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Florida Blue Foundation Gives More Than $1 Million to Help UCF Address Barriers to Health | University of Central Florida News

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Florida Blue Foundation Gives More Than  Million to Help UCF Address Barriers to Health | University of Central Florida News


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Through the Florida Blue Foundation gift, students will gain hands-on learning experiences that will better prepare them to provide the best care for the community.


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Sickness, cold killed nearly 30 sloths at a Florida import warehouse in 2024 and 2025

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Sickness, cold killed nearly 30 sloths at a Florida import warehouse in 2024 and 2025


Disease and cold temperatures killed nearly 30 sloths at a Florida animal import warehouse in 2024 and 2025, according to a report from state wildlife authorities.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation inspection report from August found that 21 sloths imported from Guyana died at an Orlando facility called Sanctuary World Imports in December 2024 when temperatures dropped into the 40-to-55 degree Fahrenheit (4.4 to 12.8 degrees Celsius) range.

Sloths are unable to regulate their body temperature as well as other mammals and do best in the 68-to-85 degree Fahrenheit (20 to 30 degrees Celsius) range, according to the United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

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Peter Bandre, listed as the facility licensee in the report, said that the animals died of what he called a “cold stun.” The building had no water and no electricity and wasn’t ready to receive the animals, he said, but it was too late to cancel the shipment. The facility purchased space heaters but the heaters tripped a fuse and shut down, leaving the sloths alone without heat for at least one night.

The facility later ordered 10 sloths from Peru, which arrived in February 2025. Two were dead on arrival. The rest appeared emaciated and died of what the report termed “poor health issues.” Bandre said that he planned to interview for a new veterinarian, the facility’s third, according to the state report.

Bandre did not immediately return a message The Associated Press left at a number listed for Sanctuary World Imports on the August report.

According to reports detailing follow-up state inspections in March 2026, Sanctuary World President Benjamin Agresta said he had changed the name to Sloth World Inc. and that Bandre was no longer affiliated with the business. A voicemail and text that the AP left Sunday at the number listed in the March reports for Sloth World Inc. were not immediately returned.

Inspectors reported the March inspections at the facility where the sloths from Guyana died revealed independent heat and air conditioning with a temperature constantly set at 82 degrees Fahrenheit (27.8 degrees Celsisus). They did not observe any issues with the sloths the facility was holding.

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Human remains found in search for missing University of South Florida doctoral student

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Human remains found in search for missing University of South Florida doctoral student


Human remains have been found in the waterways of Tampa Bay, where authorities have been searching for the body of missing University of Florida doctoral student Nahida Bristy, Florida deputies announced late Sunday as new court documents allege the suspect in the killing of Bristy and another student appeared to ask ChatGPT how to dispose of a body.

The remains were found in Pinellas County and have not yet been identified. According to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, the remains were found “in the area of Interstate 275 and 4th Street North,” which is at the St. Petersburg side of the Howard Frankland Bridge.

Bristy, 27, who is presumed dead, went missing last week along with 27-year-old Zamil Limon, whose remains were found Friday on a bridge near Tampa. Limon’s roommate, 26-year-old Hisham Abugharbieh, was arrested Saturday and is charged with two counts of premeditated first-degree murder with a weapon. He is being held without bond.

Court documents unveiled Sunday reveal Abugharbieh allegedly asked ChatGPT questions about how to dispose of a body in the days leading up to the disappearance of Brsity and Limon.

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According to the documents, the suspect asked ChatGPT on April 13 what would happen if someone was “put in a black garbage bag and thrown in dumpster.” The AI chatbot responded that it sounds dangerous, prompting Abugharbieh to allegedly ask, “How would they find out.”

Limon’s body “was located within numerous black utility trash bags in advanced stages of decomposition” on the Howard Frankland Bridge, which spans part of Tampa Bay, according to the court documents. The documents also say prosecutors believe Bristy was “disposed of in a similar way.”

Zamil Limon and Nahida Bristy, both 27, were last seen in the Tampa area on April 16, the University of South Florida Police Department said.

Families of Zamil Limon and Nahida Bristy

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On April 15, the day before the doctoral students went missing, Abugharbie allegedly asked ChatGPT, “Can a VIN number on a car be changed?” and, “Can you keep a gun at home with out a license,” the documents said.

Then, just after midnight on April 17, the documents say Abugharbie asked if cars are “checked at the Hillsborough River state park,” a state park located just to the northeast of Tampa. That same night, the suspect’s phone pinged at the location on the bridge where Limon’s remains were discovered — to the west of Tampa — the court documents allege.

An autopsy by the Pinellas County Medical Examiner’s Office found that Limon’s body had sustained numerous lacerations and stab wounds. The manner of death was ruled a homicide due to “multiple sharp force injuries,” according to the court documents.

Abugharbie also had numerous lacerations on his body, including his left and right legs, the court documents state.

The court documents say detectives used an “enhancement agent” at the apartment Limon and Abugharbie shared and found “significant” blood patterns from the entry foyer, through the kitchen, into the hallway and in the suspect’s bedroom. The blood in the bedroom was found in “two distinct patterns on the floor which appeared to have a relatively human-sized shape,” the court documents state.

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Abugharbie is being represented by a public defender. CBS News reached out for comment on Saturday after his arraignment, but has not heard back. He is due back in court on Tuesday.

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Punter Tommy Doman Jr. taken by Buffalo Bills in NFL draft’s 7th round

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Punter Tommy Doman Jr. taken by Buffalo Bills in NFL draft’s 7th round


The final former Florida Gator to be selected in the 2026 NFL Draft was punter Tommy Doman Jr., who was selected with the 239th pick in the seventh round by the Buffalo Bills.

Doman only spent a year in Gainesville after transferring for his redshirt senior season from the Michigan Wolverines. The 6-foot-4-inch, 218-pound punter appeared in all 12 games for the Gators last year, serving up 50 kicks for a total of 2,202 yards — good for an average of 44.0 yards per boot. His longest kick reached 71 yards and 17 of them landed inside the 20-yard line.

Doman earned a spot on PFF’s 2025 All-SEC Team and participated in the 2026 East-West Shrine Bowl after wrapping things up with the Orange and Blue. The Rochester Hills, Michigan, product finished his collegiate career with a total of 153 punts for 6,677 yards (43.6 yards average), plus a pair of extra points in as many tries during his freshman campaign with the Wolverines.

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He was included on the coaches’ All-Big Ten Third Team and was a media All-Big Ten Honorable Mention in 2024, while also being named the Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week that same year.

According to his draft combine report, Doman “has good size and quality hang time on his punts, but he doesn’t definitively check boxes with his power or touch to bury opponents deep in their own territory.”

Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, as well as Bluesky, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.





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