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Florida is supposed to police the state’s biggest sources of water pollution: agriculture and development. Instead, regulators and lawmakers have protected the major industries at nearly every turn, a Tampa Bay Times investigation has found. The approach has resulted in hundreds of waterways across Florida growing dirtier for decades — including the Caloosahatchee, where algae blooms have fueled fish kills, and the Indian River Lagoon, where scores of manatees starved to death as the ecosystem neared collapse.“People know what it would take to clean our waterways — it’s not rocket science,” said former state Sen. Lee Constantine, an Altamonte Springs…

Halloween falls on a Friday this year, so if you’re anything like me (drinking in the driveway, handing out candy, and entertaining (and sometimes scaring) the neighborhood kids with my vampire fangs), it may have been years since you actually hit the road in your holiday costume. Fear not, haphazard Orlandons, for I bring you ideas. The options are plentiful, from Enzian’s annual party at Eden Bar (which is so great that it’s my choice for multiple Halloweens in a row on the way home) to less formal ticket-free options like The Courtesy Bar’s spooky courtyard or Oviedo Mall’s Bite…

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WFLA) – The Governor’s Office of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is moving into state universities to take a deeper look into all aspects of their operations and their spending habits. DeSantis visited the University of South Florida on Wednesday and spotlighted the state university’s spending habits.Pursuant to an executive order issued in February of this year, Governor Ron DeSantis announced the creation of the Florida DOGE Task Force. In addition to local government spending, he plans to shed light on state universities, writing letters to university presidents and demanding that they share their budget breakdowns, staffing levels, and the…

A Florida man is facing a felony charge after police say he left $500 worth of pumpkins smashed outside a Tampa Bay area Target store during a late-night rampage. According to court records obtained by TheSmokingGun.com, around 1:15 a.m. on Oct. 21, 31-year-old Aaron Thompson was captured on surveillance camera removing a pumpkin from a display box in front of the store and throwing it on the ground. Police said about 80 pumpkins worth $472.14 were destroyed. Authorities arrested Thompson a few days later when he returned to the same target. After Thompson was shown the surveillance footage in the…

FORT PIERCE, Fla. (WFLA) – The St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office said Monday that a reckless driver drove through a parking lot and county road, striking a vehicle and overturning a U-Haul truck. According to SLCSO, dispatchers received multiple calls about a reckless U-Haul truck pushing a vehicle off a roadway in the Lakewood Park area around 5:15 p.m. According to SLCSO, officers spotted the U-Haul truck in the Winn-Dixie parking lot after noticing its erratic path, which endangered pedestrians and drivers. “The driver posed a significant threat to motorists, forced several vehicles off the road, and posed a serious…

For drivers in the Tampa Bay area, a sudden car accident can cause confusion, distress, and unexpected financial burden. Knowing where to go for help can make all the difference. That’s why so many residents continue to trust KFB Law. KFB Law is a locally founded law firm known for its individualized approach and proven success in helping accident victims recover both financially and emotionally. significant experience Founded by attorneys Marcus Fernandez and Rob Roy, KFB Law has built a strong reputation in the Tampa community through decades of combined experience handling personal injury and auto accident claims. Our firm…

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A Florida sheriff has been arrested for “inappropriate communication with a minor on social media,” according to the sheriff’s office. Charlotte County Deputy Sheriff James Ford was charged with solicitation of a minor, sending harmful material to a minor and communicating harmful to a minor, Sheriff Bill Plummell said in a social media post. “Every time a deputy is arrested, the trust we have worked so hard to build with our community is undermined,” Plummell wrote. “When it comes to the seriousness of an arrest, especially something of this nature, I wanted you to hear this…

SUMTER COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) – Sumter County deputies announced Wednesday that “Little Miss Lake Panasofkee” has been identified as a Tampa woman, nearly 55 years after her murder. Investigators said they used advanced latent print analysis to identify “Little Miss Lake Panasofke” as 21-year-old Maureen L. Miner-Loward, known to friends and family as “Cookie.” On February 19, 1971, Sumter County deputies discovered the badly decomposed body of a woman floating in Shady Brook Creek in Lake Panasofkee, beneath the Interstate 75 overpass. Five people found guilty of Suni Vel’s murder Investigators said the woman was found wrapped in a carpet…

“Why did you have prosciutto wrapped around your arm?” This is from a friend who texted me a shot of this grazing board before assembly. I shoved it in the fridge (which I decided to call “the morgue” for the next few days) and took another photo of it lying on a cookie sheet before preparing it for its magic. I was really excited about that message, especially since I had traced my own hand and arm as a template before I started. I was so happy that it represented my bird-like wrists. I was a chef Moreau, a mad…

MARION COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) — A man who stabbed a 6-year-old to death in Kentucky has been arrested in Florida on a parole violation, Attorney General James Usmayer announced Tuesday. Ronald Exantus, 42, was arrested and extradited to Kentucky for failing to register as a convicted felon with the local sheriff’s office. In 2015, Exantus stabbed a 6-year-old to death in Versailles, Kentucky. A Kentucky jury later found Mr. Exantus not guilty by reason of insanity and convicted him of two counts of second-degree assault and one count of fourth-degree assault, and he was sentenced to 20 years in prison,…