Hillary Clinton claims victory in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination and will be the first woman to lead a major U.S. political party, but Bernie Sanders vows to stay in the race. There is one more Democratic Primary and it is next Tuesday, June 14th, in Washington D.C. with 20 delegates up for grabs.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — The head of the Transportation Security Administration says significant progress has been made on shortening screening lines. Earlier this spring airlines reported thousands of frustrated passengers were missing flights. TSA chief Peter Neffenger told a Senate panel Tuesday that 99 percent of passengers at U.S. airports waited less than 30 minutes, and more than 90 percent waited less than 15 minutes over the busy Memorial Day weekend.
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TAMPA, Fla. (AP) – The city of St. Petersburg says it is pumping sewage into Tampa Bay because its sewer system has been overloaded with rainwater infiltrating into leaky sewer pipes. In a news release sent Tuesday afternoon, Public Works Administrator Claude Tankersley said the partially treated sewage will be pumped by a pipe about 1/4 of a mile into the bay. About two million gallons are to be pumped into the bay.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — The government is out with discouraging new figures on how many students are habitually missing school. Nearly a third of students in the nation’s capital were absent 15 days or more in a single school year. Florida had the lowest rate of absences: 4.5 percent of students in the state were chronically missing school in the 2013-2014 school year. Overall, the Education Department numbers show that more than 6.5 million students were absent for at least three weeks of the year. The report marks the first release of chronic absentee figures from the department.
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The Florida Supreme Court is considering the new death penalty law. Justices heard arguments Tuesday. The legislature passed a new sentencing scheme this past session after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the old system unconstitutional because it gave too much power to judges and not juries. The new law, signed by Gov. Rick Scott in March, requires 10 jurors to recommend death. Also, a judge can’t impose a death sentence when the jury recommends life.
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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — An accountant who works for Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi says she tried to return a controversial $25,000 donation from Donald Trump’s foundation, but it was not accepted. The Trump Foundation gave the money to Bondi’s political committee in 2013, but renewed questions about it were raised shortly after Bondi endorsed Trump for president.
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HERNANDO, Fla. (AP) — A Florida man has been taken into custody after surveillance video shows him trying to kidnap a girl inside a store. Citrus County deputies say that 30-year-old Craig Bonello is facing charges of child abuse and kidnapping involving Tuesday’s incident at a Dollar General Store in Hernando. Investigators say video shows Bonello looking around before grabbing the 13-year-old girl and trying to drag her out of the store. The child’s mother caught up to him and a tug of war ensued as the woman fought for her daughter. The suspect finally let go of the girl and ran. The store manager alerted an off-duty deputy outside the store as to what happened. That deputy then blocked Bonello’s car and arrested him.
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PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) — The U.S. Navy has announced that its elite flight demonstration squadron, the Blue Angels, has canceled upcoming performances in New York and Ohio following the death of one of its pilots during a crash outside Nashville last week. In a news release issued Tuesday, the Navy said that the team is in “operational pause” with its 2016 air show season following the death of Capt.
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MIAMI (AP) — A Florida man who pleaded guilty along with his brother of plotting to launch a terrorist attack on New York City landmarks is appealing his conviction and sentence. Raees Alam Qazi, acting as his own lawyer, recently filed the 21-page appeal in Miami federal court.
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LAKELAND, Fla. (AP) — Police in central Florida are trying to figure out how an alligator got a hold of a dead body. Lakeland police spokesman Gary Gross says officers responded to Lake Hunter Tuesday afternoon following a report of an alligator with a body in its mouth. A trapper was called to capture the 8-foot reptile.
