TALLAHASSEE - Gov. Jeb Bush appointed 19 people to a committee that will study growth issues in areas where even the weakest of hurricanes would require an evacuation.
The committee will make recommendations on how officials can manage development in the coastal areas, including ways to keep residents safe and preserve coastline, while improving tourism and business opportunities.
The committee includes the heads of the state's emergency management, health, environment and transportation departments, as well as lawmakers from coastal areas; insurance, wildlife and business officials; private business representatives; and local planners and officials.
TALLAHASSEE - A former police officer convicted of raping, strangling and drowning an 11-year-old girl while on duty in 1987 was among four death row inmates who lost appeals Thursday in the Florida Supreme Court.
The justices for a second time affirmed the conviction and death sentence of James Duckett, 48. He was a rookie police officer in Mascotte, a town in Lake County, when Teresa McAbee vanished from a convenience store where she went to buy a pencil. The girl's body was found in a nearby lake.
Michael Duane Zack, 36, convicted for the 1996 stabbing and beating death of a woman he met at a beach bar in Escambia County. Zack also was convicted and sentenced to life for a similar murder in Okaloosa County.
In a complaint filed in U.S. District Court, Ernesto Holmes says he is not allowed Juma prayer service on Fridays, hasn't received a prayer rug and can't see a daily menu to make sure he isn't consuming pork.
Seminole County sheriff's Chief Deputy Steve Harriett wouldn't comment on specific claims, but said the jail "considers any request that is of a religious nature, including requests related to diet."
The woman's daughter helped her get dressed about 5 a.m. Monday at the home they share. The daughter went to another room for a few minutes, and when she came back her mother was gone. She couldn't find her, and called 911.
About 6 a.m. a deputy patrolling outside a nearby jail found the woman lying on the sidewalk, clothed, with a gunshot wound to her pelvic area and a broken leg. A hospital examination found that she had been sexually assaulted.
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