Free Republic

TREASURE ISLAND — A woman has been arrested after accosting her live-in boyfriend with a pink sex toy. Kimberly Lynn Calvert, 45, of 11875 3rd St. E, Apt. 4, was arrested Wednesday on a charge of simple battery. Police say an intoxicated Calvert first yelled at John Anthony Gonzales, with whom she has been living for five months, then "began poking" him "in the groin area multiple times" with the sex toy. Gonzalez called 911.

NAPLES, Fla. (AP) -- A southwest Florida woman was arrested after deputies said she assaulted her 71-year-old common-law husband after he complained about her cooking. A Lee County Sheriff's Office arrest report shows 66-year-old Meredith Hart Mulcahy was charged with battery on an elderly person Tuesday night. Deputies said the man got into an argument with her about undercooked potatoes and burnt bread.He went to the bedroom and began eating, and authorities said the woman then threw a phone at him. Deputies said Mulcahy became belligerent in the back seat of the patrol car and told them that she...

Jeb Bush interview, Biltmore Hotel, Coral Gables, Florida. The scene: Lunchtime at Jeb Bush's modest office just outside Miami. Just Tucker and Jeb, no one else in sight. Sandwiches. Jeb, only fifty-six, the smarter Bush boy, a good governor, with a great many people expecting that he's not yet finished, but after passing on the chance to run for Mel Martinez's Senate seat earlier this year, there's not an obvious path back to power for him. And his party is a shambles. Obama strides the globe like a colossus, Specter is days away from jumping, and Congressman Eric Cantor's sad...

Prospective retirees: Panama wants you. The pitch? A plane ride just 21/2 hours from Miami enables the newly poor to swap a wretched retirement in the U.S. for one befitting a royal in the balmy Central American nation. Cash out! Emigrate! Feel rich! Panama—the new Florida. Spin aside, Panama is increasingly popular among retirement-age types looking to hedge against—or skip out on—the recession. The Migration Policy Institute, a Washington-based think tank that studies the movement of people around the world, says the chief factors prodding professional-class Americans to flock to Panama include its First World health care available at Third...

Smith, who moved to Florida since losing to John Sununu in the 2002 GOP primary, is now looking at running for the open seat left by retiring Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.).

SNIPPET: “WASHINGTON - Last week, German authorities discovered that groups of terrorists may have been dispatched from training bases in Pakistan to launch crippling attacks.” SNIPPET: “They say as a minimum of 12 al-Qaida operatives who were trained in the tribal region of Pakistan have left the training camps and are headed back to their home countries. Spain, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy and Egypt are just some of those countries. According to the source, the threat levels also were raised for many other Western European countries to include concerns for “Turkish Airlines flying passengers from Istanbul to the...

ORLANDO, Fla. -- A third incident of groping occurs at a Central Florida water park in just over two weeks. Robert Double, 51, of Farmington, New York, was arrested Friday at Disney's Typhoon Lagoon. He's accused of groping girls and pulling off their bikini tops in the wave pool. The incident occurred at about 5:45 p.m. Orange County investigators said Disney Security officers watched Double on security monitors repeatedly assaulting young girls. Deputies talked to the victim and her father at the park. The 15-year-old victim told deputies that Double had been deliberately crashing into her while she was waiting...

Dear Mrs. Bbbbbb, Thank you for contacting me regarding the American Clean Energy and Security Act. I appreciate hearing from you and would like to take this opportunity to respond to your concerns. On May 15, 2009, Representative Henry Waxman (D-CA) introduced the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (H.R. 2454). This bill would create an absolute cap on total emissions from all covered entities including the electric power, transportation, oil and gas industry, and other commercial sectors with the goal of reducing greenhouse gases. This cap would be lowered over time through 2050, and a government-created market...

"From ghoulies and ghosties and long-legged beasties, and things that go bump in the night, good Lord deliver us." (Old Cornish prayer.) They couldn't have meant these critters, they are good natured to a fault.

Nobama is all over the news. There is no where to hide from his picture, his voice, his marxism. But who is speaking for us? Oh, sure, plenty of us here on FR, on BTR and on terrestrial talk radio. But of those running for office, who speaks for us? I can't say he speaks for you, but he definitely speaks for me, and to me. Lt. Col. Allen West is one of today’s most admired veterans, leaders and speakers. His speech is a direct reflection of his philosophy, leaving no one in question as to where he stands. Excerpts...

TALLAHASSEE - The Florida Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Gov. Charlie Crist must fill a Central Florida appeals court opening from the original list of six nominees and can't reject the names because he wanted a more diverse slate of candidates. The governor had demanded more racial diversity last December when he rejected a list of six white lawyers to fill a vacancy on the Fifth District Court of Appeal based in Daytona Beach. The vacancy was created by the December retirement of Judge Robert Pleus of Windermere.

I got to the pond just as the marsh birds started coming in to drink and bathe. When the tide is high they can't feed efficiently, so they take a break. Roseate Spoonbills and a Great Egret. I got a lot of shots, it will take time to process them all.

A distraught caller trying to save the life of a 2-year-old Florida girl strangled by a pet python screams "The baby's dead!" in chilling 911 tapes released in the toddler's death.Shaiunna Hare died early Wednesday morning after being attacked in her crib by the snake, which escaped from its aquarium, police said. "The baby's dead!" a sobbing caller from the house screamed to a 911 dispatcher. "Our stupid snake got out in the middle of the night and strangled the baby." Authorities did not identify the caller and removed the person's name from the recording. "She got out of the...

OXFORD, Fla. -- A two-year-old girl was strangled by a python at her family's home in Oxford. It is unknown whether the snake was a pet and how the child came in contact with the animal. Pythons can kill by wrapping themselves around a human. Whit Gibbons, a professor of ecology at the University of Georgia, told the Associated Press that "A human is just another prey item to a python -- especially a small human. "A 20-foot python, if it grabbed one of us, would bite us and then within just, instantly, seconds, it would be wrapped all the...

The Club for Growth, a conservative anti-tax group, is considering running ads in the Republican Party's Senate primary race against Florida Gov. Charlie Crist for supporting higher state taxes and President Obama's $787 billion economic stimulus spending package.

The Club for Growth, a conservative anti-tax group, is considering running ads in the Republican Party's Senate primary race against Florida Gov. Charlie Crist for supporting higher state taxes and President Obama's $787 billion economic stimulus spending package. Mr. Crist's opponent for the Republican Party's nomination next year is former state Speaker of the House Marco Rubio, a young conservative running on cutting government spending and taxes who recently met here with the Club for Growth, which has a strong reputation for defeating liberal and moderate Republicans in party primaries with its aggressive ad campaigns. "We recently interviewed Marco Rubio...

A new Mason-Dixon poll in Florida shows that Gov. Charlie Crist (R) continues to lead former House Speaker Marco Rubio in the U.S. Senate race. But Rubio is gaining in the polls as he becomes more familiar to state voters. Republican Primary Election MatchupCrist 51 (-2 from May)Rubio 23 (+5)Undecided 26 (-3) In the May survey, 56 percent of Republican voters did not recognize Rubio. That number is down to 48 percent in the past month. Among voters who recognize both candidates, the race is much closer: Crist leads with 33 percent, with Rubio at 31 percent and 36 percent...

Florida Governor Charlie Crist is running for the U.S. Senate next year, and we wonder if one reason is that he doesn't want to be in Tallahassee when the next hurricane hits his state. His veto of a hurricane insurance reform bill last week all but guarantees a state disaster on top of any wrought by Mother Nature. The bill would have trimmed the cost of a state-run enterprise that insures homeowners against storm damage. The program has an $18 billion unfunded liability and has taxpayers on the line for tens of billions in property losses from the next major...

Amison v. State, 5 So.3d 798 (Fla.App. 2 Dist. 2009) a case from Dade City, Appellate case number 2D07-5928 was reversed because they most likely did some things right. [1] The lawyer, a public defender, filed a pre-trial motion to suppress evidence or a request to block evidence of the search. Because the judge denied the motion, [2] Amison plead no contest most likely because of the overwhelming evidence against him, reserving the right to appeal the denial of his motion. What happens when a motion to suppress, or a motion in liminie, is requested after the jury is sworn,...

Next to the road

West Palm Beach police are rewarding residents for turning in people with guns: Under a new program announced this morning, anyone who spots people packing heat in West Palm Beach can call Palm Beach County Crime Stoppers anonymously and could receive a $500 reward. I've been over this ground before. Lt. David Bernhardt's hopes that "this will help to alleviate the violent crime" notwithstanding (it won't), it has the potential to result in unintended consequences. Like what? How about this, speculating on a similar program in New York: If I'm a drug dealer and I want to eliminate the competition,...

Invest 93 See Infrared Loop Here: http://www.goes.noaa.gov/HURRLOOPS/huirloop.html Statement as of 8:00 am EDT on June 26, 2009 For the North Atlantic...Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico...A tropical wave over the western Caribbean Sea continues to produceshowers and thunderstorms from Cuba and the Cayman Islands southwestward to Honduras. Conditions appear marginally favorablefor some slow development of this system before it reaches theYucatan Peninsula late tonight or early Saturday. There is a lowchance...less than 30 percent...of this system becoming a tropical cyclone during the next 48 hours. Locally heavy rain will continueover portions of Cuba and the Cayman Islands today...

Pretty day, the Skeeters aren't as bad as they have been. The young Little Blue Heron is getting bluer by the day. The Great Blue kept dozing off, only came up out of the Mangroves for a drink. The Cannas is right by the road, I shot this out the car window.

Sales have been hurt by the spread of indoor smoking bans, which have forced people to go outside to smoke. Tampa will lose part of its cigar heritage in August when Hav-A-Tampa shuts its factory near Seffner and lays off about 495 employees, closing a factory that has been operating since 1902. The company announced the closing today. Many employees there make Hav-A-Tampa's iconic Jewels, inexpensive machine-made cigars known for their birchwood tips. Some workers have labored there for two decades or longer, including one who's been there for 50 years, said Richard McKenzie, a senior vice president of human...

Gainseville, Fla.,---- Burmese pythons are multiplying rapidly in the Everglades and moving north in Florida, a University of Florida researcher says. Frank Mazzoti said the pythons can live anywhere alligators can, which would include all of Florida and swamp areas in Georgia and Louisiana, Science Daily reported. "People might argue the ultimate boundaries, but there's no part of this state that you can point at and say that pythons couldn't live here," he said. "We really need to be addressing the spread of these pythons. They're capable of surviving anywhere in Florida, they're capable of incredible movement -- and in...

LEE COUNTY, Fla. -- A couple fought back against two bold intruders in their Lee County Home. The homeowner and his fiancee, a retired coast guard officer and a former maximum security prison guard, said they woke up in their home early Monday morning to find a gun pointed in their faces. The couple took action and fought back against the two intruders. The homeowner even managed to get the crook's gun. "At that point I was going to take his life and he begged for his life, ''I don't want to die, I don't want to die, please don't...

TAMPA - Tampa will lose part of its cigar heritage in August when Hav-A-Tampa shuts its factory near Seffner and lays off about 495 employees, closing a factory that has been operating since 1902. The company announced the closing today. Many employees there make Hav-A-Tampa's iconic Jewels, inexpensive machine-made cigars known for their birchwood tips. Some workers have labored there for two decades or longer, including one who's been there for 50 years, said Richard McKenzie, a senior vice president of human resources for Altadis USA, which owns Hav-A-Tampa. Altadis tried to keep the plant open by closing it for...

Court to tackle clarity of Miranda warnings againBy Michael J. Sniffen, Associated Press Writer Mon Jun 22, 5:36 pm ET WASHINGTON – "You have the right to remain silent." Most people only hear those words while watching cop shows on TV. They usually zone out for the rest of the now familiar Miranda warning to people under arrest. But in the real world, the Supreme Court is still listening to the words that follow. It agreed Monday to hear another case over just how explicit that phrasing must be. In its landmark 1966 Miranda v. Arizona ruling, the high court...

DAVIE, Fla. — When the sharp pain shooting through Lisa Strong's back got worse, she thought it was another kidney stone and expected the discomfort to pass. This time was different. Through a series of mistakes, miscommunications and misdiagnoses, she wound up having her arms and legs amputated. She sued the doctors, who essentially blamed one another for what everyone involved agrees were profound errors. Everyone except the jury that ruled against Strong.

If you live here in Central Florida, I’m sure you’ve seen this plant growing in a friend or neighbor’s yard. Papaya needs very little to grow well here, it thrives in warm weather with plenty of rainfall -- pretty much the exact description of Central Florida most of the time. If you want to try growing some yourself be sure to provide support for the plant as the fruit grows from the stem of the “tree”. The papaya plant in the above picture was planted next to a large porch where it could be tied to help keep it from...

SEMINOLE — Police nabbed a suspected bank robber after two different witnesses reported seeing him drunk and covered in red dye Thursday. Pinellas County sheriff's detectives say Michael Prance, 53 and homeless, robbed RBC Bank at 11201 Park Boulevard in Seminole that day and got away. Around 6 p.m. that day, a resident at the Caribbean Mobile Home Park in Seminole called police complaining of an intoxicated person at the pool. Witnesses told police he was stumbling around the pool with a bottle of wine and red dye on his clothes. After residents confronted him, he left. Then, deputies got...

SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. -- A Seminole County woman was expecting a new insurance card from Blue Cross, Blue Shield, but she got a lot more than that. The woman said she received a box filled with hundreds of personal, private medical records for other people. The brown box sitting on her front doorstep Friday morning, she said, didn't look too out of place. However, as soon as the Sanford woman opened it, she found stack after stack of people's private medical records that certainly weren't in the right place.

Fred- Last night, Marco Rubio won the Pasco County GOP's straw poll, 73-9, illustrating the growing support for our movement at the grassroots level. The St. Petersburg Times described the result as "a sign of the governor's poor standing among some of his historically strongest supporters." They go on to note, Pasco is just one county removed from his home in Pinellas, for one, and the Pasco REC also endorsed Crist early in his 2006 GOP primary against Tom Gallagher."We've got a long way to go until Primary Day, but victories like this help demonstrate the growing momentum behind...

Marco Rubio overwhelmed Charlie Crist in an important straw poll conducted by the Pasco County Republican Executive Committee last night. Pasco county borders just to the north of Crist’s home county of Pinellas. Pasco county chairman Randy Maggard conducted the straw poll to determine which candidates were preferred by the majority of the executive committee. Marco Rubio won with a overwhelming vote of 73 votes to Charlie Crist’s 9.

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. -- A three-year-old girl was taken along for the ride during her mother's crime spree in Brevard County. Cocoa police say it all started in the early hours of Friday morning when the mother, with her daughter in the backseat, decided to rob the Wendy's on US 1 in Cocoa. Police say she was armed with a gun and got away with $600 cash. When the cops showed up, the suspect jumped in her car and took off. Police chased her for nearly 10 minutes and finally used stop sticks on her vehicle. One police car even...

A few more St. Augustine area shots. You can keep a camera busy around here, always a new angle coming up, just ride around and keep your eyes opened.

MIAMI — An illegal immigrant from Indonesia is suing a former Catholic priest and TV star, claiming the priest sought to have him deported to protect his wife from scandal.Maxi Paulus Ratunuman (RAH'-too-noo-mahn) claims he was arrested June 6 on false trespassing charges by an off-duty police officer who provided security for the Rev. Alberto Cutie (KOO'-tee-ay). Ratunuman, who overstayed a tourist visa, was in a Miami jail Thursday.Ratunuman says he is the ex of Cutie's wife Ruhama Bune Canales.He says the three conspired to get him out of the picture because he was asking for money Canales owned him.

Dear. Mr. X Thank you for contacting me regarding health care reform. I appreciate hearing from you and would like to take this opportunity to respond. There are an estimated 45 million Americans without health insurance - a number that has been consistently rising since 1989. This means that one in seven Americans, and one in five under the age of 65 in Florida, is uninsured. The fact that 15 percent of Americans live without health insurance is a staggering state of affairs, especially since we live in a country that leads the world in advanced medical procedures and technology....

This Snowy Egret was hunting nest building materials today. They constantly repair and reinforce their nests, but this one may be starting a new effort, the weather has killed a lot of chicks this year. When they are constantly wet their body temperature falls too low.

BROOKSVILLE, FL -- A Brooksville woman showed her displeasure with neighbors by walking around her yard with no clothes on, showing everything until she was finally arrested, Hernando County Sheriff's deputies said. Marilyn Incigeri was charged with exposure of sexual organs, a misdemeanor, and booked into the county jail. Deputy John Welch wrote in his incident report, "I observed the defendant, Marilyn Incigeri, standing on the rear porch of her residence with no clothes on. There were other neighbors present...and these neighbors had observed Marilyn exposing herself as well." According to neighbors, "Marilyn had been involved in an argument with...

OCALA --- Florida House Speaker Larry Cretul says he is giving "very, very strong consideration" to running for Congress in 2010, and while stressing that he has not made up his mind yet, he would seek to be the Republican challenger to Democratic Rep. Alan Grayson of Orlando. Cretul said his formal announcement about whether to be a candidate for the House District 8 seat would come soon, but did not pin down exactly when that might be.

A teenager accused of killing of more than a dozen cats in South Florida does not pose a danger to himself or the community and can be released from jail on bond, a judge ruled Wednesday.

The Twilight Zone” Greetings fellow South Florida riders, South Floridians, and Americans, here we are for another monthly installment of our Wheels on the Road political assessment. This month’s title is appropriate because Rod Serling could not have written this script any better. Everyday we wake up and have to ask ourselves, “Are we in some kinda parallel universe”? Actually Serling had an episode which fits appropriately. Therefore I googled up what has to be my favorite Twilight Zone episode, “To Serve Man”. Here is the synopsis of the episode, which was available upon search. “A race of aliens known...

Sen. Jim DeMint endorsed Marco Rubio over Gov. Charlie Crist in the flagship battle for the Republican Senatorial nomination in Florida, bucking the official GOP endorsement of Crist and ignoring polls that show Crist with more than a 30-point lead over the relatively unknown Rubio. “Rubio is the most impressive conservative leader I have met in a long time, a natural leader with an inspiring personal story and an even more inspiring vision for Florida and America,” DeMint wrote on Fox News. This break comes as more and more observers see the primary as a harbinger of future national Republican...

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) isn't just backing Florida Republican Marco Rubio to rally the conservative base, he's convinced the upstart can actually win. “He can win, should win, and will help lead our party out of the void into the waiting arms of America," DeMint said at an outdoor Tuesday afternoon news conference near the Senate. But DeMint's support of Rubio over establishment pick Charlie Crist, the governor of Florida, was a direct jab at the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which has chosen to back a moderate -- yet potentially more electable -- Republican in Crist. The Florida primary is...

Once there was a poor farmer who wanted to become fabulously rich in the diamond trade. He deserted his farmland and traveled the world looking for diamonds until he was too old to look anymore. He returned home penniless, only to discover that the fields around his home were thick with flawless diamonds as big as your fist. The poor guy’s fortune had been right under his nose, but he had wasted his whole life looking everywhere but in his own backyard. That old story came back to me a few weeks ago when I met Marco Rubio. He’s the...

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A man found clinging to a buoy after falling from a cruise ship in coastal Florida has been rescued. .. Carnival says the man told authorities he slipped after climbing on a railing to get a better view of the pilot boat. The ship was returning from a four-day cruise. The case remains under investigation.

Rep. Ellyn Bogdanoff today announced the endorsement of U.S. Sen. John McCain in her bid for state Senate. Bogdanoff was an early supporter of McCain's presidential bid, staying with him even when his campaign hit its low point before catching on again and winning the Florida primary. "Ellyn Bogdanoff has the character, experience and commitment to make a difference," McCain said in a statement. "During her career, she has consistently put people over politics and she will continue to outline policies to lead Florida out of its economic crisis." Bogdanoff is running for District 25, currently occupied by Senate President...

TALLAHASSEE - With a reputation as a conservative crusader during 20 years of voting in Congress for pro-life, gun rights and business issues, Bill McCollum is an unlikely candidate to follow the moderate political path set by the man he hopes to replace as governor, Charlie Crist.But McCollum has dropped the code words of bygone social battles as he prepares his campaign. Instead, the early front-runner for the GOP nomination is echoing Crist’s political tenor and wooing the governor’s base of moderate Republicans and Democrats.As happened with Crist, McCollum’s move to the middle has alienated some on the Republican right,...