Free Republic

The Hollow Earth Perhaps some of the most bizarre scientific theories ever considered were those concerning the possibility that the Earth was hollow. One of the earliest of these was proposed in 1692 by Edmund Halley. Edmund Halley was a brilliant English astronomer whose mathematical calculations pinpointed the return of the comet that bears his name. Halley was fascinated by the earth's magnetic field. He noticed the direction of the field varied slightly over time and the only way he could account for this was there existed not one, but several, magnetic fields. Halley came to believe that the Earth...

MIAMI — The Florida woman who shot and killed a drugged-up Army vet in a spat over a parking spot at a Walmart will not face charges after he threatened to ‘f— her s— up’, prosecutors revealed Thursday. Bart Diguglielmo, a 62-year-old retired staff sergeant, was fatally shot in front of the supercenter in North Lauderdale just before 12:30 p.m. on June 30. The shooter, identified as Melissa Payne, is immune from prosecution because she acted in self-defense due to the state’s “stand your ground” law, the Broward County state attorney’s office announced. One witness said she had heard Diguglielmo...

Oviedo man Evan Meyer got caught destroying a Flock camera. Only it wasn't a Flock camera at all. It was a decoy! That's right, the police 3D-printed themselves a fake Flock camera and set it up to catch whatever freedom-loving kook who was stealing all of Big Brother's surveillance gear. Police said Evan Meyer used pruning shears to cut down the decoy camera before smashing it. Video from the arrest shows officers taking Meyer into custody Thursday night. According to police, the fake camera was installed as a ‘clone bait camera' after several Flock cameras were stolen between late July...

A Florida man was arrested after authorities say he stalked a woman he met on a dating app and stole a teddy bear containing the woman’s son’s ashes. According to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office, deputies were dispatched on Aug. 1 to help Flagler Beach Police Department officers with an investigation into a suspect, identified as Justin Fountain, after a woman went to Flagler Beach police and said Fountain had “become increasingly controlling and aggressive.” “According to the victim, Fountain tracked her location, following her around Flagler County, and stole her child’s ashes from her despite her asking to stop...

The Flagler County Sheriff's Office has accused a Florida man of coming up with a plan to beat his court-ordered drug test. Executing what on paper might look like a good plan proved to be difficult. His first mistake was climbing behind the wheel on July 14 and driving to submit his urine sample. A deputy stopped James Shepard, 52, as he pulled in, because according to the sheriff's office, his license is suspended. That's a violation of the felony probation he was serving for multiple burglaries and thefts, News 6 reports. He was arrested on charges of violating probation...

Florida millionaire wooed bestselling author before allegedly forcing her into cuckolding fantasy with black men who he paid 'reparations': Litany of claims detail degrading sexual abuse It was supposed to be the dating app where the rich met their equals. Millionaire Match promises to connect wealthy, successful singles looking for partners who share their ambition, lifestyle and bank balance – a kind of Tinder for the one percent. For Australian bestselling author Hacia Atherton, 38, it appeared to deliver exactly that. Her match with millionaire Florida businessman and retired pilot Paul Vitale, 69, quickly blossomed into a glamorous long-distance romance...

A Florida man accused of stealing Smokey Bear signs from state parks across the state and attempting to sell them online has been indicted by a federal grand jury on a charge of theft of government property, the Department of Justice announced Monday. Hunter Drake Lovett, 30, of Pace, was indicted on the federal charge, according to U.S. Attorney John Heekin for the Northern District of Florida. If convicted, Lovett faces up to 10 years in federal prison. Lovett is scheduled to stand trial beginning July 20. The case stems from Lovett's arrest in July 2025, when authorities accused him...

As an Oregon man is set to be arraigned on domestic terrorism charges, KATU has learned more about the alleged motive behind the fires. Ethan Noble Burlingame emailed a "declaration of war" against the U.S. and expressed an intent to "cause suffering, destruction and terror" and "burn down the empire," according to prosecutors. According to the arrest warrant filed by Wheeler County District Attorney Gretchen Ladd, Burlingame emailed his intent to a Florida resident under the username Rottenheart in the early morning hours of June 1. Later that morning, a fire destroyed an unoccupied building in Fossil, near Burlingame's home...

Everyone knows you call the cops when you're in trouble. Not everyone knows that you can also call the cops when you're in trouble with the cops. According to [Florida Highway Patrol], a trooper conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle for speeding on I-75 by Corkscrew Road at around 7:49 a.m. The driver, identified as Luis Marin Gonzalez, 26, refused to provide ID, became agitated, and then put his window up. Marin Gonzalez then called 911 mid-traffic stop, and the call went through to the Lee County Sheriff's Office, FHP said. You gotta give him credit for originality. Most...

The incident took place Sunday night on Frontier Airlines Flight 3345, which had departed from San Juan, Puerto Rico, bound for Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. About 45 minutes into the flight, 51-year-old Juan Gabriel Reyes of Pahokee, Florida, began acting erratically, according to an arrest affidavit from the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office and a federal criminal complaint, the New York Post reports. Flight attendants and passengers spotted Reyes trying to open one of the aircraft’s emergency exit doors mid-flight. When crew members ordered him to sit down and stop, he ignored them completely, rushed toward the front of the plane, and...

A Miami biotech executive was followed into the skyscraper where he lived by a man who is accused of pushing him off the building’s 25th floor, newly released surveillance video shows. Justin Zelin, 35, was seen walking into Miami Beach’s 47-story Akoya Condominium with a bearded man, Corey Hutterli, 37, following on Feb. 12 — three days before his death, NBC6 reported. Zelin, who had worked as a biotechnology equity research analyst at BTIG since January 2021, reportedly shouted, “Get away from me, Sasha,” using a nickname by which Hutterli was known. There was a bust-up and cops said, “During...

A thong-wearing, 79-year-old Florida man was arrested for allegedly “consistently” exposing himself and making lewd gestures around his apartment complex — and argued to police that it was his “right to walk around naked.” Tyrone James Causey was charged with five counts of indecent exposure at his Hollywood, Fla., apartment on May 22 after neighbors called police, saying they were “increasingly concerned and frustrated with his continued behavior,” Local 10 News reported. Causey wasted no time showing police what neighbors were talking about — answering the door wearing nothing but a “G-string thong” and claiming he had “a right to...

A Florida doctor has been indicted in connection with the death of a 70-year-old man who had the wrong organ removed during surgery. Dr. Thomas Shaknovsky, 44, was indicted by a grand jury on a charge of second-degree manslaughter in the August 2024 death of the man of Muscle Shoals, Alabama, the Office of the State Attorney for the First Judicial Circuit said. He was taken into custody in Miramar Beach, Florida, on Monday morning and transported to the Walton County Jail ahead of his court appearance Tuesday.

Chris Toukonen apparently has a drug problem. He's also a teacher at Lely High School in Naples, Florida. Toukonen, 44, has a shiny new set of felony drug charges to add to his résumé, along with possession of narcotic paraphernalia. According to reports, administrators got wind of suspected drug use while Toukonen was alone in the classroom. They then searched his backpack, found cocaine and fentanyl, and called the Collier County Sheriff's Office. Deputies showed up, investigated, and hauled him off to jail. No other drugs were found in his classroom or his vehicle on campus. Look at those pinpoint...

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. (CBS12) — A United States Secret Service employee has been arrested in Florida for allegedly exposing himself.John Andrew Spillman, 33, was taken into custody Monday morning and booked into the Miami-Dade jail on a charge of indecent exposure.According to WSVN, in a statement, the Chief of the Secret Service emphasized that Spillman's actions are "unacceptable" and go against the professionalism and integrity expected from their personnel.

Steven Mills, Tiffany Score suing Fertility Center of OrlandoA Central Florida couple suing an IVF clinic over an embryo mix-up now knows who their baby girl’s biological parents are, their attorney said. The couple gave birth to the girl in December through the Fertility Center of Orlando, only to discover the child was not biologically related to them. Genetic testing later confirmed the mix-up. Steven Mills and Tiffany Score’s attorney confirmed to News 6 that the biological parents of the baby have been identified. Additional details about those individuals were not given. “The results of testing delivered to us today...

DELTONA, Fla. – An emotional reunion unfolded in Deltona after a family was reunited with their beloved dog, Archer, days after he went missing, and after they say they were targeted by a disturbing scam involving artificial intelligence. Lytton Cosens said the ordeal began late Saturday night after returning home from an Orlando Solar Bears game. “When we got home, usually the dogs are there to welcome you,” Cosens said. “But this time, only one came instead of three.” The family quickly realized their 11-year-old beagle mix, Archer, was missing and spent hours searching their neighborhood. The next morning, they...

BUNNELL, Fla. — A Palm Coast man currently campaigning for governor of Florida was arrested Friday morning following a domestic disturbance involving a weapon and threats to kill law enforcement, according to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office. Kevin Cichowski, 46, was taken into custody after deputies responded to a residence on Cleveland Court in Palm Coast. Authorities say the emergency dispatch center received a report that Cichowski had battered two elderly victims in the home, striking one with a cane and throwing a cellphone at the other. One of the victims told dispatchers that Cichowski was armed with a gun...

Orlando attorney says he won’t compete for Florida governorJohn Morgan took to social media on Monday to announce a new initiative: a $100,000 prize for a contest to name his new third party here in Florida. The Orlando attorney opened up his video statement by declaring he would not be running for office. “For about the last year and a half, a lot of people have been asking me to run for governor of the state of Florida. It’s really quite an honor,” he said. “So today, I’m going to answer that question and tell you my plans.” According...

Dr Thomas Shaknovsky indicted for second-degree manslaughter after prosecutors allege he removed a patient's liver instead of his spleen SNIP The Office of the State Attorney for the First Judicial Circuit in Florida announced in a release Monday that Dr. Thomas Shaknovsky was charged with second-degree manslaughter after he allegedly removed the liver from 70-year-old Bill Bryan of Muscle Shoals, Alabama, in 2024 during a procedure at Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast Hospital in Miramar Beach, Florida. Prosecutors allege the surgery was scheduled to be a laparoscopic splenectomy, a minimally invasive procedure used to remove the spleen, but the removal...