Southeast
'Beer Can Island' plundered by party pirates, owners vow to rebuild before sale
TAMPA BAY, Fla. – A party island in Tampa Bay was listed for sale last month at $14.2 million. Now, the owners want to re-open the island with a new concept, but they face the task of cleaning it up from rampant vandalism and trespassing in the six months it has been shut down.
Pine Key Island, known by Tampa Bay locals as Beer Can Island, has been a popular party spot for decades. Co-owners Cole Weaver, Russell Loomis, James West and John Anthony Gadd first purchased the island in 2017 for $64,000 as a place to store their motorized tiki bar after it became a party venue for rent.
“Owning a private island, it’s everybody’s dream,” Loomis said. “But at the end of the day, logistics can be a little much, of course, being two miles offshore.”
But since they closed the island and no longer have staff, they say there have been hundreds of trespassers and all the storage sheds have been broken into, resulting in property damage, vandalism and the theft of tens of thousands of dollars of equipment, including speakers and generators.
Cole Weaver (left) and Russell Loomis (right)
Loomis told Fox News Digital that he and his friend didn’t know what they were getting into when they bought the property in 2017.
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“We had no idea that it was such a popular boating destination and party destination,” he said. “Once we bought it, slowly we learned that, and it’s been a crazy ride ever since.”
After they purchased the island, many locals, who enjoyed unfettered access to it, were unhappy that the owners planned to upgrade it with toilets, alcohol sales, food service, security, recreational activities, camping grounds and VIP areas that required paid memberships during parties.
Now, they’re offering 1,500 people the opportunity to own a slice of Beer Can Island for $1,000 a share. The proceeds will go toward expenses like zoning, attorneys, architects, engineers, landscaping, breakwaters, sand replenishment and rebuilding the tiki bar.
The iconic nine-acre manmade island, which has been a party spot for decades dating back to the 1940s, includes another 60 acres of surrounding submerged land in the middle of Tampa Bay between MacDill Air Force Base and Apollo Beach, according to a press release announcing the island was on the market.
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“Even though the island is closed to the public, hundreds of boats visit the island every weekend, including dozens of trespassers who roam the island daily,” Loomis said. “Since people have been partying for decades, it’s impossible to keep people off the island without staff or police there.”
The property isn’t zoned even though it’s located in unincorporated Hillsborough County, which Loomis said has posed numerous problems. Since purchasing the island, the owners have engaged with local officials on how it should be zoned.
“We’re having to jump through a lot of hoops to actually get the property zoned the way that we want, and that’s something we’re working on as we speak,” he said. “What we want to do is get the community involved, and they can purchase shares from us.”
Weaver said he and his co-owners have a lot of work ahead, but they’ve been there before and are determined to clean it up.
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“Getting all of this back into place and being able to make it an enjoyable destination for the Tampa Bay would be kind of what we’re shooting for right now, to beautify the island, get the tiki hut back up and running and then keep the trash and the vandalism and that kind of stuff under control where we have security and that stuff going on,” he said.
Fox News’ Ramiro Vargas contributed to this report.
Ramiro Vargas contributed to the accompanying video.
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Southeast
Florida teens in custody after 14-year-old girl found shot to death, burnt: sheriff
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Two teen boys in Florida are accused of fatally shooting a 14-year-old girl and setting her on fire along a wooded walking trail last week in what authorities are calling a “horrific” killing.
Santa Rosa County Sheriff Bob Johnson told reporters Thursday that the body has been identified as Danika Troy. He said Danika’s mother reported her as a runaway on Monday.
“Unbeknownst to the mother, Danika was murdered the previous night,” Johnson said.
A passerby discovered Danika’s body along a wooded area off Kimberly Road in Pace, a town about 16 miles northeast of Pensacola, and called 911, Johnson said.
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Santa Rosa County Sheriff Bob Johnson told reporters that the suspects were supposedly friends with the victim from school. He said investigators were still working to determine a motive. (Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office)
Investigators quickly identified the suspects as 14-year-old Kimahri Blevins and 16-year-old Gabriel Williams and took them into custody.
“This is where it gets really horrific,” Johnson said.
Kimahri Blevins, 14, is facing premeditated first-degree murder charges. Authorities are seeking to charge him as an adult. (Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office)
Williams allegedly stole his mother’s handgun and shot Danika.
“It’s bad enough you kill a 14-year-old. You’re 14. You’re 16,” Johnson said. “Shoot her multiple times, and then they set her on fire.”
Gabriel Williams, 16, is facing premeditated first-degree murder charges. Authorities are seeking to charge him as an adult. (Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office)
Johnson said investigators are still working to determine a motive.
“They have been interviewed, but the motive that they’re giving doesn’t fit the forensics or any facts of the case, so we don’t have a legit motive,” he told reporters.
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Blevins and Williams supposedly knew the victim from school, according to Johnson. He believed the two teens have had previous “run-ins” with law enforcement, though he could not immediately say if they had earlier arrests.
Blevins and Williams are being held at the Department of Juvenile Justice on premeditated first-degree murder charges.
“You don’t want to go out and see a burnt child with bullet holes,” Johnson said. “That’s not something you sign up for.”
Johnson said no parents have been charged at this time, though investigators are “looking into it.”
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The sheriff’s office is working with the State Attorney to charge both teens as adults.
“If you do an adult crime, you gotta do adult time,” Johnson said.
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Southeast
Florida college student who allegedly shipped 1,500 rounds of ammo to dorm had AR-15 under bed
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A Florida college student who allegedly ordered 1,500 rounds of ammunition to his dorm room also had a semi-automatic rifle under his bed, according to authorities.
Constantine Demetriades, a 21-year-old senior at Rollins College, was arrested by Winter Park police on Wednesday and charged with possession of a weapon on school property after the ammunition order was reported to police by the school’s assistant campus safety director, according to an arrest affidavit, WKMG reported.
After the purchase was flagged, the assistant safety director searched Demetriades’ dorm and allegedly discovered an unloaded AR-15 under his bed inside an unsecured black carrying case with one loaded magazine and five empty magazines, as well as a tactical vest, knives, a black security vest and ear protection.
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Constantine Demetriades, 21, was charged with possession of a weapon on school property. (Winter Park Police Department)
Demetriades, who said he likes to shoot as a hobby, told police he had the rifle on school property because he had recently returned from a Thanksgiving trip to New Jersey, where he said the guns were purchased and registered legally, according to the affidavit.
He said he did not have ill intentions and that he usually stores the firearm at a friend’s home off school property, the affidavit stated. He also said he only brought the gun to campus on one other occasion.
Constantine Demetriades said he did not have ill intentions. (Getty Images)
While Florida allows open carry, Rollins College bans all weapons on campus. Demetriades allegedly said he is aware that weapons are not allowed on campus and that his New Jersey concealed carry permit does not apply in Florida.
The college said in a statement obtained by Fox News Digital that he is banned from campus until the situation is resolved, adding that an internal investigation has been opened.
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While Florida allows open carry, Rollins College bans all weapons on campus. (Getty Images)
“On Wednesday, the College received a report indicating a violation of our weapons policy,” Rollins College said in a statement. “After receiving this information, we immediately initiated an investigation.”
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“We quickly identified and contacted the student, who cooperated fully with College officials and local law enforcement as we investigated the matter further,” the statement continued. “The student was arrested and is not permitted to be on campus while the College proceeds with the student conduct process.”
The school said Demetriades was additionally charged with a violation of the college’s weapons policy, and will go through the on-campus conduct process.
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Southeast
Marjorie Taylor Greene spars with ’60 Minutes’ host over ‘accusatory’ questions
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Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., briefly sparred with “60 Minutes” host Lesley Stahl over what she claimed was “accusatory” behavior from the journalist.
Greene gave her first sit-down interview with Stahl since announcing her resignation from Congress last month. During the segment, Stahl and Greene spoke about the Georgia lawmaker’s apology for taking part in “toxic politics.”
“I would like to say humbly, I‘m sorry for taking part in the toxic politics,” Greene told CNN in November. “It’s very bad for our country, and it’s been something I’ve thought about a lot, especially since Charlie Kirk was assassinated, is that we, I’m only responsible for myself and my own words and actions, and I am committed, and I’ve been working on this a lot lately to put down the knives in politics.”
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Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., gave her first sit-down interview with “60 Minutes” since announcing her resignation. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
“But you contributed to that,” Stahl asked Greene Sunday. “You. You, you were out there pounding, insulting people.”
Greene pushed back, claiming that Stahl had contributed to toxic politics herself.
“You’re accusatory, just like you did just then,” Greene said.
“I know you’re accusing me, but I’m smiling,” Stahl responded.
“You’re accusing me,” Greene said. “But we don’t have to accuse one another.”
The two continued to go back and forth, with Greene repeatedly insisting that Stahl should also acknowledge her own contribution to toxic politics.
“I don’t insult people,” Stahl said.
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Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., previously apologized for her role in “toxic” politics. (Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters)
“You just, you do in the way you question,” Greene said. “And you are, you’re accusing me right now.”
Fox News Digital reached out to CBS News for comment.
Greene previously sat down with Stahl in April 2023, when the two had a fiery exchange over the congresswoman’s claim that Democrats are the “party of pedophiles.”
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“They are not pedophiles. Why would you say that?” Stahl exclaimed.
“Democrats support — even Joe Biden, the president himself — supports children being sexualized and having transgender surgeries. Sexualizing children is what pedophiles do to children,” Greene said.
“Wow,” Stahl reacted.
“60 Minutes” correspondent Lesley Stahl had a tense exchange with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., over her claim that Democrats were the “party of pedophiles” during an April 2023 interview. (Screenshots/CBS News)
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Greene shocked the political landscape last month when she revealed she would leave Congress Jan. 5. Many believe her abrupt exit was the result of her soured relationship with President Donald Trump.
Fox News’ Joseph Wulfsohn contributed to this report.
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