Free Republic

Owners of All-Med Billing Corp., the couple submitted a whopping $420 million in false Medicare claims on behalf of 85 medical equipment companies in South Florida. They collected a 5 percent commission on $148.5 million paid to those businesses by Medicare between 1998 and 2004.

MANATEE COUNTY - Sheriff's officials are calling it a local record: an Ellenton woman was jailed Saturday on her 10th drunken-driving arrest. Ironically, a passenger riding with 41-year-old Janet Landrum told a deputy that Landrum was driving at 2:20 a.m. Saturday because the passenger, whom Landrum had just met, was too drunk to drive. Landrum, according to federal traffic records, has been arrested on charges of driving under the influence at least nine other times in several states over the past 20 years. Prior to Saturday's arrest, Landrum was picked up for DUI in Kentucky in 1988, in Tennessee in...

000 WTNT32 KNHC 260258 TCPAT2 BULLETIN TROPICAL STORM GUSTAV ADVISORY NUMBER 4 NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL AL072008 1100 PM EDT MON AUG 25 2008 ...GUSTAV STRENGTHENS...ALMOST A HURRICANE... AT 11 PM EDT...0300 UTC...THE HURRICANE WARNING IS EXTENDED FROM PORT AU PRINCE HAITI NORTHWARD TO LE MOLE ST NICHOLAS. A HURRICANE WARNING IS NOW IN EFFECT FROM BARAHONA IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC WESTWARD TO LE MOLE ST NICHOLAS HAITI. PREPARATIONS TO PROTECT LIFE AND PROPERTY SHOULD BE RUSHED TO COMPLETION. AT 11 PM EDT...THE GOVERNMENT OF JAMAICA HAS ISSUED A TROPICAL STORM WATCH FOR JAMAICA. A TROPICAL STORM...

WASHINGTON - As he battled pancreatic cancer, Harvey Waite encouraged his wife to continue her race for a fourth two-year term to the U.S. House of Representatives. "I want you to run," he told his wife, U.S. Rep Ginny Brown-Waite. "I want you to win almost as much as I want to beat this cancer." On Tuesday, Harvey Waite died. He was 68. In an interview with The Tampa Tribune in May, Brown-Waite said she had been wrestling with doing her duties in Washington and running for re-election after her husband's cancer diagnosis in February. After he encouraged her to...

Here's your Fact Sheet on Amendment 2 Print copies, forward this important message to family and friends August 19, 2008 Dear Friend, We have just finished our final “Fact Sheet” on Amendment 2, the Florida Marriage Protection Amendment. This will now be “THE” most used and most recommend all purpose hand out or flyer in the campaign. This also contains most of our talking points for media also. It is really important they we stay on message and use these points when talking about the marriage amendment. Please feel free to mass produce these Fact Sheet flyers and distribute to...

In this legislative district, consisting of East Manatee and parts of Sarasota and Hillsborough counties, incumbent Ron Reagan vies with newcomer Kirk Faryniasz in the Republican primary. The winner will compete with Democrat Richard Jackson in the November general election. Reagan's passion for politics and policy and the leadership skills and experience he has gained in his three terms in the Legislature give district residents strong representation. Due to term limits, a fourth term would be his last. The biggest issues again are pocketbook concerns - taxes, property insurance, energy costs - and economic development. Tired of high property insurance...

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Threats from the public, including extortion, are targeting the family of a missing Orlando girl as the case continues to grab national attention. Cindy Anthony, the grandmother of missing Caylee, said she has received the threats through e-mails, letters and phone calls. The incidents have been forwarded to the authorities for investigation, Local 6 has learned. Charges Are 'Good Thing' Meanwhile, the state attorney's office filed formal charges of felony child neglect and making a false report to law enforcement authorities against Casey Anthony, 22, in connection with the disappearance of her daughter. The false information concerned...

ORLANDO, Fla. -- The attorney for the mother of a missing Orlando girl said on Monday that discussions about limited immunity for his client have taken place between him and the State Attorney's Office. Jose Baez referred to the discussions as "informal," saying that nothing has been put on paper. It's not clear if he has met face-to-face with a representative of the State Attorney's Office. Baez represents Casey Anthony, who remains jailed on child neglect charges in connection to the disappearance of her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee. Casey Anthony's father, mother and brother met with Baez on Monday after meeting...

WIMAUMA — In the middle of a grassy 40-acre airfield bordered by a cow pasture, an orange grove and a two-lane road in rural Hillsborough County, Steve Hall was steward recently to three small airplanes that will soon be delivered to airports in the United Kingdom, Switzerland and the Czech Republic. With a roster of a dozen pilots who have an unusual knack for navigating pint-sized, single-engine planes across the Atlantic Ocean, Hall's aircraft delivery business is booming these days. Customers around the world are snapping up small airplanes from the United States, thanks to the weak American dollar. And...

This is an incredible read. Please go to link to see the massive fraud going on in South Florida.

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Cindy Anthony expressed her frustration with the media Wednesday morning when she arrived for a video visitation with her daughter Casey at the Orange County Jail. Casey Anthony has been in jail since reporting her 2-year-old daughter Caylee missing on July 15. She is charged with child neglect and is being held on $500,000 bond. Cindy Anthony said she thinks the focus has been taken away from Caylee, and that the search for her granddaughter has been hindered by the media. "You guys are trying my daughter right now for something she hasn’t even been charged with,”...

<p>Miami-Dade police officials plan to include in their 2009 handbook a note about how to respond to calls about ritual animal sacrifices.</p> <p>The decision comes a year after Coral Gables officers raided a home where practitioners of Santeria were slaughtering goats, chickens and pigeons. Several worshippers were held at gunpoint and detained for hours.</p>

A scheme to defraud state taxpayers out of millions of dollars was thwarted by some alert Regions Bank employees and one of the state's biggest road contractors — but not before some of the money was transferred to Beirut, Lebanon. FBI agents caught Ali Hassan Hammoud, 35, minutes before he was to board an Air France flight to Lebanon, but they were too late to stop the transfer to Lebanon of some of the $5.7-million stolen from the state treasury. The money was transferred in four installments after state officials received bogus paperwork directing them to ship the money to...

OCOEE, Fla. -- A fish-like creature with "legs" caught in a Central Florida lake over the weekend sparked a flood of e-mails after photos of it were aired on Local 6. Shawna Mitchell said she was fishing on Starke Lake in Ocoee when she pulled something strange out of the water. Mitchell's photos showed what appeared to be a fish with two front legs and no scales. She said she was "freaked out a little bit" after pulling the creature to a pier. After Local 6 News aired the photos, viewers sent e-mails to Local6.com Sunday night suggesting it was...

max behrman The UCF student who removed a Eucharist from a Catholic Campus Ministry mass and made national headlines is still caught in the wake of his actions. Webster Cook, who is a Student Government Association senator, is now facing an impeachment investigation by the rest of the Senate as a result of an affidavit filed against him due to the incident. In response to the complaints filed against him, Cook brought hazing charges against Catholic Campus Ministry, filing with the Office of Student Conduct regarding the physical force used against him. The charges were formally dropped yesterday. The Legislative,...

OCALA – Firing a .357-caliber handgun until it was empty, an Ocala woman chased two intruders from her home in the 3800 block of Southeast 68th Street on Wednesday morning. Later Wednesday, Marion County sheriff's detectives had one home invasion suspect in custody and were looking for the second. Aaron Scott Beardsley, 25, was charged with armed home invasion robbery. Deputies were still looking for a heavy-set Hispanic male, about 6-foot-1 or 6-feet-2, who was wearing black shorts at the time, a dark T-shirt and a bandana. Sheriff's Detective Art King, in his report, gave the following account of the...

NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. -- If you need more proof that New Smyrna Beach is the shark bite capital of the world, a local photographer has it, three amazing photos with eyewitnesses to back it. Just as thousands of surfers and swimmers are heading to the beach this weekend, there's more evidence they aren't the only ones in the water. It happened in the blink of an eye, but some people told Eyewitness News they still don't believe the tale of a wave-jumping shark in New Smyrna Beach even though it was caught on camera. "He said, 'I hope I...

UF McKnight Brain Institute director honored by Italian scientists Dennis Steindler, Ph.D., is the executive director of the Evelyn F. and William L. McKnight Brain Institute of the University of Florida. He recently was honored for his contributions to... Click here for more information. GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Dennis Steindler, executive director of the Evelyn F. and William L. McKnight Brain Institute of the University of Florida, was honored for his contributions to neuroscience at a ceremony with officials from the Catholic University in Rome, the university's teaching hospital — the Gemelli University Polyclinic — and the Italian government.  Steindler...

For those of you who have ever biked into a little establishment on 17-92 just 1 mi. north of SR434 on a Tuesday nite for their free wings....the Handle Bar & Grille, which closed down, seemingly for good, in February, WILL open again! Friday is the Handle Bar & Wings Grand Opening. Many Charity 'Rides' began at their doorstep, and God willing, soon will again. The Handle Bar is now a 'family restaurant' and 'biker bar'...and in good standing with the local community. It may be that the Good Will of all those Vets on Bikes, Patriot Riders, Eagles, Rolling...

An employee of a Baker County home for troubled youths has been arrested on a child abuse charge by deputies documenting evidence of sexual activity between teenage residents. Deputies also arrested an 18-year-old resident of Camp Tracey on a charge of fondling a younger resident, but said sexual acts between the younger teens weren't criminal because they were consensual. The children's home, located on farmland north of Glen St. Mary, is run by Harvest Baptist Church of Jacksonville. Since 2003, the church has settled a half-dozen lawsuits filed by former residents citing physical and sexual abuse by camp workers and...

Sheriff's detectives conducted a proper search of the home of a youth pastor even without a warrant, a Manatee County judge ruled Thursday. The ruling shot down a defense challenge and now means prosecutors can use videotapes and hidden cameras seized in the voyeurism investigation last year. Authorities did not need a warrant to search the home of Bethel Baptist Church youth pastor Matthew C. Porter because a friend who had been house-sitting agreed to let detectives inspect Porter's home in Ellenton, Manatee County Judge George K. Brown Jr. determined. The detectives, the judge said, acted reasonably. Investigators say Porter,...

Study: Stem Cells Used To Fix Your Broken Heart It's Called The Marvel Study The Largest Clinical Trial Investigating Adult Stem Cells To Treat Congestive Heart Failure For More Info, Call Jim Moran Heart & Vascular Center At (954) 229-8400 MIAMI (CBS4) ― Doctors are discovering a new way to fix your broken heart. A study is underway in South Florida that could revolutionize the way heart attack patients help their damaged hearts by using their own stem cells. It's called The Marvel Study and under the direction of Dr. Alan Neiderman with the Jim Moran Heart & Vascular Research...

A former Salvation Army pastor remains in the Volusia County Jail, facing charges of lewd or lascivious molestation on a 13-year-old girl. John Chastain, 41, was the Captain Officer of the Salvation Army Church in DeLand from 1999 to 2005, and as such was the church's pastor. He's accused of luring a teenager to perform sexual acts from the time she was 13 years old until she turned 16. Chastain left the church and Volusia County Sheriff's investigators caught up with him last week in Georgia. News 13 spoke with the sister of the victim, who said Chastain was the...

DeLAND, Fla. -- A 46-year-old man was arrested after he threw a 3-pound pack of Polish sausage at his mother, striking her in the head, police said. Gregory Allan Praeger was charged with battery on Saturday after the incident at a Hunters Creek home, according to a DeLand police report. Praeger's mother told police that her son was drinking and they got into an argument. She said Praeger picked up the pack of sausage and threw it at her, grazing the back of her head, the police report said. When police asked Praeger what happened, he asked officers if they...

LARGO -- Five men who protested in last year's St. Pete Pride festival were found guilty of violating a city ordinance today, though the men still could win an acquittal if the judge rules the ordinance is unconstitutional. After about three hours of testimony, Judge Henry Andringa found that the men violated a city ordinance by carrying signs that were wider than their torsos during last year's festival, which drew more than 40,000 people. The signs said things like "Real men marry women" and "Heaven free of f---, hell full of f---." But Andringa said he will take more time...

Back at the height of her surreal U.S. Senate campaign, we were thrilled at Katherine Harris' talk about writing a juicy tell-all book. Just think of all the wonderfully unpleasant things she might have to say about the Bushes, the Democrats, the reporters and the campaign professionals she was sure to cast as her persecutors. Alas, the former Republican congresswoman's book never appeared (kinda like the $10-million of her own money she promised to spend on her campaign against Bill Nelson). But fans of political gossip may get a consolation prize: a juicy tell-all book by her former campaign manager,...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Vice President Dick Cheney's office acknowledged on Thursday that he was mistaken when he asserted that China, at Cuba's behest, is drilling for oil in waters 60 miles from the Florida coast. In a speech to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Cheney said on Wednesday that waters in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, long off limits to oil companies, should be opened to drilling because China is already there pumping oil. ''Oil is being drilled right now 60 miles off the coast of Florida,'' the vice president said. ''We're not doing it, the Chinese are, in cooperation...

arrested on charges of having sex with four teenage boys, two of whom were her students, was warned by school officials to never be alone in a classroom with "any male students," Local 6 News reported on Friday. Danielle Jones, 32, was in court on Friday, a day after the Stambaugh (Auburndale) Middle School sixth-grade science teacher was arrested on suspicion of having sex with two of her students, ages 14 and 15, and their two 16-year-old cousins. The school principal sent Jones a letter on Jan. 23 -- about six months after the alleged sex took place -- after...

There was no one thing that caused Hector Salinas to pack his bags and give up for good on the trials of life as an illegal immigrant in South Florida. But the reasons he enumerates are echoed by increasing numbers of Latin American immigrants, both legal and not, who appear to be souring on their job prospects and going home: It was the scant money he made at a menial restaurant job, Salinas said, just enough for food and rent, with barely anything left for his family in Mexico -- the reason he came in the first place. It was...

After a full and intense day of debate and presentations, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) reached a decision on how to treat the rogue states of Florida and Michigan. The Rules and Bylaws Committee (RBC) ruled that the full delegation of Florida can be seated but each delegate will only have half of one vote. Michigan will use a staggered formula, seating 128 delegates -- 69 for Clinton and 59 for Obama -- but they too will only get half a vote. After each vote, supporters of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) erupted furiously in chants of "Denver, Denver," the...

ST. PETERSBURG – The St. Petersburg Times will offer an enhanced retirement option to reduce its payroll and, depending on response, could resort to layoffs later this year. The newspaper also is imposing a one-year wage freeze for remaining employees. In a letter to staff, Times editor and chairman Paul Tash said the measures were a response to a “difficult economic climate” that has been especially hard on advertising, the largest source of newspaper revenue. Over the last two years, the Times’ fulltime staff has dropped from more than 1,500 to fewer than 1,300, mostly by attrition. “We are navigating...

A nude maid cleaned up good at a Florida man's home. The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office says the maid stole more than $40,000 from a Cheval home despite not wearing any clothes. The 50-year-old man hired the maid through the Internet on Friday to clean his suburban Tampa home. Authorities said the woman arrived at the home in a one-piece, light colored dress. She took off the dress and cleaned the house for $100 per hour. Sheriff's office spokeswoman Debbie Carter said the man told deputies he left the maid alone in the bedroom to clean. When the man's wife...

2006 was a bad year to be a Republican. 2008 is a bad year to be an incumbent. In 2006, voters wanted to throw out the congressional majority and try a new one. Two years later, they have discovered that they have the same inadequate Congress, just under different leadership. That fact appears to have escaped the notice of some inside-the-Beltway talking heads, reporting about what’s happening on the ground from safe inside their DC offices. Like those brave reporters who cover Iraq from the Green Zone, their reports are just as inaccurate. On May 20, The Politico pronounced that,...

Meynardo Garcia's ambitious dreams of becoming an artist are on hold, while he fights the U.S. government over his mother's decision years ago to break the law. His mother slipped Meynardo, then age 10, into the United States illegally from Mexico. He's now 18 years old, a senior at Broward's Coconut Creek High School. Meynardo's saga as an undocumented immigrant would have largely gone unnoticed but for his art teacher, his fellow classmates and his prize-winning artwork. Nearly 1,000 classmates have signed a petition to allow Meynardo to stay in the country and his art teacher has gotten him an...

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A Central Florida man's Confederate flag prompted a free-speech battle with his employer, who doesn't want it displayed on company property. The flag is attached to Bobby Tillett's pickup truck, which he drives to work every day, WJXT reported. Because his employer has banned the flag from his parking lot, Tillett is forced to park far from his job. "If I take it down, that means you know the politically correct people would have won, and that's wrong," Bobby Tillett said. "If you believe in something that strong (you) should have no problem whatsoever to fly it."...

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (CNS) -- Maria Meneses has a vision, but in order to see it through, she needs help. The vision: to deliver a rose to all female patients in nursing homes on Mother's Day. Her inspiration came from a desire to pay tribute to her late mother, Eneyda Meneses, who cared for a sick aunt in a nursing home for many years. "I don't have a mom. How else can I celebrate?" said Meneses, a parishioner of St. Patrick's on Miami Beach who made an Emmaus retreat eight years ago. One of the central themes of Emmaus is...

DADE CITY — The day after his mother died, James Walmer got up at 5:45 a.m., as he does each day of the school year, and two hours later drove to Pasco High, just like always. The 17-year-old senior didn't tell anyone what happened, not at first. Sticking to routine gave him a sense of comfort. "There was still class," he said. "Nobody was in a bad mood." After school let out, James went to his job as an assistant at Rx-Care Pharmacy on Clinton Avenue. With his bosses' permission, he called the office of Circuit Judge William Sestak. Would...

MIAMI — Florida drivers can order more than 100 specialty license plates celebrating everything from manatees to the Miami Heat, but one now under consideration would be the first in the nation to explicitly promote a specific religion. The Florida Legislature is considering a specialty plate with a design that includes a Christian cross, a stained-glass window and the words "I Believe."

OLDSMAR, Fla. -- A 69-year-old woman found an 8-foot-long alligator roaming in her home's kitchen Monday night, police said. Sandra Frosti said the alligator must have pushed through the back porch screen door and gone inside through an open sliding glass door. It then walked through the living room, down a hall and into the kitchen. A trapper with Animal Capture of Florida removed the alligator, which had been cut when a plate was knocked to the ground. No one inside the house was injured. One-Handed Man Wrestles Gator Earlier this month, a one-handed trapper in Florida roped and wrestled...

BARTOW, Fla. -- One of eight teens accused of taking part in the notorious videotaped "animalistic" beating of another Central Florida teen snickered while a judge issued bail on Friday. April Cooper, 14, giggled and attempted to hold in her laughter as she was told that she was being held on $36,000 bond, Local 6 News reported. It's not known why Cooper giggled. A judge set bails ranging from $30,000 to $37,000 for each during their first court appearances. They also were ordered to stay away from their high school and Internet social networking sites, such as MySpace. The judge...

LONGWOOD, Fla. -- A 15-year-old Seminole County boy died on Thursday when a barbell apparently fell on his neck while he was lifting weights alone at his home, authorities said. Elie Khoury, who attended Seminole High School, was working out in the back of his home, located at 208 Cambridge Drive in Longwood, at about 9:40 p.m. when a barbell apparently fell on top of his neck, deputies said. A Seminole County sheriff's deputy responding to a 911 call said he found Joseph Khoury, Elie's father, performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation on his son, who could not be revived. Grief counselors were...

ORLANDO, Fla. -- A 24-year-old man held a gun to the head of a 15-month-old girl while he raped her mother for 25 minutes in a Wal-Mart parking lot, according to an arrest report. David Welker is accused of raping a woman in broad daylight at a Wal-Mart parking lot located on John Young Parkway after forcing her into her car at gunpoint. The gun was placed against the child as Welker raped the woman twice, Thursday's arrest report said. The document also said "he ordered her to dump out her purse. He then took her cellular phone, her debit...

SANFORD, Fla. -- A seaplane attempting to take off in an alligator-infested lake crashed when it clipped an alligator floating on top of the water, the pilot said. Officials said the seaplane was one of two trying to take off from Lake Jesup in Seminole County on Thursday when it crashed. The pilot, identified by officials as William Furr, suffered head injuries and a broken ankle and had to be rescued from the sinking plane by a boater. After being pulled from the wreckage, Furr told emergency crews that his aircraft clipped an alligator. "The pilot did say he thought...

Global warming is not the cause of increased hurricane activity, researchers said, but many more busy -- and costly -- seasons are ahead. ORLANDO -- We're in a busy period of hurricane activity that will inflict unimaginable damage, but global warming is not the cause, leading researchers told the nation's foremost forecasters and other experts Friday. Chris Landsea, a respected researcher and the National Hurricane Center's science officer, told those at the National Hurricane Conference that there is no conclusive evidence that global warming has significantly enhanced or otherwise affected the number or intensity of hurricanes. ''Any trend we see...

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. -- Two SWAT officers are being counseled after bringing their young children along with them on a drug raid. The Orange County SWAT team searched a house on Napoleon Street Friday, arresting three people and recovering guns and drugs. The two officers who brought their children on the raid will not be disciplined. Both officers said the incident will not happen again, Local 6 reported.

What was once just a tomato field is now holy land. What was once just a building is now a sacred place. Ave Maria and the Roman Catholic Church joined Monday in a 1,500-year-old ceremony that dedicated the town’s 100-foot, $24 million landmark as a church and made official the link between the new community and its inspiration. Diocese of Venice Bishop Frank Dewane led a two-hour service in front of 1,100 worshipers inside the church, known as the Ave Maria Oratory, and about 1,000 others watching the celebration on closed circuit television nearby. The service functioned like the building’s...

In Tallahassee, you sometimes hear outlandish statements, and we all have our favorite examples. This year I haven't yet heard of anything as odd as the retail industry's gun sellers being labeled "anti-gun." The paradox might be amusing if it weren't so troubling. The U.S. Supreme Court's deliberation on the gun ban in Washington, D.C., now promises to add another layer of irony for our consideration.

·11250 Waples Mill Road ·   Fairfax, Virginia 22030    ·800-392-8683   Critical Florida Action Alert: If You Want To Keep Your Right To Self-Defense You Must Act Now   Monday, March 24, 2008   ACT NOW – House Bill 503 “Guns-Locked-In-Cars Bill” Headed to House Floor, and your State Representative needs to hear from you toady, urging him or her to support HB 503!  Date:       March 24, 2008TO:         USF & NRA Member and FriendsFROM:   Marion P. Hammer               USF Executive Director                NRA Past President House Bill 503 by Rep. Greg Evers (R-Milton) will be heard on the HOUSE FLOOR Wednesday, March 26th.For three years...

Almost four months before Gov. Eliot Spitzer resigned in a sex scandal, a lawyer for Republican political operative Roger Stone sent a letter to the FBI alleging that Spitzer ''used the services of high-priced call girls'' while in Florida. The letter, dated Nov. 19, said Miami Beach resident Stone learned the information from ''a social contact in an adult-themed club.'' It offered one potentially identifying detail: the man in question hadn't taken off his calf-length black socks ``during the sex act.'' Stone, known for shutting down the 2000 presidential election recount effort in Miami-Dade County, is a longtime Spitzer nemesis...

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Members of a nationally known church will be picketing outside of several Central Florida churches on Easter Sunday with a message pastors say is more about shock value than God's words. A group from the Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church has announced they will be outside Easter services at St. Luke's United Methodist, First Baptist Church, Calvary Assembly of God and Mary Queen of the Universe churches early Sunday. Westboro church members said they believe school shootings, 9-11 and solider deaths are "God's revenge" for America's moral decline and tolerance for homosexuality and abortion. "This nation is awash...