Confessed Hollywood cop killer seeks to vacate guilty plea, saying attorneys ‘coerced’ him

Written by Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Syndicated User on January 27, 2026. Posted in Crime and Public Safety, Fort Lauderdale Mortgage, Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Rates, Latest Headlines, News, Social.

Weeks after a jury rejected the death penalty for Jason Banegas in the murder of Hollywood Police Officer Yandy Chirino, the 23-year-old is asking a judge to vacate his guilty plea on the grounds that he was “coerced” into doing so by his trial attorneys. Banegas, 23, pleaded guilty to shooting Chirino, 28, in the city’s Emerald Hills neighborhood on Oct. 18, 2021, as the two struggled over a gun. Banegas told investigators he was trying to shoot himself when he shot Chirino in the face. Banegas filed a motion to vacate his guilty plea on Wednesday, asserting that he would not have...

Vaccine exemption for conflict with parents’ ‘conscience’ advances in Florida Senate

Written by Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Syndicated User on January 27, 2026. Posted in Florida News, Fort Lauderdale Mortgage, Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Rates, Health, Latest Headlines, News, Social.

TALLAHASSEE — A Senate committee Monday narrowly approved a bill that would create a new path for parents who don’t want their schoolchildren vaccinated, with the proposal’s sponsor saying parents should be in the “driver’s seat” — but opponents warning of public-health consequences. The bill (SB 1756), sponsored by Sen. Clay Yarborough, R-Jacksonville, includes creating an exemption to vaccination requirements for parents who say the shots conflict with their “conscience.” It would add to an already-existing exemption for parents who cite conflicts with religious beliefs. “The main thrust...

Broward schools back down on plan to hold graduations in gymnasiums

Written by Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Syndicated User on January 24, 2026. Posted in Education, Fort Lauderdale Mortgage, Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Rates, Local News, News, Social, South Florida Schools.

The Broward School District has agreed to return most graduation ceremonies to rented venues after a plan to move them to three high school gymnasiums generated a firestorm of controversy. Superintendent Howard Hepburn issued a memo to Broward School Board members late Friday announcing the change in plans. The School Board heard from numerous students, parents and elected officials at a Wednesday meeting opposing the use of high school gyms. Related Articles Gymnasium graduation plan prompts heated Broward School Board debate Broward moves some...

TikTok strikes deal for new U.S. entity, ending long legal saga

Written by Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Syndicated User on January 23, 2026. Posted in Business, Fort Lauderdale Mortgage, Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Rates, National News, News, Social.

TikTok said Thursday that its Chinese owner, ByteDance, had struck a deal with a group of non-Chinese investors to create a new U.S. TikTok, concluding a six-year legal saga that saw the app banned by Congress, ensnared in politicking between global superpowers and forced into a 14-hour blackout in the United States. Investors including software giant Oracle; MGX, an Emirati investment firm; and Silver Lake, another investment firm will own more than 80% of the new venture. That list also includes the personal investment entity for Michael Dell, the tech billionaire behind Dell...

Famous tree-lined median on Las Olas needs to go, Fort Lauderdale commission agrees

Written by Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Syndicated User on January 21, 2026. Posted in Fort Lauderdale Mortgage, Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Rates, Latest Headlines, Local News, Social.

Say goodbye to those pretty black olive trees on Las Olas. The fate of Fort Lauderdale’s famous tree-lined median on its equally famous boulevard was sealed Tuesday night when the commission decided the median must go to make way for wider sidewalks and outdoor cafes. Today, four blocks of olive trees line the shops section of Las Olas. Construction will not begin on the long-planned redesign of those blocks for another two to three years. But eventually, the trees will be removed along with the median in a project that will cost at least $7.5 million. In the past, Mayor Dean Trantalis has...

Trump issues a flurry of pardons, including for a woman whose sentence he commuted in his first term

Written by Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Syndicated User on January 17, 2026. Posted in Fort Lauderdale Mortgage, Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Rates, National News, National Politics, Network, News, Politics, Social.

By WILL WEISSERT WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump issued a flurry of pardons in recent days, including for the father of a large donor to his super PAC, a former governor of Puerto Rico and a woman whose sentence he commuted during his first term but who ended up back in prison for a different scheme. Related Articles Trump offers to restart US mediation in Nile River dispute between Egypt and Ethiopia New research bolsters evidence that Tylenol doesn’t raise the risk of autism despite Trump’s claims Trump quietly...

Appeals court rejects class-action lawsuit over data breach at Broward Health

Written by Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Syndicated User on January 15, 2026. Posted in Florida News, Fort Lauderdale Mortgage, Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Rates, Latest Headlines, News, Social.

An appeals court Wednesday rejected a class-action lawsuit filed against the North Broward Hospital District after a 2021 data breach. A three-judge panel of the 4th District Court of Appeal upheld a circuit judge’s ruling that the district, also known as Broward Health, was shielded by sovereign immunity, which helps protect government agencies from liability. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of patients whose private information was exposed in the data breach, alleged negligence and breach of contract by the hospital system. But the appeals court, in a ruling written by Judge Robert Gross and...

Multiple Americans detained in Venezuela have been released, Trump administration says

Written by Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Syndicated User on January 14, 2026. Posted in Fort Lauderdale Mortgage, Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Rates, National News, News, Politics, Social, World News.

By ERIC TUCKER WASHINGTON (AP) — Multiple Americans who were detained in Venezuela have been released, the Trump administration said Tuesday. “We welcome the release of detained Americans in Venezuela,” the State Department said. “This is an important step in the right direction by the interim authorities.” The State Department did not provide the exact numbers of those released. But a person familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe non-public details, said four Americans were released as a group Tuesday and one was quietly released Monday. The releases...

Pedestrian killed in Fort Lauderdale hit-and-run crash, police say

Written by Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Syndicated User on January 6, 2026. Posted in Crime and Public Safety, Fort Lauderdale Mortgage, Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Rates, Latest Headlines, News, Social.

A pedestrian was killed in a hit-and-run crash in Fort Lauderdale on Monday night, police said. A man was walking in the 400 block of West Sunrise Boulevard about 8 p.m. when a car hit him and drove away, Fort Lauderdale Police spokesperson Sgt. Patrick O’Brien said in a statement. The man was pronounced dead at the scene. Officers did not immediately have any information about the car. Westbound traffic on West Sunrise Boulevard was being diverted northbound on North Andrews Avenue late Monday. This is a developing story, so check back for updates. Click here to have breaking news alerts...

US Coast Guard searches for survivors of boat strikes as odds diminish days later

Written by Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Syndicated User on January 3, 2026. Posted in Fort Lauderdale Mortgage, Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Rates, National News, National Politics, Network, News, Politics, Social, World News.

By BEN FINLEY and KONSTANTIN TOROPIN, Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Coast Guard said Friday it’s still searching for people in the eastern Pacific Ocean who had jumped off alleged drug-smuggling boats when the U.S. military attacked the vessels days earlier, diminishing the likelihood that anyone survived. Search efforts began Tuesday afternoon after the military notified the Coast Guard that survivors were in the water about 400 miles southwest of the border between Mexico and Guatemala, the maritime service said in a statement. The Coast Guard dispatched a plane from...

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