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Your Florida Daily: Lawsuit against Scot Peterson, property insurance costs going up for Floridians

Plus: A Florida strip club’s unique architectural history

Former Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School School Resource Officer Scot Peterson reacts as he is found not guilty on all charges at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Thursday, June 29, 2023. Peterson was acquitted of child neglect and other charges for failing to act during the Parkland school massacre, where 14 students and three staff members were murdered. (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP, Pool) (Amy Beth Bennett, © South Florida Sun Sentinel 2023)

Gunfire will again ring out at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Friday, as part of the civil lawsuit against former school resource deputy Scot Peterson.

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Ballistics experts hired by the victim’s families will fire an AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle identical to the one used in the 2018 massacre.

They plan to fire up to 139 shots inside the three-story classroom building where the shooter killed 17 people killed and left 17 injured.

The bullets will be caught by a safety device.

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Outside, technicians will record the shots, to show what Peterson heard during the attack.

Peterson claimed he didn’t hear all the shots and couldn’t pinpoint where they were coming from because of echoes and retreated.

The victims’ families said he retreated out of cowardice.

Earlier this summer, Peterson was acquitted of felony child neglect and other criminal charges for failing to act but the burden of proof will be lower in this civil lawsuit.

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School is closed for summer break and students and teachers are not on campus.

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Property insurance costs could soon go up again for thousands of Florida homeowners.

Citizens Insurance is looking to offload 184,000 policies statewide.

Right now, Citizens is now the state’s largest property insurer with about 1.3 million policies.

Citizens is a state-backed provider and was designed to be the insurer of last resort but its numbers have more than doubled since 2020 after several private companies pulled out of Florida.

Five private insurers will take over the policies starting in October.

Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi (10) scores past Orlando City goalkeeper Pedro Gallese (1) during the first half of a Leagues Cup soccer match Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2023, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell) (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

An exciting Wednesday night for soccer fans in Florida.

International superstar Lionel Messi suited up for Inter Miami for his first match against Orlando City.

It was a packed house in Fort Lauderdale and Messi delivered early.

Seventh minute: a perfect pass in front of the net allowing Messi to do the rest.

It was just his first of two goals exciting an already-electric crowd.

Inter Miami taking this one, 3-1.

Random Florida Fact

The Odyssey 2001 Strip Club has been a Tampa landmark since 1971.

The UFO-like “spaceship” on its roof and its flashing multicolored lights are actually one of several dozen remaining Futuro Houses around the globe.

The rare Futuros were designed by a Finnish architect in the 1960s as portable ski chalets but were later pitched as a futuristic housing solution.

The flying saucer homes were a dud but the one atop Tampa’s Odyssey 2001 is now the club’s VIP lounge.

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