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Florida
24 endangered sea turtles recovering in Florida after cold stunning off Cape Cod
JUNO BEACH, Fla. — Two dozen Kemp’s ridley sea turtles are rehabilitating in Florida after the frigid waters off of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, left them struggling with frostbite, pneumonia and abrasions.
The 24 endangered sea turtles arrived at the Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach, Florida, on Dec. 9, thanks to the nonprofit organization LightHawk. Last year, the center welcomed another bunch of cold-stunned turtles that were released into the Atlantic months later.
They are expected to remain at the facility until spring, when they’ll be released into the Atlantic Ocean to make their way back to New England, said Heather Barron, chief science officer and veterinarian at Loggerhead.
She said the turtles suffered from a conditioned called cold stunning, which requires treatment with antibiotics, fluids and nebulization.
Cold stunning occurs in extremely frigid temperatures and causes the cold-blooded sea turtles to become lethargic and lose mobility, and Kemp’s ridley, loggerhead and green sea turtles are typically affected.
The turtles migrate north in the summer and many get stuck while heading south in the hooked peninsula of Cape Cod, according to a New England Aquarium fact sheet. As the ocean temperatures drop, the turtles become lethargic, emaciated and hypothermic. They begin washing ashore, where volunteers rescue them and take them to the sea turtle hospital.
A number of turtles were sent to Florida to relieve overcrowding at the New England Aquarium, said Pam Bechtold Snyder, director of marketing and communications for the Boston facility. Most of those turtles were stranded during a strong westerly wind event on Nov. 28 and went through the triage process at the Boston facility, Snyder said.
They were sent to Florida to make room for more turtles coming in from Cape Cod, she said. So far during the annual cold-stunning phenomenon that began on Nov. 7, they’ve treated 472 hypothermic turtles.
The hospital staff works with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Fisheries Service to transfer the turtles to various sea turtle hospitals, including Loggerhead, Snyder said.
“These guys are very critically ill when they get here, and they are undergoing extensive treatment,” Barron said of the turtles sent to Juno Beach. “They’re getting nebulized where they actually breathe in medicine. That helps their lungs do their job better.”
When turtles arrive in groups at Loggerhead, the staff gives them names, following a theme, Barron said.
“And in this case, it is Greek mythology,” Barron said. “So we have Pandora and Gaia and Persephone and Helios and all those guys.”
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Frisaro reported from Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Florida
Traffic stop goes viral after Florida deputy accuses driver missing right hand of holding phone
PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — Video of a traffic stop in Palm Beach County is going viral over an awkward exchange between the driver and a deputy who accused her of holding a phone while driving.
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“You drove past me holding a phone with your right hand, manipulating that phone,” the deputy tells 36-year-old Kathleen “Katie” Thomas.
“Obviously not,” Thomas says while laughing and holding up her right arm, showing that she’s missing her right hand.
“So you wanna call this a day?” she asks.
“I don’t want to call this a day. You had a hand up, manipulating,” the deputy responds.
“You just said my right hand,” Thomas counters.
“Well, I thought I saw your right hand,” the deputy says.
“So you didn’t,” Thomas responds.
Thomas posted the bodycam footage on Instagram and TikTok where it gained millions of likes.
In the video, although she shows the deputy she doesn’t have a right hand, the deputy doubled down.
“I’m asking you now; did you or not have your phone in your hand?” the deputy asks.
“I did not,” Thomas responds.
“You did not have your phone in your hand?” the deputy asks again.
“I did not,” Thomas responds.
“Hand to God, you didn’t have a phone in your hand?” the deputy asks.
“Hand to God,” Thomas says.
Court records show Thomas was given a $116 citation despite the presented evidence, but it was later dismissed at the request of the deputy involved.
Copyright 2026 by WPLG Local10.com – All rights reserved.
Florida
Blue Origin New Glenn rocket explodes on launch pad in Florida
A Blue Origin New Glenn rocket exploded Thursday night on a launch pad at Cape Canaveral in Florida.
The explosion occurred at about 9 p.m. ET. Blue Origin said there were no injuries from the incident.
“We experienced an anomaly during today’s hotfire test,” Blue Origin said in a statement. “All personnel have been accounted for. We will provide updates as we learn more.”
Cape Canaveral Space Force Station also confirmed in a separate statement that “all personnel have been accounted for and there were no injuries/fatalities.”
Blue Origin was scheduled to fuel the rocket Thursday evening ahead of a planned test firing of the rocket’s engines.
Blue Origin, which is owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, successfully launched its third New Glenn rocket last month.
This rocket was being prepared for the fourth New Glenn mission as soon as June 4 to launch 48 satellites for Amazon’s Leo internet service, which competes with Elon Musk’s Starlink.
The 48 satellites were not aboard the rocket during the test. It was not immediately clear how much damage the launch pad and ground equipment sustained, or how long it might take to repair it.
Space Launch Complex 36, where the explosion occurred, is the only launch pad equipped to launch New Glenn rockets.
The New Glenn rocket is key to Blue Origin’s and NASA’s moon base plans, and the explosion will likely be a setback. Next year, the New Glenn is supposed to launch another Blue Moon lander as part of the Artemis III mission in low Earth orbit.
In a social media post, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman wrote, “Spaceflight is unforgiving, and developing new heavy-lift launch capability is extraordinarily difficult. We will work with our partners to support a thorough investigation of this anomaly, assess near-term mission impacts, and get back to launching rockets.”
The New Glenn rocket had just been cleared on May 22 to return to flight after being grounded by the Federal Aviation Administration after an anomaly with the second stage during an April 19 launch.
In a statement Thursday, the FAA said it was aware that the rocket had “experienced an anomaly during a static fire test on the pad in Cape Canaveral, Florida,” adding that the “test was not within the scope of FAA licensed activities.”
The FAA also noted that “there was no impact to air traffic” from the explosion.
Bezos wrote on X Thursday night, “It’s too early to know the root cause but we’re already working to find it. Very rough day, but we’ll rebuild whatever needs rebuilding and get back to flying. It’s worth it.”
Musk wrote: “Sorry to see this, I hope you recover quickly.”
Florida
Florida to pay Sumrall’s assistants a combined $11.2M in 2026
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida coach Jon Sumrall’s assistants will make a combined $11.2 million in 2026, a significant investment for a program desperate to win more often.
Offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner tops the list after signing a three-year, $6.6 million contract to leave Georgia Tech and join Sumrall in Gainesville. Faulker will get $2.1 million in 2026 – the first $2 million coordinator in school history – and has a $100,000 raise set for each of the next two years.
Only six college offensive coordinators were paid $2 million or more in 2025, according to CBS Sports. Fifteen defensive coordinators topped $2 million.
Florida defensive coordinator Brad White signed a three-year, $5.85 million deal that starts at $1.85 million and also includes a $100,000 raise in 2027 and 2028.
The Gators released the contracts Thursday in response to a public records request.
Sumrall signed a six-year, $44.7 million contract last year that averages $7.45 million annually. The Gators will dole out more than $20 million to Sumrall, his staff of 15 assistants and a front office led by new general manager Dave Caldwell.
Four of the assistants are scheduled to earn at least $1 million during their deals.
Defensive line coach Gerald Chapman and offensive line coach Phil Trautwine will join Faulker and White in the seven-figure club. Chapman, the lone holdover from former Florida coach Billy Napier’s staff, will make $950,000 this year and $1 million in 2027. Trautwine, meanwhile, starts at $750,000 and jumps to $1 million. Both signed two-year deals.
Their salaries show Sumrall’s commitment to rebuilding the team along both lines of scrimmage in the powerhouse Southeastern Conference.
Napier’s 12-man coaching staff was paid a combined $7.5 million in 2025. The Gators posted three losing seasons in Napier’s four years.
The rest of Sumrall’s staff range between making $350,000 and $600,000 annually, all of them on two-year contracts.
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