MIAMI (AP) - Your daily look at news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today.
TALLY REACHES 500 IN FLORIDA EVERGLADES BURMESE PYTHON HUNT
The South Florida Water Management District hired hunters to remove the voracious snakes from the Everglades. Researchers say the snakes are decimating populations of native mammals and pose a threat to the Everglades restoration efforts. The hunters are independent contractors who are paid $8.10 an hour to track and kill pythons. They earn a $50 bonus for pythons that measure up to 4 feet and $25 for each additional foot.
MIDDLE SCHOOL DAD BANNED FOR FACEBOOK POST ON BURNING SCHOOL
Polk County school officials served Chris Stephenson with a trespass notice on Wednesday. Now he has to stay in his car while dropping off or picking up his son at Lawton Chiles Middle Academy in Lakeland. The Ledger reports Stephenson was angry over being asked to donate to the Parent Student Teacher Association before his son even began the school year.
BIG CATCH! DRUNKEN WOMAN ALLEGEDLY BITES FISHERMAN’S LINE
St. Johns County Sheriff’s officials tell local news outlets the fisherman told deputies the incident happened Tuesday evening as he was fishing with a rented pole near St. Augustine. Deputies asked Alexandria Turner to come to the pier office, but she became belligerent. Investigators say Turner created a scene and upset the “sense of public norm at the pier” when they tried to take her into custody.
FLORIDA’S PRISONS LOCKED DOWN, VISITS CANCELED AMID THREAT
All able-bodied administrators and officers, including new cadets and probation and parole officers have been ordered to report to the state’s dangerously understaffed institutions. This comes as officials canceled visitation at the state’s prisons this weekend, citing an unspecified threat of violence.
FLORIDA ADDS 32,700 JOBS, UNEMPLOYMENT REMAINS UNCHANGED
That’s below the national rate of 4.3 percent. The state released figures Friday that shows there were 411,000 unemployed Floridians out of a workforce of 10.1 million. Florida’s unemployment rate remained the lowest it’s been since July 2007. Monroe County had the lowest unemployment rate at 2.8 percent, followed by St. Johns County at 3.3 percent and Okaloosa and Walton counties at 3.4 percent.
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