Florida

DeSantis cancels SC campaign travel, returns to Florida facing tropical storm and shooting aftermath

Published

1 year ago

August 27, 2023

DeSantis cancels SC campaign travel, returns to Florida facing tropical storm and shooting aftermath

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis canceled a day of presidential campaign appearances to deal with crises at home as his state mourns a racist fatal shooting in Jacksonville and prepares for a tropical storm.

A day after appearing in Iowa, DeSantis was back in the state capital of Tallahassee on Sunday for a news conference on Tropical Storm Idalia. He urged Floridians to heed the advice of emergency managers. He also offered condolences and condemned the killing of three Black people by a white man who authorities say left behind a suicide note, a will, and writings with racist material.

DeSantis’ campaign schedule had called for him to be in South Carolina Monday for a morning town hall in Kershaw and a barbecue with Rep. Jeff Duncan, R-S.C., in Anderson. But Sunday night, his campaign spokesman Bryan Griffin announced the governor was canceling his South Carolina travel. His wife, Casey DeSantis, is still expected to appear at the barbecue but the town hall in Kershaw was canceled.

“In light of the approaching hurricane, the Governor will be staying in Florida on Monday to assist with preparations,” Griffin said.

Asked at his Sunday news conference whether he would be in Florida this week, DeSantis responded, “I’m here. I’m here.”

“We’re locked in on this; we’re going to get the job done. This is important. So people can rest assured,” the governor said, adding that the state is staging personnel and equipment to prepare for the storm.

DeSantis has stumbled on the national stage since beginning his presidential campaign earlier this year and has at times struggled to connect with voters. He returned to Florida from Iowa, where he is campaigning extensively and hoping for a strong showing in the state’s leadoff caucuses. He remains in a distant second place behind former President Donald Trump for the Republican nomination.

The storm is pointed toward Florida as the nation tries to make sense of another mass shooting Saturday, this time at a Dollar General store in Jacksonville, where a 21-year-old white man fatally shot three Black people. Federal authorities are investigating the attack as a hate crime.

“Perpetrating violence of this kind is unacceptable, and targeting people due to their race has no place in the state of Florida,” DeSantis said.

___

Cooper reported from Phoenix.

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Florida

Florida golfer fatally beaten with his own clubs in a random attack, police say

Published

47 mins ago

November 27, 2024

Press Room

Florida golfer fatally beaten with his own clubs in a random attack, police say

A Florida golfer has died after he was beaten with his own clubs and choked in what police believe was a random attack by a man with a history of violence whose family had just kicked him out of their home.

Brian Hiltebeitel, 65, was playing Monday afternoon at the Sandhill Crane Golf Club when Palm Beach Gardens police say he was attacked by 36-year-old Junior Boucher, who had been reported missing an hour earlier by his family. Court records show that earlier Monday, members of Boucher’s family had filed an eviction notice to remove him from their house.

According to a police report, witnesses heard Hiltebeitel scream, “He’s trying to kill me,” and then saw Boucher beating him with a club on the first fairway. Hiltebeitel tried to run away, but Boucher retrieved another club from Hiltebeitel’s bag and chased him into a pond, where he jumped on top of him, choked him and again beat him, police said.

Police Chief Dominick Pape said no connection has been found between Hiltebeitel and Boucher nor is there any immediate evidence of a confrontation or argument before the attack.

After the attack, Boucher stripped off his clothes and fled into the woods. Officers had to use a stun gun to subdue him. Boucher was being held without bond Wednesday after being charged with first-degree murder. He has previous arrests for domestic battery, battery on a police officer and drug possession.

Hiltebeitel, who had owned an organic snack food company, was pronounced dead at the scene.

The Palm Beach County Public Defender’s Office, which is representing Boucher, did not respond to an email seeking comment Wednesday. It has a policy of not commenting on pending cases.

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Florida

Florida makes change to 2025 non-conference football schedule

Published

8 hours ago

November 27, 2024

Press Room

Florida makes change to 2025 non-conference football schedule

The Florida Gators have made a change to their 2025 non-conference football schedule, according to a report from Swamp247.

Florida previously had all four of its non-conference opponents set for next season, including a matchup at home on Saturday, October 11 against the Florida A&M Rattlers of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). Per the report, that game will not be played.

Instead, Florida has scheduled a different FCS opponent and it will be the season-opener at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, Fla., likely on Saturday, Aug. 30. That opponent will reportedly be the Long Island University (LIU) Sharks of the Northeast Conference (NEC).

We previously reported that LIU was scheduled to open the 2025 season on the road against the FIU Panthers on Aug. 30. If the Sharks are instead playing at the Gators as reported, their contest against the Panthers will have to be rescheduled. The LIU-FIU contract was signed in February of this year and also includes a men’s basketball game.

The Florida Gators did not previously have a season-opening contest scheduled, so that is likely the reason for their schedule alteration. Other non-conference opponents scheduled for the Gators in 2025 include the USF Bulls at home on Sept. 6, the Miami Hurricanes on the road on Sept. 20, and the Florida State Seminoles in Gainesville to close the regular-season on Nov. 29.

In SEC action next season, Florida is scheduled to host Georgia (in Jacksonville), Mississippi State, Tennessee, and Texas and travel to Kentucky, LSU, Ole Miss, and Texas A&M. SEC opponents in 2025 are the same as the 2024 season, but with the locations flipped.

Florida, which has claimed consecutive victories over ranked conference opponents at home — No. 22 LSU (27-16) and No. 9 Ole Miss (24-17) — is next scheduled to visit the 2-9 Florida State Seminoles on Saturday, Nov. 30 in Tallahassee, Fla. The game will be televised by ESPN2 at 7:00pm ET.

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Florida

Gold coins stolen from centuries-old Spanish convoy in $1M heist recovered by Florida authorities

Published

16 hours ago

November 26, 2024

Press Room

Gold coins stolen from centuries-old Spanish convoy in M heist recovered by Florida authorities

Florida authorities recovered a collection of gold coins from an 18th-century Spanish convoy that was stolen in 2015.

The 37 gold coins were snatched from the 1715 Spanish Treasure Fleet and have a total value of $1 million, according to a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission press release.

The 1715 Fleet was a combination of two different groups of Spanish ships, all under one command, heading back to Spain following a successful round of treasure hunting. The fleet fell victim to a hurricane and crashed somewhere off the coast of Florida. Their spoils, including the coins, all sank to the bottom of the ocean.

Exactly 300 years later, 101 gold coins were recovered in 2015 by the Schmitt family off of Florida’s aptly named Treasure Coast. The family worked specifically to recover treasure from the Spanish fleet, even naming their LLC the 1715 Fleet – Queens Jewels.

However, only 51 of the coins were recorded, leaving the other 50 in limbo.

“While 51 of these coins were reported correctly and adjudicated, 50 coins were not disclosed and were subsequently stolen,” the FWC wrote.

The robbery sparked an FBI investigation into Eric Schmitt, one of the family members responsible for the discovery. The probe specifically looked into “the illegal sale of multiple stolen gold coins between 2023 and 2024.”

“Investigators executed multiple search warrants, recovering coins from private residences, safe deposit boxes and auctions,” the press release noted.

“Five stolen coins were reclaimed from a Florida-based auctioneer, who unknowingly purchased them from Eric Schmitt.”

Schmitt had also apparently taken three of the gold coins that he didn’t report and tossed them back into the ocean “to be found by the new investors of 1715 Fleet – Queens Jewels, LLC.”

Even so, 13 of the coins are still missing. The FWC wrote that finding 37 of them “marks a major milestone in a long-standing investigation into the theft and illegal trafficking of these priceless historical artifacts.”

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