Backed by the arrival of supporters from throughout Florida and the East Coast, as well as singer and activist Harry Belafonte, protesters led by the Hialeah-based Dream Defenders maintained their request for a special legislative session amid rousing chants that filled an area outside the governor’s office.
Beyond
52-Year-Old St. Johns Sexual Predator Arrested on Bestiality Charge After Suspected Rape of a Dog
The suspect, identified as James Lee Lyons, of 437 Gloria Street, is accused of having sex with a neighbor’s female dog. Lyons is a registered sexual predator who got out of prison in 2011 after a 13-year prison sentence for attempted child rape.
Justin Boyles and Charles Massey Indicted on 1st Degree Murder; May Face Death Penalty
A St. Johns County grand jury indicted Justin Boyles, 24, and Charles Massey, 38, both of Palm Coast, murder and kidnapping charges in the killing of Edward Scott Mullener on June 13 or 14. Since Mullener’s charred boidy was found in St. Johns, that’s where the court proceedings are unfolding.
“Anybody But DCF”: Judge Wants Failing Agency Off Child Investigations After 5th Death
On Monday, the department released information about the weekend death of a Homestead child who had earlier come to the attention of child-welfare officials. The death was the fifth such case since May 16 and followed the resignation last week of DCF Secretary David Wilkins, who left amid controversy about his approach to child safety.
Demonstrating and Reporting Outrage Over Zimmerman’s Acquittal Isn’t Overkill. Shooting Trayvon Was.
Marches and other responses to the George Zimmerman trail are focusing needed attention on a culture at times too comfortable with the the paradox of imagining itself past the sort of racially motivated mindsets that made the killing of Trayvon Martin possible, argues Steve Robinson.
Boycott Florida Movement Grows in Protest Of Stand Your Ground and Zimmerman Verdict
The boycott-Florida movement has quickly grown on social media and with such headliners as Stevie Wonder while Gov. Rick Scott and the state’s business groups downplay the effectiveness of the effort, which could nevertheless hurt the state’s tourism and convention business.
Commissioner to Lobbyist: Milissa Holland Joins Powerful Southern Strategy Group
In a pair of candid interviews, former Flagler County Commissioner Milissa Holland traced her personal and professional trajectories that took her from representing taxpayers in government to representing the special-interest clients of the Southern Strategy Group, one of Florida’s–and the nation’s–most powerful lobbying firms.
Zimmerman’s Gunshine State: White Man’s Verdict, Black Men’s Burden
Zimmerman is a free man, but his legacy should not be that he was “right” to do what he did. He should be viewed as the sad, angry embodiment of the fear and paranoia that would have us believe that owning a gun and using a gun are equal and inseparable rights.
2 Palm Coast Men Charged With 1st Degree Murder in Torture and Killing of Edward Mullener
Justin Adam Boyles, 24, and Charles Danny Massey, 38, both of 6 Holly Road in Palm Coast, allegedly beat and tortured Edward Scott Mullener of Palm Coast in mid-June before setting him on fire in his car in Flagler Estates. His smoldering car was discovered the morning of June 14. They face first-degree murder and kidnapping charges.
It Ain’t Texas: Florida Supreme Court Reverses Two Death Sentences, Citing Mental Issues
In two separate decisions that illustrate the fallibility of death sentences, the Florida Supreme Court this week overturned the death sentences of Michael Shellito, 37, and Ralston Davis, 28, ruling in both cases that the murderers’ mental state at the time of the killings should have played a larger role in theirs sentences.