Arrested Broward schools volunteer won’t face criminal charges, state attorney says

Written by Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Syndicated User on December 15, 2023. Posted in Education, Fort Lauderdale Mortgage, Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Rates, Latest Headlines, News.

A Broward schools volunteer won’t face criminal charges after being arrested and accused of battery on a law enforcement officer, the Broward State Attorney’s Office has determined. The decision to clear Debbie Espinoza came three days after the school district released a consultant’s report that concluded her arrest was avoidable and that school police failed to de-escalate tensions at a heated Oct. 17 School Board meeting. Espinoza spent 27 hours in the Broward County Jail after being arrested by John Mastrianni, 63, a detective with the school district’s Special Investigative Unit. In addition...

Donald Trump’s lawyers again ask for early verdict in civil fraud trial, judge says ‘no way’

Written by Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Syndicated User on December 13, 2023. Posted in Fort Lauderdale Mortgage, Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Rates, Latest Headlines, National News, News.

By MICHAEL R. SISAK and JENNIFER PELTZ (Associated Press) NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s lawyers rested his defense Tuesday and sought anew to immediately end the New York civil fraud trial that threatens the former president’s real estate empire. The judge said “there’s no way I’m going to grant that.” Trump’s lawyers — thwarted in a similar bid last month — were swatted down as they asked Judge Arthur Engoron to cut the trial short and issue a verdict clearing Trump, his company and top executives of wrongdoing. The judge reiterated his feeling that state lawyers had met their legal burden...

Jury orders Florida to pay $15 million to Volusia girl tortured by parents

Written by Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Syndicated User on December 9, 2023. Posted in Florida News, Fort Lauderdale Mortgage, Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Rates, Local News, News.

The Florida Department of Children and Families must pay $15 million to a Volusia County girl for failing to protect her from horrific abuse at the hands of her mother and stepfather, a jury decided late Friday in a stunning rebuke of the state agency. The department failed to investigate complaints that the mother was using drugs and endangering the girl, who was younger than 2 at the time and suffered “catastrophic” permanent injuries from severe abuse and neglect, according to a suit filed in Volusia County court. Now 8, the child is “completely dependent on others for all aspects of her...

Hunter Biden indicted on nine tax charges, adding to gun charges in special counsel probe

Written by Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Syndicated User on December 8, 2023. Posted in Fort Lauderdale Mortgage, Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Rates, Latest Headlines, National News, News.

By LINDSAY WHITEHURST (Associated Press) WASHINGTON (AP) — Hunter Biden was indicted on nine tax charges in California on Thursday as a special counsel investigation into the business dealings of President Joe Biden’s son intensifies against the backdrop of the looming 2024 election. The new charges — three felonies and six misdemeanors — are in addition to federal firearms charges in Delaware alleging Hunter Biden broke laws against drug users having guns in 2018. They come after the implosion of a plea deal over the summer that would have spared him jail time. Hunter Biden “spent millions...

‘Where’s the justice for Frank?’ Family of UPS driver killed in police shootout still awaits answers 4 years later

Written by Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Syndicated User on December 6, 2023. Posted in Crime and Public Safety, Fort Lauderdale Mortgage, Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Rates, Latest Headlines, News.

For the family of a UPS driver shot to death during a standoff between two robbers and about 10 times as many police officers, justice has been delayed too long. Frank Ordonez, 27, was kidnapped by two men after a failed robbery attempt at a jewelry store in Coral Gables on Dec. 5, 2019. The men led police on a 30-mile chase that ended at a Miramar intersection, where a shootout ensued during rush hour. Police officers from various South Florida agencies reportedly fired about 200 bullets. Those who died were not only the two robber-kidnappers, but Ordonez and another man, Richard Cutshaw, 70,...

‘Widespread’ sexual and gender-based crimes committed during Hamas attack, Israeli officials say

Written by Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Syndicated User on December 6, 2023. Posted in Fort Lauderdale Mortgage, Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Rates, Network, News, World News.

By SAM MEDNICK (Associated Press) JERUSALEM (AP) — A man hiding in a pit during the Oct. 7 Hamas assault on an outdoor music festival in Israel said he heard someone nearby screaming she was being raped. Elsewhere in the area, a combat paramedic saw the body of a young woman with her legs open, her pants pulled down, and what looked like semen on her lower back. An army reservist who was tasked with identifying those killed said some of the women were found wearing only bloodied underwear. Such accounts given to The Associated Press, along with first assessments by an Israeli rights group, show...

World carbon dioxide emissions increase again, driven by China, India and aviation

Written by Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Syndicated User on December 5, 2023. Posted in Environment, Fort Lauderdale Mortgage, Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Rates, Latest Headlines, News, World News.

By SETH BORENSTEIN (AP Science Writer) DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The world this year pumped 1.1% more heat-trapping carbon dioxide into the air than last year because of increased pollution from China and India, a team of scientists reported. The increase was reported early Tuesday at international climate talks, where global officials are trying to cut emissions by 43% by 2030. Instead, carbon pollution keeps rising, with 36.8 billion metric tons poured into the air in 2023, twice the annual amount of 40 years ago, according to Global Carbon Project, a group of international scientists...

Judge rejects Trump’s claim of immunity in his federal 2020 election prosecution

Written by Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Syndicated User on December 2, 2023. Posted in Fort Lauderdale Mortgage, Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Rates, Latest Headlines, National News, News.

By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER and ERIC TUCKER (Associated Press) WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump is not immune from prosecution in his election interference case in Washington, a federal judge ruled Friday, knocking down the Republican’s bid to derail the case charging him with plotting to overturn the 2020 presidential election. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan’s decision amounts to a sharp rejection to challenges the Trump defense team had raised to the four-count indictment in advance of a trial expected to center on the Republican’s multi-pronged efforts to undo the election won by Democrat Joe...

Henry Kissinger, secretary of state under Presidents Nixon and Ford, dies at 100

Written by Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Syndicated User on November 30, 2023. Posted in Fort Lauderdale Mortgage, Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Rates, Latest Headlines, National News, News, Obituaries, Politics.

By NANCY BENAC (Associated Press) Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, the diplomat with the thick glasses and gravelly voice who dominated foreign policy as the United States extricated itself from Vietnam and broke down barriers with China, died Wednesday, his consulting firm said. He was 100. With his gruff yet commanding presence and behind-the-scenes manipulation of power, Kissinger exerted uncommon influence on global affairs under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, earning both vilification and the Nobel Peace Prize. Decades later, his name still provoked impassioned debate...

Video released of suspect who robbed man of wallet and shot him in leg, police say

Written by Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Syndicated User on November 30, 2023. Posted in Crime and Public Safety, Fort Lauderdale Mortgage, Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Rates, Latest Headlines, News.

A man was robbed of his wallet and shot in the leg by an unidentified suspect in Fort Lauderdale, and then he drove himself to a nearby police station for help. The police department released video of the suspect Wednesday night who has been unidentified since the shooting in June. The victim, a transportation driver, was working on the afternoon of June 20 in the 300 block of Northwest 17th Avenue, waiting to pick up a customer. He was parked in the area waiting for a client when a man approached his window with a gun and demanded money, according to an incident report. He didn’t have any cash,...

Category: News