WEATHER ALERT
Civil rights groups ask to extend voter registration deadlines in hurricane-ravaged states
Read full article: Civil rights groups ask to extend voter registration deadlines in hurricane-ravaged statesDemocrats and civil rights groups are asking election officials in the states ravaged by Hurricane Helene to give voters more time to register for the Nov. 5 presidential election.
North Carolina is distributing Benadryl and EpiPens as yellow jackets swarm from Helene flooding
Read full article: North Carolina is distributing Benadryl and EpiPens as yellow jackets swarm from Helene floodingNorth Carolina health workers are distributing Benadryl and epinephrine injections to communities after hurricane flooding has caused bees and yellow jackets to swarm from their underground nests.
Florida man appears in court accused of disclosing U.S. Air Force secrets
Read full article: Florida man appears in court accused of disclosing U.S. Air Force secretsA 68-year-old man from Niceville, Florida, appeared in federal court on Thursday in Pensacola accused of sharing secrets he had access to while working for the U.S. Air Force.
FHP trooper arrests convicted felon accused of possessing weapons, Neo-Nazi memorabilia
Read full article: FHP trooper arrests convicted felon accused of possessing weapons, Neo-Nazi memorabiliaA Florida Highway Patrol trooper arrested a man on the interstate for driving too closely to a dump truck and find an arsenal of weapons and antisemitic memorabilia.
Officers round up hundreds of pigs from overwhelmed Florida animal sanctuary
Read full article: Officers round up hundreds of pigs from overwhelmed Florida animal sanctuaryOfficials say animal control officers rounded up more than 600 pigs from an animal sanctuary in Florida after their overwhelmed owner called for help.
Florida woman wins Lottery scratch-off game after making pit stop at gas station
Read full article: Florida woman wins Lottery scratch-off game after making pit stop at gas stationA 67-year-old woman is $1 million richer after making a pit stop at a gas station, the Florida Lottery confirmed Thursday.
Police: Florida man tried to meet girl for sex, telling her ‘I am a big pervert’
Read full article: Police: Florida man tried to meet girl for sex, telling her ‘I am a big pervert’Police in the Florida Panhandle said a 42-year-old man drove more than two hours to meet who he thought was a 13-year-old girl for sex.
Sheriff: Florida man punched, whipped, burned, choked 5 children, including 13-month-old
Read full article: Sheriff: Florida man punched, whipped, burned, choked 5 children, including 13-month-oldA northwest Florida man is facing five counts of aggravated child abuse after deputies accused him of a series of abuses against five children, Pensacola ABC affiliate WEAR reports.
2 deaths in Florida linked to raw oysters from Louisiana
Read full article: 2 deaths in Florida linked to raw oysters from LouisianaA restaurant customer in Fort Lauderdale has died of a bacterial infection after eating raw oysters. A Pensacola man died the same way this month. Both cases involved oysters from Louisiana.
Court: Parentless girl, 16, not ‘mature’ enough for abortion
Read full article: Court: Parentless girl, 16, not ‘mature’ enough for abortionAn appellate court has upheld a lower court ruling that a parentless 16-year-old girl in the Florida Panhandle was not “sufficiently mature” to end her pregnancy while seeking a waiver from a state law that requires minors to get parental consent for an abortion.
School District: Florida teacher never objected after pictures of famous African-Americans were taken down
Read full article: School District: Florida teacher never objected after pictures of famous African-Americans were taken downA Florida school district is responding after a school teacher quit when he said the district made him take down pictures of famous African-Americans from his classroom.
Florida suspends abortion clinic after hospitalizations
Read full article: Florida suspends abortion clinic after hospitalizationsAn abortion clinic that serves women from all over the U.S. South had its license suspended this weekend under an emergency order from Florida health officials after two women who had undergone procedures at the clinic were hospitalized this year.
New ‘Freedom Week’ sales tax holiday coming this summer
Read full article: New ‘Freedom Week’ sales tax holiday coming this summerA new 7-day tax holiday is coming to Florida this summer and will provide a sales-tax exemption on certain event tickets, such as live music events, as well as on sporting supplies and items related to outdoor activities up to a certain price.
Pensacola girl talks about terrifying encounter with kidnapper, as suspect faces several charges
Read full article: Pensacola girl talks about terrifying encounter with kidnapper, as suspect faces several chargesAlyssa Bonal and her mother Amber talked with reporters about the attack that happened on Tuesday morning as Alyssa waited for the school bus.
Deputies: Florida man arrested after 11-year-old girl fights off abduction attempt at bus stop
Read full article: Deputies: Florida man arrested after 11-year-old girl fights off abduction attempt at bus stopA Florida man remains behind bars, accused of trying to kidnap an 11-year-old girl as she waited at the bus stop in East Pensacola.
WATCH LIVE: Gov. Ron DeSantis holds news conference in Pensacola
Read full article: WATCH LIVE: Gov. Ron DeSantis holds news conference in PensacolaCopyright 2021 by WPLG Local10.com - All rights reserved. PENSACOLA, Fla. – Gov. Ron DeSantis is holding a news conference at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday at a Baptist church in Pensacola. If you need help with the Public File, call (954) 364-2526.
Mom behind bars after work credentials used to tamper with homecoming votes for teenage daughter
Read full article: Mom behind bars after work credentials used to tamper with homecoming votes for teenage daughterEscambria county mother arrested, after being accused of tampering with homecoming court votesPENSACOLA, Fla. – How far would a mother go to help her daughter get on her high school’s homecoming court? Laura Rose Carroll, an assistant principal for the Escambia County School district, was arrested Tuesday. Carroll is accused of using her work access to the district’s computer systems, to tamper with votes for homecoming court at her daughter’s high school. 246 votes were cast for Homecoming Court at Tate High School, many of them originating from the same IP address, associated with Carroll’s home. Carroll was arrested and booked into the Escambia County Jail with a bond set to $8,500.
9-year-old from Pensacola captures Alicia Keys’ heart after video goes viral on TikTok
Read full article: 9-year-old from Pensacola captures Alicia Keys’ heart after video goes viral on TikTokPENSACOLA, Fla. – We could all use some good news, and today’s story is sure to make you smile. According to ABC affiliate WEAR ABC 3, 9-year-old Anikka from Pensacola, Florida has gone viral on TikTok after her father, Tom Coverly, caught her belting the song “Girl on Fire” by Alicia Keys while helping her father clean the pool in their backyard. 🎤https://t.co/gj8EfnA9Xw — WEAR ABC 3 (@weartv) March 4, 2021The video went viral after her father posted the clip on TikTok, and for good reason — little Anikka has impressive vocals. It has now surpassed over 8 million views, and better yet, the approval of the one and only Alicia Keys herself. “It made me feel worth it to this world.”According to Anikka, Keys commented, “sing mama.”Watch the heartwarming video, here.
DeSantis: Hospitals to be prioritized based on how quickly they distribute COVID-19 vaccine to seniors
Read full article: DeSantis: Hospitals to be prioritized based on how quickly they distribute COVID-19 vaccine to seniorsRon DeSantis held a news conference regarding the state’s rollout of the coronavirus vaccine Wednesday morning in Pensacola, at which time he announced more vaccination sites up north and said that the state will distribute more vaccines next week to hospitals that are “blowing through” them. He said the state expects to receive another shipment of the vaccine next week. “So the hospitals that are blowing through, that can do more, we want to be able to give them more,” DeSantis said. The governor said the state is also working to open more drive-through sites for seniors. “As soon as more vaccine is available, we’re looking at ways to be able to get that into the community and, at this point, the hospitals have been given enough vaccine for their frontline workers,” he said.
DeSantis: Floridians 65 and older get priority for coronavirus vaccines
Read full article: DeSantis: Floridians 65 and older get priority for coronavirus vaccinesRon DeSantis on Wednesday signed an executive order that allows people 65 and older the first priority for COVID-19 vaccines over other members of the general public. “Don’t rush to your local hospital or county health department right now. The Florida Division of Emergency Management as actively prepared for a COVID-19 vaccine since July, officials said. Ron DeSantis is speaking Wednesday from Ascension Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola as the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines continues. Posted by WPLG Local 10 on Wednesday, December 23, 2020ALSO SEEDeSantis: Restaurants will stay open and more vaccines are coming
Wildfires and hurricanes disrupt final weeks of 2020 census
Read full article: Wildfires and hurricanes disrupt final weeks of 2020 censusThe Census Bureau is contending with several natural disasters as wildfires and hurricanes disrupt the final weeks of the nations once-a-decade headcount. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)ORLANDO, Fla. – Already burdened by the coronavirus pandemic and a tightened deadline, the Census Bureau must now contend with several natural disasters as wildfires and hurricanes disrupt the final weeks of the nation's once-a-decade headcount. A coalition of cities and civil rights groups are suing in federal court in San Jose, seeking an extra month. “This is not usually the time of the year that the Census Bureau is doing the counting." In some places where census takers cannot go out, they are trying to reach households by phone, according to Census Bureau officials.
Hundreds of thousands still without power in Sally cleanup
Read full article: Hundreds of thousands still without power in Sally cleanupWhile the cleanup pressed on, the record-shattering hurricane season notched another milestone: Forecasters ran out of traditional names for storms after three new systems formed in about six hours. In Loxley, Alabama, Catherine Williams lost power and some of her roof to Sally. The same practice will govern storm names for the rest of hurricane season, which lasts until the end of November. The only other time the hurricane center dipped into the Greek alphabet was the deadly 2005 hurricane season, which included Hurricane Katrina's strike on New Orleans. She was concerned because more than two months are left in hurricane season.
Flooding from Sally continues as another storm starts to spin up in the Gulf
Read full article: Flooding from Sally continues as another storm starts to spin up in the GulfThat meant the big push of Gulf water – the storm surge – was east of there in Pensacola and the surrounding area where the onshore winds were focused. If storm surge comes in at the bottom, it has to spread out over land at the top. But instead, the Gulf water was pushed up the rivers and inlets in the western Florida Panhandle, flooding downtown Pensacola and surrounding neighborhoods as the waterways filled up. It looks likely to organize into a tropical depression or tropical storm very soon. We’ll keep an eye on that Gulf system, but no threats to South Florida appear imminent, at least into next week.
Rescuers reach people cut off by Gulf Coast hurricane
Read full article: Rescuers reach people cut off by Gulf Coast hurricane(AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)PENSACOLA, Fla. – Rescuers on the Gulf Coast used boats and high-water vehicles Thursday to reach people cut off by floodwaters in the aftermath of Hurricane Sally, even as a second round of flooding took shape along rivers and creeks swollen by the storm’s heavy rains. Crews carried out at least 400 rescues in Escambia County, Florida, by such means as high-water vehicles, boats and water scooters, authorities said. Also on Thursday, the National Hurricane Center said a new tropical depression formed in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico. Forecasters said the depression could become a tropical storm as it moves slowly over the western Gulf during the next few days. Meanwhile, Hurricane Teddy strengthened to a powerful Category 4 storm in the Atlantic.
Hurricane Sally has made landfall – major flooding underway
Read full article: Hurricane Sally has made landfall – major flooding underwayThe center of Hurricane Sally arrived late and in the wrong place, but it has finally made landfall very near the Alabama/Florida border between Mobile and Pensacola. Tropical Storm Vicky is forecast to last another day or so. There is a good chance that it will develop into our next tropical depression or tropical storm. The following tropical system that reaches the 40-mph threshold will be named Tropical Storm Alpha. It will be noticeable in South Florida by the strong breeze coming off the ocean.
Norcross: All eyes on Sally in Gulf while there’s good news from eastern Atlantic
Read full article: Norcross: All eyes on Sally in Gulf while there’s good news from eastern AtlanticSally is a serious threat to the northern Gulf coast from south of New Orleans east to Pensacola. Satellite images of Tropical Storm Sally, Sunday, Sept. 13. The swells from Sally will start to push the water higher along the northern Gulf coast on Monday. The slow-moving storm is forecast to produce widespread 6 to 12 inches of rain with isolated areas receiving 20 inches across the north-central Gulf coast. 8 a.m. update Tropical Storm Sally (WPLG)Elsewhere in the TropicsIn the western Gulf, there’s still a slight chance that Disturbance #1 will acquire an organized circulation and become a tropical depression.
WATCH: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis discusses COVID-19 pandemic
Read full article: WATCH: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis discusses COVID-19 pandemicPENSACOLA, Fla. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis spoke to the media Sunday, providing an update on the COVID-19 pandemic. The governor spoke from the Ascension Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola, Florida. Video of the press conference can be seen above. More: Florida reports 8,530 new COVID-19 cases Sunday
Hundreds evacuated as wildfires rage in Florida Panhandle
Read full article: Hundreds evacuated as wildfires rage in Florida PanhandleThe 2,000-acre (809-hectare) fire in Santa Rosa County, located just east of Pensacola, prompted the evacuation of 1,100 homes Wednesday. Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried said in a news conference Thursday afternoon that fire officials are working around the clock to contain the wildfires. Rich Aloy, with the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office, was patrolling Wednesday when he and other deputies rescued an older couple trapped by a burning power line. The Santa Rosa County fire began Monday when a prescribed burn by a private contractor got out of control, Fried said. Crews from other areas of Florida, including Jacksonville, are assisting firefighters who've been working long hours since Monday.