Free Republic

Black bears are large, potentially dangerous animals.  A retired wildlife officer was forced to shoot one in his Florida home on 22 October, in Lake County. The bear broke though a window and entered the home.   When the man yelled at it, it turned and came toward him.  That is when he fired, at a distance that he estimated at 10 feet. From wftv.com: “I was very scared. I figured when I yelled it would take off, but it didn’t. It just looked right at me and started coming toward the window, where I was at, so that’s when...

Florida Gov. Rick Scott is launching a new ad Monday that ties Republican-turned-Democrat Charlie Crist with Barack Obama, including a photo of their infamous 2009 embrace. The Republican becomes the first gubernatorial candidate to deploy the clip of the president saying, “I’m not on the ballot this fall, but make no mistake: these policies are on the ballot. Every single one of them.” “Charlie Crist backed Obama from the start,” a narrator says in the 30-second spot, shared first with POLITICO. “If you liked the last six years of Barack Obama, you’ll love the next four years of Charlie Crist.”...

Who would have thought that it would be illegal to defend children from a poisonous snake?  This is where the insanity of extreme gun restrictions have brought us.   In Florida, a mother was at a school event during a football practice session.  A water moccasin was discovered on the practice field, but attempts to kill it with sticks were not successful.  From newsherald.com: April Dawn DeMarco, 30, was arrested for discharging a .380-caliber handgun on the practice football field of Bay High School, 300 E. 15th St., during practice last week for the local Pop Warner football team. Demarco...

To understand why Florida gubernatorial candidate Democrat Charlie Crist insisted on having a fan blowing on him during the yesterday’s debate with Republican Rick Scott, which almost stopped the whole show in its tracks, thus earning the hashtag #fangate, you need to know something about Crist and sweat. One of the stranger moments of my reporting career arrived at 6 a.m. on a day in late 2012 in St. Petersburg, Fla. I was doing a lengthy profile of Florida governor Charlie Crist.... ....Charlie Crist, burdened with an almost pathological disdain for humanity’s untidiness, hates to sweat. This trait runs deep,...

A patient is being tested for Ebola at Baptist Health in Downtown Jacksonville. Hospital officials says they have admitted a patient who has flu-like symptoms, but no fever. The person told hospital staff that they has casual contact with a person who travelled to West Africa. Officials say the patient is in isolation and is being monitored to protect hospital staff and the community. There is no confirmation that the patient has Ebola, and hospital officials sayy the diagnosis is "highly unlikely." Baptist Health says they are exercising caution and using CDC protocols.

Florida passed a reform of its gun law this year to prevent situations such as what has happened to Lee Wollard.   Wollard says that he fired a shot to stop an assault and force a young man out of his house;  the prosecutor charged him with firing into a building, aggravated assault and child endangerment.   The young man was dating his daughter and was 17. No one was hurt, but the bullet penetrated the walls of the house and struck the house next door. Under the old Florida law, the prosecutor could offer this dilemma: plead guilty, be convicted...

The police force has been disbanded in Waldo, Florida, a tiny town with a big speed trap reputation. On Tuesday, the Waldo City Council voted 4-1 to eliminate the department just weeks after the chief and interim chief resigned because of state investigations into many issues, including an illegal ticket quota

LAKE COUNTY, Fla. —A bomb threat shut down LakeXpress bus service Thursday morning over a bomb threat, authorities said. The Lake County Sheriff’s Office bomb squad was on scene and searching buses. One bus in South Leesburg was evacuated and passengers were checked out. No devices have been found so far.

Thanks to state preemption law, only the Florida Legislature can enact measures regulating the sale, possession, transfer of firearms in the Gunshine State. But that’s not going to stop some city and county officials from attempting to implement ‘voluntary’ gun-control, the Sun-Sentinel reports. Under a proposal backed by the Broward County Sheriff’s Office, city and county officials would ask gun shops and ammo suppliers who have sales contracts with law enforcement departments around the state to follow certain “sales and marketing safeguards,” when conducting business. Those safeguards include asking the stores to run background checks on employees, train personnel to...

GROVELAND, Fla. - Another bomb threat has been reported at a Lake County school on Monday morning, according to officials. Lake County Sheriff's Office said a bomb threat was reported at Clermont Middle School. Deputies and Clermont police officers are on scene investigating. It's not clear if evacuations have been ordered at Clermont Middle School. The second bomb threat report comes hours after students and staff were evacuated from South Lake High School in Groveland. School officials said students, who were taken to the school's football field, were not being released from the campus.

Elementary schools in Seminole County were evacuated this afternoon after receiving bomb threats, a Seminole County Sheriff's spokeswoman said. Deputies evacuated Casselberry, Winter Springs, Lawton, English Estates, Red Bug, Lake Orienta, Forest City and Spring Lake elementary schools, sheriff's spokeswoman Heather Smith said in a statement. It was not immediately clear whether the threats were valid. Deputies are investigating where the calls came from. Officials are reporting that Winter Springs, Forest City and Lake Orienta have been searched and cleared.

It’s now or never for Jeb Bush. The former Florida governor flirted with presidential runs in 2008 and 2012 but ultimately demurred, always with the flickering possibility of mounting a campaign down the road. But at 61 years old, the second son of former President George Herbert Walker Bush is now likely facing his last shot at the White House.

The Florida governor’s race — on pace to be 2014’s most expensive, grueling campaign — is a dead heat with six weeks until Election Day, according to a new poll out Wednesday. Florida GOP Gov. Rick Scott and Democrat Charlie Crist are neck-and-neck in the new Quinnipiac University poll. Scott is at 44 percent among likely voters, the survey shows, compared with 42 percent for Crist and 8 percent for Libertarian Adrian Wyllie. Scott has a slight edge over Crist among independents, 44 percent to 37 percent. And the gender gap tilts in his favor: He leads Crist by 8...

In this unusual Florida case, the two suspects are said to have attacked an armed citizen who was in his car, to have taken his gun, and fled the scene.   It all happened at a McDonald's drive-through, when the victim honked at the attackers who were ahead of him and who had received their order, but had not driven off.   From myfoxtampabay.com: Police say the Gregory Fulham got out of the car, went to the driver's side of the car behind them and started punching the man, who had pulled a gun from his glovebox. Police say Kevin Fulham...

Hillary Clinton will headline a fundraising dinner for Florida Democratic gubernatorial Charlie Crist next month, putting her in a key presidential state in the midterms battle, according to an invitation.

BELL, Fla. - A mass shooting has been reported in a small town near Gainesville on Thursday night.The shooting was reported in the town of Bell in Gilchrest County, which is about 140 miles from downtown Orlando.It's not clear how many victims were shot, but there are reports that children were among the victims.A news conference is set for 8 p.m. Local 6 has a crew on its way to the scene.Check back for more on this developing story.

Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz is in a behind-the-scenes struggle with the White House, congressional Democrats and Washington insiders who have lost confidence in her as both a unifying leader and reliable party spokesperson at a time when they need her most. Long-simmering doubts about her have reached a peak after two recent public flubs: criticizing the White House’s handling of the border crisis and comparing the tea party to wife beaters. ....One example that sources point to as particularly troubling: Wasserman Schultz repeatedly trying to get the DNC to cover the costs of her wardrobe. In 2012,...

In the next decade, Florida’s biggest cities will add toll lanes to the state’s busiest highways. Nobody knows exactly how much it will cost. Maybe as little as $3 billion. Maybe double that. What’s clear is that when the toll lanes across the state are complete, they will become one of the largest infrastructure projects in state history. There’s little debate that the toll lanes, also called express lanes or managed lanes, make commutes quicker for those willing to pay as much as $10 to use them. But there has been little debate about the need for the projects —...

While the United States leads the world in most ways, it has lagged in the adoption of mufflers for guns.   In most of Europe, mufflers on guns are not controversial.   In Finland, ownership, manufacture, sale, distribution, and use of gun mufflers is a constitutional right.   On most of the continent, gun mufflers are easier to acquire than firearms; their use is considered good manners. Not so in the United States.   Due to a weird quirk in firearms law passed during the Roosevelt administration, gun mufflers require a $200 dollar tax to be paid to the federal government.  Processing of...

...Crist spoke to over 1,000 voters on Saturday night, in Downtown Orlando about his faith and vision for the future of Florida.... The group in attendance came in the bus loads, and the venue was at capacity. They leaned to the left as they cheered Crist’s pledge to raise the minimum wage, healthcare, and supporting policies popular with the dreamers. “I did all of this as a Republican” Crist said “Imagine what I’ll do as a Democrat!”. "....I was raised a Methodist. Raised with three sisters. It makes you appreciate women more and their rights. This I know about God....