Tag Archives: Florida

Floridians Warned To Avoid Armadillos Because of Leprosy

Leprosy cases are on the rise in Florida and officials say most of the cases appear to be connected to armadillos.

The Florida Department of Health says that 9 cases have been confirmed so far this year, almost matching the state’s yearly average of 10 cases.

The head of the Duval County Medical Society told WKMG-TV that all of the cases could be tracked back to contact with armadillos.

“It is a devastating illness if you do get it,” said Dr. Sunil Joshi said.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) says that armadillos are the only animal that carries leprosy and that they can spread it through their saliva.

“We catch more armadillos than we do any other species,” said wildlife trapper Kyle Waltz to CBS Jacksonville.  “Especially if they’re trying to get out of a cage they can spit on you.”

“What’s happening in Florida is not necessarily concerning but what’s interesting is those cases were all with people who were in direct contact with armadillos,” Joshi said.

Florida has a large armadillo population although most of them live in the woods.  However, residents have found the animals living in their yards where they pose a danger to animals and children.

One reporter for CBS Jacksonville found six armadillos living under her home.

“It is still very, very unlikely to cause problems but be aware of armadillos and stay away from them,” Joshi said.

While armadillos are mostly nocturnal, it is currently their mating season and they can be out during the day, complicating the situation.

Two Boys Save Children From Burning Home

Two young boys in Orange County, Florida are being hailed as heroes after running into a burning mobile home to save the lives of two other children.

Isiah Francis, 10, called 911 when he saw the fire.  He then ran into the home with his friend, 11-year-old Jeremiah Grimes saw his friend rushing into the building and joined him.  The two saved two young children who had been trapped by the flames.

Firefighters then arrived and rescued two other children.

“I was in the place first trying to get those little kids out to save their lives,” Francis said. “I was nervous because there was so much smoke. It was hard for me to see and all that.”

Isiah said that Jeremiah stood at the door and directed him through the heavy smoke until they found the youngest children.

“I took the infant, he took the older one and we ran back to his house,” Grimes said.

“Although we never advise entering a building on fire,” said Fire Chief Otto Drozd III, “we must recognize the courage it took for those kids to risk their own lives to save the lives of others.”

The children rescued by firefighters are in critical but stable condition at Arnold Palmer Hospital.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

New Drug Sweeping Florida Stronger Than Bath Salts

A new drug sweeping through Florida has been found that is stronger than crystal meth or bath salts.

The drug, called flakka (Spanish for skinny), has resulted in a man trying to break down the door of a police station, a man impaling himself while climbing a fence and a nude man screaming on a rooftop according to CBS.

The drug can be snorted, snoked, injected or swallowed.  It can even be used in e-cigarettes.

“We’re starting to see a rash of cases of a syndrome referred to as excited delirium,” Jim Hall, an epidemiologist at the Center for Applied Research on Substance Use and Health Disparities at Nova Southeastern University, told CBS. “This is where the body goes into hyperthermia, generally a temperature of 105 degrees. The individual becomes psychotic, they often rip off their clothes and run out into the street violently and have an adrenaline-like strength and police are called and it takes four or five officers to restrain them. Then once they are restrained, if they don’t receive immediate medical attention they can die.”

The drug is usually made from the same class of chemical that is used to make bath salts, the drug that came to the public’s attention in 2012 when a man started chewing on another man’s face in public while high on the drug.

“On a scale of one to 10, Flakka is a 12,” Lt. Dan Zsido of the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office told 10 News Tampa Bay Sarasota. “It comes from a place where we don’t know how it’s being made, who’s making it, and what’s been added to it before it reaches the end user so it’s very dangerous.”

Florida City Removes Tax-Exempt Status From Church Hosting Nude Parties

Officials in Panama City Beach, Florida have revoked the local tax-exempt status of a “church” that has been running a sexually-themed nightclub during Spring Break.

“It’s very disturbing, especially inside our city limits here in Bay County,” Panama City Beach Police Chief Drew Whitman told reporters this week. “I think we’re better than that.”

The group calling itself “Life Center Church” has been hosting an event called “Spring Break Amnesia” since February that featured items local officials called “shocking” for a place of worship.

“A bottle club, charging $20 at the door and selling obscene T-shirts is not being used as a church,” Property Appraiser Dan Sowell told the Panama City News Herald. “A God-fearing, God-honoring church in January does not sponsor this type of debauchery in March.”

The “church” had been advertising events on their website that were anything but Christian.

“‘Slumber’ is a pajama and lingerie party hosted by the sexiest ladies on the beach,” the site’s event description read just three days ago. “‘Anything But Clothes’ showcases your artistic side, featuring your mind and body. How creative can you be? Bare as you dare to attend in anything but clothes (toga, body paint, etc.).”

The church’s “pastor” once had another church in the area called Faith Christian Family Church.  He was arrested and placed on probation for giving pot to teens.

Leprosy On Rise In Florida

A disease that has been feared since Biblical times is on the rise in Florida.

Officials near Daytona Beach say that three people have been diagnosed with leprosy over the last five months.  Two of the patients reportedly had been infected after close contact with armadillos.

Three cases are unusually high for a disease that is considered rare.

Brevard County officials say that 18 cases of leprosy have been found in their county in the last five years and most of those cases are patients who had some kind of contact with armadillos.

Health officials say that only 150 to 250 new cases of leprosy are found in the United States each year.  

Florida health officials say that the disease is not very contagious to the public at large.

Woman Arrested After Damaging Satanic Display at Florida Capitol

A woman was arrested Tuesday after she attempted to tear down the Satanic Temple’s display in the lobby of the Florida Capitol.

Susan Hemeryck, 54, told police officers she was sorry but that it was “not right” to allow the anti-Christian display.

Hemeryck tried to remove the display as an officer stopped her and said she had to put it back.  She responded by trying to tear down the display until the officers subdued and arrested her.

“It’s just wrong, when you remove baby Jesus two days before Christmas and put Satan in his place — that just can’t happen. I couldn’t allow it to happen,” Hemeryck told the Associated Press “I was there at the right time and the right moment and I needed to take a stand against Satan.”

Hemeryck faces a charge of criminal mischief.  She has no criminal record.

“I just yanked that little devil off the fishing line,” she told the AP when asked if she had any regrets. “I should have just done a better job and finished it off for good.”

Satanic Temple To Do Holiday Display At Florida Capitol

The Satanic Temple of New York will have a prominent place at the Florida State Capitol building during the Christmas season.

The group will be posting a display for “Festivus”, a fake holiday created on a television sitcom.  The display from the group will be a six foot tall stack of beer cans.

The display had been rejected last year by the Florida Department of Management Services as being “grossly offensive.”  There was no explanation by the group this year why the display was given approval.

A spokesman for the Satanists said the difference was that this year the group showed up with lawyers.

Christian groups say that these outside groups posting displays are not doing it to wish well to residents during the holiday season.

“This is not a religious endorsement by our state government. It’s freedom of religion and freedom of speech, and we will all be up there,” Pam Olsen of the Florida Prayer Network said. “But are they really putting them up to wish everyone a happy holiday from the atheists and the Satanists, or are they up there to protest baby Jesus?”

Pro-Lifers Take City To Court Over Citations For Loitering

A Florida city who has been harassing pro-life protesters is being taken to court by two women threatened with loitering citations for their protest.

The American Center for Law and Justice says they are representing Judith Minihan and JoAnn O’Connell in a federal suit.  The women hold protests and plead with women seeking to kill their children through abortion at the Fort Myers Women’s Health Center.

“When individuals who are driving into the medical office complex stop to speak with Plaintiffs, Plaintiffs will generally hand them literature and speak with them about abortion-related topics, including information about the possible emotional and physical effects of abortion, nearby maternity homes, local and national helplines, and fetal development,”  the ACLJ wrote in their complaint.

The women take care to stand on the public sidewalk while they are there and do not block pedestrians from entering the abortionist.  However, police have taken to harassing the women.

“Defendant Officer Conticelli stated that he would enforce the loitering ordinance against them if they (1) stood in one spot on the public sidewalk in front of the medical office complex and abortion clinic and did not keep walking on that public sidewalk, (2) approached any vehicles entering or leaving the medical office complex and abortion clinic to hand out literature or speak with the occupants of the vehicle, or (3) blocked vehicular traffic entering or leaving the medical office complex and abortion clinic by handing out literature or talking to the people in vehicles,” the complaint reads.

The women handed the officer a consent decree from a previous lawsuit with the city that said they would not interfere with their pro-life activities but the police continued their threats necessitating the current suit.

The city’s attorney said they would be reviewing the situation.

Florida State Student Says God Saved Him

A student who had been inside the main library at Florida State University when shots rang out says that God saved him.

21-year-old Jason Derfuss wrote about the incident in his Facebook page.

“The shooter targeted me first,” he wrote. “The shot I heard behind me I did not feel, nor did it hit me at all.  He was about 5 feet from me, but he hit my books.  Books one minute earlier I had checked out of the library, books that should not have stopped the bullet. But they did.”

Police killed the gunman when he refused to put down his weapon.  Three students were wounded including one that remains in critical condition.

“There is no way I should be alive,” Derfuss told NBC News. “It’s crazy: One minute I am checking out books, and the next I am crying on my bedroom floor thinking I shouldn’t be alive. Those books saved me, and God saved me.”

“The Florida State University community is extremely saddened by the shootings that took place early this morning at Strozier Library, in the very heart of campus, and our thoughts and prayers are with the families and loved ones of all those who have been affected,” university President John Thrasher wrote in a statement on Thursday. “The three students who have been injured are our highest priority followed by the needs of our greater university community. We will do everything possible to assist with their recovery.”

Three Students Shot In Florida State University Library

A gunman who was slain by police shot three students shortly after midnight Thursday at Florida State University’s main library.

Police say that hundreds of students were studying for exams at Strozier Library when the gunman began his attack.  The assailant was shot when he refused to drop his weapon.

The gunman has been identified as Myron May, a lawyer who graduated from FSU before attending Texas Tech University law school and being admitted to the Texas State Bar in 2010.  He had been working as “in-house counsel” for a children’s home in the area.

“He’s just a boy our kids grew up with that we let stay in one of our guest houses for a while,” Abigail Taunton, who runs the home, told the Associated Press. “He’s moving back home from Texas and we were trying to help him get on his feet.”

“This person just for whatever reason produced a handgun and then began shooting students in the library,” FSU Police Chief David Perry said.  Perry characterized the shooting as an “isolated incident” but did not release many details.