Polluted waste from Florida’s fertilizer industry is in the path of Milton’s fury

Written by Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Syndicated User on October 10, 2024. Posted in Fort Lauderdale Mortgage, Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Rates, National News, Network, News.

By MICHAEL BIESECKER and JASON DEAREN As Hurricane Milton bears down on Florida’s west coast with powerful winds and flooding rain, environmentalists are worried it could scatter the polluted leftovers of the state’s phosphate fertilizer mining industry and other hazardous waste across the peninsula and into vulnerable waterways. More than 1 billion tons of slightly radioactive phosphogypsum waste is stored in “stacks” that resemble enormous ponds at risk for leaks during major storms. Florida has 25 such stacks, most concentrated around enormous phosphate mines and fertilizer processing...

Moms for Liberty chapter gets win in Florida school board case

Written by Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Syndicated User on October 9, 2024. Posted in Education, Florida News, Fort Lauderdale Mortgage, Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Rates, Latest Headlines, News.

TALLAHASSEE — A federal appeals court Tuesday backed a chapter of the group Moms for Liberty in a constitutional challenge to Brevard County School Board policies that placed restrictions on speakers at board meetings. A panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said policies targeted at “abusive,” “obscene” and “personally directed” speech violated the First Amendment. The panel overturned a decision by U.S. District Judge Roy Dalton. “For many parents, school board meetings are the front lines of the most meaningful part of local government — the education of their children,” said...

The shocking numbers behind Hurricane Helene’s path of destruction

Written by Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Syndicated User on October 5, 2024. Posted in Fort Lauderdale Mortgage, Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Rates, Hurricane forecast, Hurricane Tracks, Latest Headlines, News, Storms & Hurricanes, Weather.

Hurricane Helene’s rampage killed more than 200 people, with the death toll still rising, making it the second-deadliest hurricane to strike the U.S. mainland in the last 50 years. The National Weather Service and other weather experts have recently released final data on how strong, fast and destructive the storm was. Here’s a look at some of the harrowing numbers from along Helene’s path of destruction. Landfall and shocking west coast surge Helene traveled up through the Gulf of Mexico, growing to an immense width — 690 miles — and traveling at a high speed. Both of those factors would...

Dockworkers’ union to suspend strike until Jan. 15 to allow time to negotiate new contract

Written by Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Syndicated User on October 4, 2024. Posted in Business, Fort Lauderdale Mortgage, Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Rates, Latest Headlines, National News, News.

By TOM KRISHER DETROIT (AP) — The union representing 45,000 striking U.S. dockworkers at East and Gulf coast ports has reached a deal to suspend a three-day strike until Jan. 15 to provide time to negotiate a new contract. The union, the International Longshoremen’s Association, is to resume working immediately. The temporary end to the strike came after the union and the U.S. Maritime Alliance, which represents ports and shipping companies, reached a tentative agreement on wages, the union and ports said in a joint statement Thursday night. A person briefed on the agreement said the ports...

Democrats to DeSantis: Reverse course on ‘harmful’ sex-education restrictions in schools

Written by Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Syndicated User on October 4, 2024. Posted in Education, Florida News, Fort Lauderdale Mortgage, Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Rates, Latest Headlines, Local News, News, Politics.

Florida should reverse course on its “harmful” abstinence-only requirements for public school health classes and allow schools to teach a comprehensive sex education curriculum, according to a letter sent to state leaders Thursday from seven Democrats serving in Congress. “Abstinence-only programs have been consistently proven ineffective, damaging to students’ health, and discriminatory against the LGBTQ+ community,” read the letter from the Florida congressional members. “This directive is another extremist attack on evidence-based, data-driven policies.” The letter was sent to Gov. Ron...

Bank of America outage blocks online accounts or shows zero balances

Written by Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Syndicated User on October 3, 2024. Posted in Business, Fort Lauderdale Mortgage, Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Rates, National News, Network, News.

Bank of America’s mobile applications were apparently knocked offline Wednesday. Many BofA account holders took to social media platforms to say they either couldn’t access their online accounts or saw zero balances when they did log in. The Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank said in a statement that some clients “are experiencing an issue accessing their accounts and balance information today.” “These issues are being addressed and have largely been resolved,” the statement continued. “We apologize for any inconvenience.” One X user drolly posted that their money was gone, “but...

Vance and Walz focus their attacks on the top of the ticket — not each other: VP debate takeaways

Written by Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Syndicated User on October 2, 2024. Posted in Fort Lauderdale Mortgage, Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Rates, National Politics, Network, News, Politics.

By BILL BARROW, ZEKE MILLER and NICHOLAS RICCARDI WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice Presidential hopefuls Tim Walz and JD Vance squared off Tuesday night in what may be the last debate of the 2024 presidential campaign. It was the first encounter between Minnesota’s Democratic governor and Ohio’s Republican senator, following last month’s debate between the tops of their tickets, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. No more debates are on the political calendar before Election Day. Tuesday’s confrontation came as the global stakes of the contest rose again as Iran fired...

Appeals court to hear arguments on Florida law to ban kids from drag shows

Written by Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Syndicated User on October 2, 2024. Posted in Florida News, Fort Lauderdale Mortgage, Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Rates, Latest Headlines, News.

A federal appeals court next week will hear arguments about a 2023 Florida law aimed at preventing children from attending drag shows. A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is scheduled to hear arguments Oct. 9 in Jacksonville. The state last year appealed a ruling by U.S. District Judge Gregory Presnell that blocked enforcement of the law. Presnell said the law, which was challenged by Hamburger Mary’s, an Orlando restaurant and bar, violated First Amendment rights. Presnell ruled that the law is not “sufficiently narrowly tailored” to meet First Amendment standards...

What to know about Iran’s missile barrage and Israel’s ground operations in Lebanon

Written by Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Syndicated User on October 2, 2024. Posted in Fort Lauderdale Mortgage, Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Rates, Network, News, World News.

By JULIA FRANKEL JERUSALEM (AP) — Iran launched at least 180 missiles at Israel on Tuesday evening, causing scattered damage and fires from falling shrapnel, but Israeli authorities said there were no injuries. An Israeli security official said most of the missiles were intercepted, though some managed to land. Israeli officials said Iran would pay a price for the strike. The missile attack came after Israel said ground troops crossed into Lebanon in what the military described as a limited operation to root out Hezbollah fighters and infrastructure. Hezbollah, meanwhile, said it saw no...

South Florida financial adviser indicted in alleged illegal tax shelter scheme

Written by Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Syndicated User on September 28, 2024. Posted in Crime and Public Safety, Fort Lauderdale Mortgage, Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Rates, Latest Headlines, News.

GULFPORT, Miss. — A South Florida financial adviser has been indicted in an alleged scheme to promote and operate an illegal tax shelter through which he stole some of his clients’ funds, federal prosecutors said Friday. Stephen T. Mellinger III, of Delray Beach, conspired with several others to defraud the Internal Revenue Service in 2013 by promoting an illegal tax shelter, according to the indictment returned Wednesday by a federal grand jury in Gulfport, Mississippi, and unsealed Thursday. Mellinger was charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States, aiding in the preparation of...

Category: News