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A federal judge in Florida on Friday ordered the release of grand jury transcripts from the federal sex trafficking cases of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. U.S. District Judge Rodney Smith said a recently-passed federal law ordering the release of records related to the cases overrode a federal rule prohibiting the release of matters before a grand jury. This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.

A woman in medical scrubs who was driving on U.S. 1 in the Florida Keys Wednesday morning was stopped by federal immigration agents and forcibly removed from her car, despite screaming she was an American citizen. About 9:15 a.m. in Key Largo, in front of the Pink Plaza at mile marker 103.4, federal agents stopped the woman driving a white Toyota Corolla and surrounded the...

A trace of blood found on a pizza box inside a ransacked Northeast Florida home became the key evidence that helped detectives identify and locate a suspect, authorities said Monday. The incident originally took place on Jan. 28, when a Palm Coast homeowner returned to her residence to find the power cut, the internet disabled and the house burglarized. Between $2,500 and $3,000 in cash was missing, according to a press release from the Flagler County Sheriff's Office. While processing the scene, detectives discovered a red smear on a pizza box in the kitchen that they believed to be blood....

Key takeaways * Eliminating property taxes could raise Florida home values by 7–9%, benefiting current homeowners but making it harder for first-time buyers. * Experts warn the state may need to increase sales tax or cut services to offset lost property tax revenue, raising questions about who ultimately pays. * The plan requires a constitutional amendment and faces skepticism; a recession could trigger housing oversupply, potentially crashing prices and straining the state budget.

MARATHON, FLA. (WSVN) - Three people were arrested after authorities in the Florida Keys say they were found having sex while heavily intoxicated in a Winn-Dixie parking lot in the middle of the day. Deputies were called to the grocery store lot around 12 p.m. on Saturday, where they found all three individuals engaged in sexual acts, according to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office. All were taken to jail.

When developers began transforming the kitschy waterfront motels of Sunny Isles Beach into luxury high-rise condos and hotels more than two decades ago, they were confident they understood the challenges of erecting massive towers on shifting sand. They were wrong. It turned out to be far more complicated than anyone expected. Within just a few years, engineers discovered they’d underestimated how much some buildings would sink on a barrier island composed of varying layers of sand, silt, peat and porous limestone — much the same material underlying many of South Florida’s premier oceanfront properties. In their own reports filed with...

In an effort to shock Democrats out of their romantic delusions regarding what socialism has done to humans around the world, Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL) introduced a resolution to denounce socialism. In the "whereas" section, the resolution listed the evil accomplishments of this ideology which included: "its collapse into totalitarian dictatorships that repressed individual liberty and resulted in the famine and mass murder deaths of over 100 million persons, and the widespread poverty of the survivors." Contrasting the dismal history of socialism with the values for which the United States of America was founded: "the sanctity of the individual,...

Wait, is being rude a felony now? Apparently it is, at least in (of all places) Florida. The New York Post reported Saturday that “three men stormed a University of South Florida parking garage and harassed Muslim students during dawn prayer on Tuesday — an incident captured in videos that showed the group shouting slurs, waving bacon and crowding worshipers as they bowed.” For that “all three face a felony count of disturbing schools and religious assemblies under Florida’s hate-crime enhancement statute, along with misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct and disrupting a school or lawful assembly.” Wait a minute. They...

Pakistan’s top general has set off alarm bells with an unprecedented warning—delivered not in Islamabad, but from Tampa, Florida. Speaking at a private dinner, Army Chief Gen Asim Munir said, "We are a nuclear nation. If we think we are going down, we’ll take half the world down with us." According to reports, this marks the first known instance of a nuclear threat being issued from American soil against another nation. The remarks came during a function hosted by businessman Adnan Asad, Tampa’s honorary consul, where around 120 guests of Pakistani origin were present. Security at the gathering was tight—cellphones...

A Florida driver was arrested after allegedly trying to hit members of an LGBTQ running club with his vehicle at a local park, according to the West Palm Beach Police Department. Ihab Mustafa El Mahmoud, 43, was arrested on Monday evening for "attempting to strike members of a local running club at a park, making multiple passes and driving recklessly before fleeing," police said. Police responded to the scene at approximately 8:20 p.m. on Monday, and upon arriving, "met with members of a local LGBTQIA+ running club" who reported an individual allegedly driving a Ford Bronco SUV and "intentionally" trying...

“Preserving our state’s natural beauty is deeply important to the millions who call the Sunshine State home, our visitors, and those whose livelihoods depend on tourism,” Moody wrote.

The House Democrat accused of stealing $5 million in FEMA funds called the indictment against her an attack on “Black and brown people.” Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL) on Wednesday was indicted for allegedly stealing millions in relief funds and using a portion of the money to fund her campaign in 2022. Earlier in the year, the state of Florida sued Trinity Health Care Services for overpaying the company for a Covid-19 vaccination contract. Instead of correcting the supposed issue, the CEO of Trinity — Cherfilus-McCormick — allegedly loaned herself the money to invest in the campaign. The Justice Department accused...

You can't hide hunger, as proven by a Florida woman who was in such a hurry to grab her pizza from the Little Caesars restaurant that she got nabbed for driving 107 miles per hour to get there. This all happened on Nov. 6, and police say Yazmin Victoria Erazo's excuse was that she was hungry and wanted to get her pizza before the establishment closed and they locked her pizza in the store for good. She got pulled over at exactly 11:54PM, and the store closed at midnight. She was so close to the pizza, but police put the...

A Florida sheriff’s deputy was shot and killed Friday morning, another deputy was wounded and a locksmith was left in critical condition while helping a mother evict her son from a gated home in a coastal community north of West Palm Beach, authorities said. Deputy Terri Sweeting-Mashkow, a 25-year veteran of the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office, was gunned down inside a residence at the Bermuda Club on Orchid Island near Vero Beach. She was one of three deputies who arrived at the home with a locksmith just before 9 a.m. to remove 37-year-old Michael Halberstam under a court order...

Two Chinese nationals and two U.S. citizens have been charged with a scheme to illegally export advanced Nvidia chips to China in violation of U.S. export controls, the Department of Justice said on Nov. 20.In a file photograph, the logo of Nvidia Corporation during the annual Computex computer exhibition in Taipei, Taiwan, on May 30, 2017. Tyrone Siu/ReutersLi Cham, 38, a California resident, and Chen Jing, 45, who resides in Florida on an F-1 nonimmigrant student visa, are the two Chinese nationals accused of the illegal exporting scheme. The two U.S. citizens are Ho Hong Ning, 34, a Florida resident...

(The Epoch Times)—WASHINGTON—Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.) said on Nov. 20 that he will file a resolution to expel Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-Fla.) from Congress. The Department of Justice indicted Cherfilus-McCormick, 46, on Nov. 19 for allegedly stealing $5 million in FEMA funds. She and her brother, Edwin Cherfilus, 51, undertook a COVID-19 vaccination contract through their company in July 2021 when it received an overpayment of $5 million, according to the Justice Department. The two allegedly took the $5 million and put it in multiple accounts to cover up the source of the funds, according to the Justice Department. A...

Florida authorities are pushing back on social media rumors about a "serial killer on the loose" in Jacksonville after three women were found dead in separate incidents over three days. The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office (JSO) addressed the speculation directly on Tuesday, emphasizing that the cases are unrelated and urging calm as investigations continue. "JSO is aware of rumors circulating about a serial killer on the loose in Jacksonville. We can confirm these claims are FALSE," the agency wrote Tuesday on social media. The department added that detectives are investigating each case individually, "following the facts and evidence," adding "there is...

VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — A Volusia County woman is facing battery charges and possible deportation after deputies say she threw cold coffee on a woman, her 11-month-old son and their dog during a confrontation over a leash. The incident happened Friday morning on Quail Nest Lane, according to the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office. Kelly Brisell told WESH 2 News she was walking with her son, Owen, and her 5-year-old Dalmatian, Ponce, when she encountered Nina Jaaskelainen outside a home. Brisell said Jaaskelainen became upset that her dog was not on a leash. “She started screaming at us,” Brisell said. “I...

Republican Florida Rep. Byron Donalds slammed New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani on Wednesday, saying he has no authority to impose “international law.” Mamdani doubled down on his vow to enforce the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he visits the city, repeating the position he announced before his election. Appearing on “Kudlow,” Donalds said Mamdani will take an oath to uphold the U.S. Constitution and New York’s own laws when sworn in. “Mamdani, I think, came out the other day and said that New York City is going to follow international law. Who...

The charges in the indictment against Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, D-Fla., carry a maximum of 53 years in prison, the Justice Department said. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, D-Fla., was indicted Wednesday on charges she stole and laundered $5 million in federal relief funds and used the money for her congressional campaign, the Justice Department said. In a news release citing the indictment, the Justice Department said that Cherfilus-McCormick, 46, and Edwin Cherfilus, 51, her brother, worked on a staffing contract funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency for Covid vaccinations tied to their family health care company in 2021 and that the...