WEATHER ALERT
App State cancels football game against Liberty in North Carolina after Helene causes flooding
Read full article: App State cancels football game against Liberty in North Carolina after Helene causes floodingAppalachian State’s home football game against Liberty in Boone, North Carolina, scheduled for Saturday was canceled because of the impacts of severe weather on the area from Tropical Storm Helene.
Recruiting retired military, first responders among proposals to add more Florida teachers
Read full article: Recruiting retired military, first responders among proposals to add more Florida teachersFlorida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced initiatives for the next legislative session to help tackle the teacher shortage in the state and bring more professionals into the field.
Florida sheriff, school board revise plan to access student data amid investigation
Read full article: Florida sheriff, school board revise plan to access student data amid investigationA Florida school district and the local sheriff’s officers have agreed that resource officers will no longer have access to student data that is used as a warning for ‘at-risk' students.
Federal investigators to probe Florida school policing plan
Read full article: Federal investigators to probe Florida school policing planThe U.S. Department of Education has opened an investigation into whether a Florida school district broke federal law when it shared private information about students with the local sheriff’s office.
Florida missing child alert issued for 15-year-old Pasco County boy
Read full article: Florida missing child alert issued for 15-year-old Pasco County boyPASCO COUNTY, Fla. – A Florida missing child alert has been issued for a 15-year-old Pasco County boy who went missing Friday. Cody Almengor-Gatica was last seen in the area of Bridgewater Court in New Port Richey wearing a white hoodie and gray jean shorts. New Port Richey police said he is considered missing and endangered. Further details about the circumstances surrounding his disappearance haven’t been released. Anyone with information concerning his whereabouts is asked to call 911 or the New Port Richey Police Department at 727-841-4550.
50-foot sinkhole reopens outside Florida sports bar
Read full article: 50-foot sinkhole reopens outside Florida sports barPASCO COUNTY, Fla. – Residents in Pasco County are watching a bad situation get worse as a sinkhole continues to grow. The hole first opened up on Jan. 7 outside a popular sports bar in New Port Richey. A company filled the hole to prevent further growth, but it didn’t work and the hole is now about 50 feet wide. Because the hole is on private land, the property owner is now working with a contractor to fill and repair the hole again.
Parents, teachers cry foul over Florida sheriff’s student database
Read full article: Parents, teachers cry foul over Florida sheriff’s student databaseNEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. – Some parents and teachers in the Tampa Bay area are asking for changes in a program used by a Florida sheriff to profile students as potential criminals. In addition, a group of teachers is circulating a petition calling for the sheriff's database of “at-risk" children to be deleted, the newspaper reported. “I know our PTA has some concerns, but I also look forward to filling them in on the wonderful relationship we have with our sheriff’s office,” she said. Alicia Willis, president of the Pasco County Council PTA, called the details of the sheriff's data-driven program “unacceptable and scary." The Sheriff’s Office told the newspaper that about five parents had asked for the records, which were provided after the parents provided their identities.
Florida town fines protesters who use noisy megaphones
Read full article: Florida town fines protesters who use noisy megaphonesNEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. – A Florida town has fined people involved in recent racial justice protests thousands of dollars for using megaphones police say violate a local noise ordinance. The Tampa Bay Times reports that officials in New Port Richey have issued 14 citations that total about $4,700 to at least five protesters. The protesters have stopped using megaphones, but they still gather once or twice a week to spread a message of racial justice and protest police killings of Black people. New Port Richey is about 24 miles north of Clearwater. Click here to subscribe to ClickOrlando.com’s Strange Florida newsletter, delivered every Friday.