Free Republic

He claimed she has no answers about her daughter Caylee's death because she 'blacked it out' from her memory Mason said the 31-year-old went into 'Casey world' and 'shut out' what happened He maintained she did not kill the two-year-old who she 'loved very much'

Authorities in Florida say a man hid his wife's body in a freezer so he could continue collecting her Social Security benefits. The U.S. Attorney’s Office says, Margaret Dunn died at her home in Sun City Center, Fla. in 2002 and Allan Dunn placed her body in the freezer. He then collected her Social Security benefits until he died in 2010. In all, he improperly collected $92,088 in federal Social Security benefits. According to authorities, upon his death, Mr. Dunn’s sole asset of value was the condominium unit where he and his wife had resided. His heirs, who were unaware...

.... Broward County school board is suing the State of Florida over a new education bill that they say is a weapon.... ....redirects more than 400 million state dollars to charter schools. Back in May, 7News reported on Mater Academy, a charter school in Hialeah Gardens, for directing their students to write letters in support of the bill and in return, they would receive extra credit.... .... Broward County Schools is the only district that has filed a lawsuit and board members hope other districts will follow, including Miami-Dade...

Genny Werner is a caring and kind mother who works very hard to meet her needs. She has held steady, high pressure jobs and is a kind person who no one has ever made an allegation against. A few years ago, she got married and later had an extended vacation in Florida with her husband. That’s where her nightmare began. -- Yomin Postelnik is a rabbi and activist who used to live in South Florida and connected Genny with Shulevitz. A former foster parent, he’s the only one to have actually filed a report against JAFCO with the state, detailing...

Police in Boynton Beach say “a Good Samaritan called 911 to report a pit bull” in a hot car and they know they had to do something. They went store to store to locate the owner with no luck, so watch as a sergeant used his baton to break a window and rescue the dog. Total time from the call to the owner showing up: 10-15 minutes, they estimate. The owner was cited for leaving a dog unattended in vehicle and let go with the dog – after some education about the law.

A pregnant Florida woman was arrested for domestic battery after pelting her brother with frosted cupcakes during a 1:45 AM argument Saturday in the family’s Vero Beach residence, police report. According to cops, Latonya Daugherty, 24, was quarreling with her 30-year-old sibling when the “verbal argument escalated.” Daugherty (seen above) allegedly “picked up frosted cup cakes and threw them at” Edddie Yaddow. The cupcakes, an arrest affidavit notes, struck Yaddow in the arm and chest.

MIAMI -- A judge has ruled that Florida's lawmakers overstepped their authority in updating the state's "Stand Your Ground" ruling. Ruling issued Monday by Miami-Dade circuit judge Was signed into law in June by Gov. Rick Scott In ruling the law unconstitutional, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Milton Hirsch said Monday that the changes should have been crafted by the Florida Supreme Court instead of by the Legislature. The Miami Herald reports that the 14-page order is a victory for prosecutors who have firmly opposed the law. Critics have said the law makes it easier for defendants to get away with murder...

A long-time feminist activist whose campaign resume noted that she had an illegal abortion in 1968 has been elected as the new president of the National Organization for Women. Toni Van Pelt, 69, who has been active for decades in NOW’s Florida affiliates, was elected Saturday night at the organization’s national conference in Orlando, Florida. Elected as vice president was her running mate, Gilda Yazzie, a Navajo Indian from Durango, Colorado. …

Now, they’ve really done it. Florida’s gun-happy, National Rifle Association-controlled Legislature has turned an already dangerous, unpopular law into an unmitigated disaster. It’s nothing short of legislative malpractice. Florida’s infamous “stand your ground” law — with a long-running, well-documented history of flagrant misuse — has now been elevated into a virtual license to kill. Already weighted heavily in favor of trigger-happy shooters (freed of any duty to retreat), new changes to the law will not only increase shootings but discourage legitimate prosecutions. Previously, shooters charged with a crime — bear in mind, many acts of self-defense never result in criminal...

Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin (Md.) has introduced a bill that would create a congressional oversight commission that could declare the president incapacitated, leading to his removal from office under the Constitution's 25th Amendment. Twenty-four House Democrats are now backing the bill, including the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. John Conyers (D., Mich.), Yahoo News reported Friday. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D., Fla.), the former chair of the Democratic National Committee, is also co-sponsoring the legislation. The support from top Democrats for the bill comes despite House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) and other Democratic leaders telling...

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — A mother has been arrested after a severely malnourished boy was found in a filthy Daytona Beach apartment eating pieces of old cereal off dirty carpet, police said. The boy was discovered by the Department of Children and Families during an investigation into child neglect. The boy, 5, was severely underweight and unable to speak, walk or stand, Daytona Beach police said. The boy was 24.9 pounds when he was found, police said.

COCOA, Fla. - Shoppers at a Walmart on Clearlake Road expressed concern Monday after learning that at least 16 registered sex offenders, some designated as sexual predators, listed the store as their home address. State law allows homeless sex offenders to use the address of the closest physical address for their registration. Most of the sex offenders listing the Walmart as their home address likely live across the street in a homeless camp set up in a wooded area, police said.

Six teenage boys, aged between 14 and 16, are accused of stealing a Porsche and $200,000 during a Florida burglary - before blowing the cash on gold jewelry and teeth, and high end cars for themselves and their mothers. The teens; Rural Scott, 15, Jeremiah Laplace, 15, Michael Bush, 14, Joshua Sargeant, 14, Shomari Smith, 14, and Walter Walker, 16, all from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, were charged with burglary and grand theft this week.

A Florida leftist was arrested this week after threatening to kill Republican state Rep. Jose Felix Diaz (R-Miami). Steve St. Felix threatened Rep. Diaz to “kill your ass” on Facebook. The Miami Herald reported: Two weeks after a U.S. congressman and four others were shot during a baseball practice in a Washington suburb by a man with a history of lashing out at Republicans, a Florida lawmaker decided he wasn’t taking any chances. So Sunday, after someone threatened his life on a Facebook page, state Rep. Jose Felix Diaz, R-Miami, informed police.

The Florida Gators captured the College World Series title on Sunday night with a 6–1 win over the LSU Tigers to sweep the best-of-three series. Florida scored its first two runs in the bottom of first and second inning before holding the lead. LSU scored its first run in the seventh inning but also lost a run due to an interference call on a Tigers base runner. LSU threatened in the eighth inning but failed to score. Florida added four runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to seal the victory.

A business services company is opening an office in Jacksonville, with plans to hire up to 200 people in its first year. Genpact’s office will open next month in Capital Plaza office park on Deerwood Park Boulevard on the Southside. The company provides a variety of services across multiple industries. But a spokeswoman said Wednesday that when the Jacksonville office opens, it will provide mortgage processing services for one particular client that she would not name. The work will include processing, underwriting, closing and with quality assurance and HR positions. The non-supervisory positions will average $53,000 a year, and some...

Amid the gilded tower blocks, luxury hotels and high-end golf clubs of Donald Trump’s vast global property portfolio is a much smaller holding that looks more than a little out of place. It’s a quarter-acre lot of overgrown woodland in one of Florida’s poorest counties that the US president has owned and paid property taxes on since 2005 – having bought it for $1 from a woman who owned a photographic studio specialising in adult lingerie shoots. The plot brings in no income, has no roads, pavement or immediate prospect for development, and provides an environment that is friendly only...

Fans of Walt Disney World have been waiting to see exactly what was going to happen to the Hall of Presidents attraction at Magic Kingdom, and now, they’ll have to wait a bit longer. It is originally scheduled to reopen this upcoming week, but there has been a great concern as it appeared as if Donald Trump was not working the company to get it going, but now, there is a new reopening date and an update on whether the president is going to say a few words. The Hall of Presidents is a historical attraction at Magic Kingdom which...

Given radical Islamic terrorist attacks and people's concern about safety, Florida's Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd advised that people who are not afraid of a gun should get one, "and if you need to shoot somebody, shoot them a lot." He also advised gun owners to "get a concealed firearms license and carry it." Sheriff Grady made his remarks to ABC Action News (WFTS) this week. “If you’re not afraid of a gun, get one," said the sheriff. "Become proficient. Get a concealed firearms license and carry it." {..snip..}

Surveillance video captured the moment when a homeowner fought off five would-be robbers with a machete. Five South Florida men were arrested in connection to an armed robbery in Sarasota on Thursday. Police responded to a call at 4:45 a.m. about a man with a shotgun showing up at a home. By the time police arrived, the homeowner had disarmed the suspect and was holding him until deputies arrived. The homeowner told police two other robbers escaped. The two suspects and two others were eventually found at a nearby gas station. Suspect Alen Beltran-Vasquez is charged with two counts of...