throughout the morning, moving east. Showers will continue into the afternoon and it will become dry by tomorrow. According to NWS , local law enforcement in Miami has reported urban flooding in Hollywood, Dania Beach and Fort Lauderdale. Its alert also says that the …
WATCH: Alligator Chewing on Drone Flown at Florida Wetlands Sparks Cruelty Debate
There are certain places that are protected for wildlife and should not be encroached upon by curious tourists just wish to shoot videos and take pictures to flaunt on social media. This was proven by a recent video that was retweeted by CEO of Google Sundar Pichai. The YouTube video by Viral Vids read, “Alligator Eats a drone in Everglades, Florida.” As the title suggests, the 40-second video showed an alligator spotting a drone flying over its mouth. The drone was controlled by a bunch of onlookers who, as they mentioned in the video, were trying to get a close up shot of the alligator’s mouth. The video caption also read how the drone driver assumed that its “obstacle avoidance” feature would prevent it from falling into the alligator’s mouth if it decided to pounce on it and masticate it as a meal. How wrong the human presumption and their blind trust in technology was proven a few seconds later when the curious alligator opened its mouth and grabbed the drone in its mouth. In …
DeSantis: We Will Not Let Officials ‘Intimidate Parents’: ‘In Florida, Parents Should Speak Out’
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on Thursday vowed his administration will not allow power-hungry officials or organizations to “intimidate parents” in Florida, blasting the National School Board Association (NSBA) for attempting to get the FBI involved in the actions of concerned parents, which it described as potential acts of “domestic terrorism.” Speaking in Pensacola, Florida, pitching $100 million in the budget for the Florida National Guard, as well as the creation of the Florida State Guard, DeSantis briefly spoke about the Florida School Board Association’s recent decision to withdraw from the NSBA. “I support what the Florida School Board Association did. I think it was the right thing to get out of the National School Board Association. The National School Board Association was using its association to advance a partisan narrative and agenda,” DeSantis said. “And they created this letter to try to get the FBI to start basically running interference at school board meetings. …
Florida Bride Faints, Vomits and Then Gets Pooped on in Series of Disastrous Events
Wedding day is one of the biggest occasions for a woman. Surrounded by her friends and parents, she feels no less than a queen on this big day. Hollee Lynnea Kolenda Darnell also had similar expectations ahead of her wedding, but she never thought of her special day turning into a disastrous memory. In a video that has been going viral, the bride faints during her wedding, and then pukes. What makes the situation even worse is that her nephew later pooped on her wedding dress, reported Mail Online. The TikTok video opens with Hollee and her Jackson holding hands while a priest reads out the wedding vows. Dressed in a pretty white gown, Hollee soon starts to feel dizzy and takes the support of her husband-to-be in order to stand still. However, the humidity of Florida where the wedding was taking place, led to Hollee fainting with Jackson and the priest holding the bride from falling. According to Hollee, who uploaded the video on TikTok, she kept on saying to Jackson beforehand that …
#WhatLiberalsCallThanksgiving trends as Trump roasted for saying people want to change name of holiday
Thousands of people have mocked President Donald Trump's claim that people want to change the name of Thanksgiving, which he made during a political rally. Speaking at an event in Sunrise, Florida , on Tuesday night, Trump urged his supporters to register to vote as they gather together for the holiday season. Trump then claimed that people want to "change the name" of Thanksgiving, without specifying who or what they want to change the name to. "You know, some people want to change the name Thanksgiving. They don't want to use the term Thanksgiving," Trump added, prompting jeers and boos from the crowd. "And that was true also with Christmas, but now everybody's using Christmas again, remember I said that? "But now we're gonna have to do a little work on Thanksgiving, people have different ideas why it shouldn't be called Thanksgiving. But everybody in this room I know loves the name Thanksgiving and we're not changing it." In 2017, Trump declared people are "proud" to …
Gov. Ron DeSantis: Biden Administration Forcing Americans to Test, Illegal Border Crossers Run Free
The Biden administration is forcing Americans to provide a negative coronavirus test when traveling back into the country, yet illegal border crossers are not held to the same standard, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) noted Thursday, railing against President Biden’s inconsistent coronavirus mandates. “What President Biden’s doing by trying to impose more restrictions, he’s now going to say if you go to the Bahamas as an American citizen and you come back, you’ve got to do a test, a COVID test. But if you just come right across the boarder illegally, that somehow that’s fine and we don’t care about the test or vaccination, I just don’t understand,” DeSantis said during the press conference in Pensacola, Florida, where he proposed $100 million in the budget for the Florida National Guard, as well as the creation of a Florida State Guard. Indeed, on Thursday, Biden announced a change in the rules for international travel, requiring travelers to provide a negative coronavirus test within …
Parents slam suspension of Black students reacting to racist video sent by classmate
Florida school parents expressed outrage this week after their Black children were suspended over their reaction to a racist video sent by a white classmate. The video shows two white students of Nassau County's Yulee High School using racial slurs, with one of them wearing a KKK-style hood, according to News4Jax. In the Snapchat video, one of the students reportedly says, "Hold on, you see that? It's a N*****" as he points to the camera. A white student who didn't appear in the video sent it to a group of Black students, who then confronted him in a fight. "The video contained racial slurs and images," confirmed Nassau County Public School Assistant Superintendent Mark Durham, according to News4Jax. "It resulted in a physical altercation involving several students. Disciplinary actions consistent with the district's code of conduct have been given to students involved in the altercation and in sending the Snap Chat video." Durham added the school district doesn't tolerate …
The ‘Mind Meld’ Between Comic-Book Artists and Writers
Each installment of “ The Friendship Files ” features a conversation between The Atlantic ’s Julie Beck and two or more friends, exploring the history and significance of their relationship. This week she talks with three artists and one writer, who all work on titles for DC Comics, about their collaboration on the page and their friendship off of it. They discuss how working in comics can be isolating, how rare it is to meet your collaborators, and how their friendship helps them take risks in their work. The Friends: Mitch Gerads , 40, a comic-book artist who lives in Phoenix, Arizona, and has worked on titles including The Sheriff of Babylon , Batman , Mister Miracle , Heroes in Crisis , and Strange Adventures Tom King , 43, an author and comic-book writer who lives in Washington, D.C., and has worked on titles including The Vision , The Sheriff of Babylon , Batman , Mister Miracle , Heroes in Crisis , and Strange Adventures Clay Mann , …
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Sylvester Stallone excites QAnon by wearing Q hat, “into the storm” remark
Actor Sylvester Stallone has shared a picture of himself wearing a hat with the letter "Q" on it, captioning the selfie with a phrase closely linked to the QAnon conspiracy theory. The Rocky and Rambo star uploaded the photo to Instagram , where he has more than 14.3 million followers, with the caption: "Heading into the Storm...." The post is not a direct endorsement of the far-right movement, which is listed as a terrorist threat by the FBI , but it has sparked speculation that Stallone is making coded references to QAnon. The conspiracy's central belief—originally spread via a messageboard user known as "Q"— is that the world is run by a cabal of satanic cannibal pedophiles . In QAnon lore, "the Storm" is the moment when high-profile child abusers, including leading Democrats and members of the Hollywood elite, will be arrested and executed on the orders of Donald Trump , who is seen as a savior-like figure. Believers have seen various prophesized dates …
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