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Florida man allegedly crashed stolen Mustang into sheriff cars, Uber vehicle killing three

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Florida man allegedly crashed stolen Mustang into sheriff cars, Uber vehicle killing three


Three people are dead following a wrong-way crash on a Florida bridge involving a rideshare driver and a stolen vehicle.

The crash happened the night of Dec. 6 on I-275 at the Skyway Bridge in St. Petersburg, according to Florida Highway Patrol. 

Troopers responded to assist Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office deputies regarding a stolen Ford Mustang that they had unsuccessfully attempted to stop.

The driver, identified as 22-year-old Leosvany Roman, allegedly crashed into two HCSO vehicles before fleeing the scene, the sheriff’s office said. 

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According to FHP, Roman led officers on a chase in which he collided with an FHP trooper’s vehicle, then turned around, rammed the vehicle again, then sped off before hitting a Dodge Caravan head-on.

The driver, who FHP confirmed was an Uber operator, was pronounced dead at the scene along with one of three passengers, with a second passenger later dying at a hospital from her injuries.

“This criminal had no regard for human life. Our deputies, facing danger, had to jump out of the way of a man they feared would run them over to get away,” HCSO Sheriff Chad Chronister said. “The additional charges he faces will ensure the only road he’s ever on again is the one that leads straight to jail.”

Leosvany Roman was arrested after allegedly crashing into two HCSO vehicles before fleeing the scene, the sheriff’s office said.  Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office

The Dodge driver was identified as a 33-year-old man from Bradenton, Florida. The passenger who died at the scene is said to be a 52-year-old man from Ohio.

FHP said they could not confirm whether the Dodge driver was on duty for Uber at the time.

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Uber said in a statement to Fox News Digital that they have no record of the trip, and that the crash “does not appear to be connected to the Uber platform.”


 Florida Highway Patrol said they could not confirm whether the Dodge driver was on duty for Uber at the time.
Florida Highway Patrol said they could not confirm whether the Dodge driver was on duty for Uber at the time. Florida Highway Patrol

A 24-year-old passenger from Ohio was last said to have suffered a serious injury, and a 27-year-old trooper who is a two-year veteran with the department, also suffered minor injuries as a result of the incident, FHP said. 

Roman is charged with felony murder, vehicular homicide, aggravated fleeing and eluding involving death, driving while license suspended involving death and battery on a law enforcement officer.



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Florida Gators coach Billy Napier’s first remarks on Elijhah Badger transfer

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Florida Gators coach Billy Napier’s first remarks on Elijhah Badger transfer


TAMPA — Florida Gators coach Billy Napier upgraded his receiver room late last week with the commitment of Arizona State transfer Elijhah Badger.

With the paperwork official, Napier could finally comment on Badger’s addition Monday night during a stop on his Gators Caravan tour at The Westshore Grand.

Napier’s scouting report: “He’s got good catch radius. He’s tough, got some special teams value, returner value, and then I think a good run-after-catch player.

The 6-foot-1, 190-pound Badger showed that with the Sun Devils. Over his final two seasons there, he caught 135 passes for 1,579 yards and 10 touchdowns. Napier, a former Arizona State assistant, could use some of his familiarity with that program to vet (and ultimately get) one of the top receivers in the spring transfer portal window.

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Badger was a top-200 high school recruit in California and a four-star transfer prospect. His recent addition helped lift Florida to the nation’s No. 5 transfer portal class.

Badger also provides a veteran presence to a room that is still relatively young.

“It gives us time to grow up some of the young players in the room and will certainly give (quarterback Graham) Mertz an additional weapon for his final year,” Napier said.

The Gators open Napier’s third season Aug. 31 against Miami.

We’ll have more on from Napier’s stop in Tampa later.

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Analysis | Arizona and Florida could send a big message on abortion rights

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Analysis | Arizona and Florida could send a big message on abortion rights


The abortion rights position has won on the ballot in 7 out of 7 states since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in mid-2022 — even in red-leaning ones such as Kansas, Kentucky, Montana and Ohio.

And new polling suggests that in 2024, abortion rights measures could do even better than they did in those first seven states, as voters in states with severe GOP led-abortion bans weigh in.

The polling, from CBS News and YouGov, shows striking margins in Arizona and Florida for enshrining abortion rights into those states’ constitutions. That position leads 65 percent to 21 percent in Arizona and 60 percent to 20 percent in Florida. Previous polling in Florida also showed voters favoring the abortion rights amendment by wide margins — by 21 points in one poll and by 30 points in another.

Florida’s measure will be on the ballot; Arizona’s is still a work in progress, but organizers say they have more than enough signatures to get it there. Other states will feature such measures, but Arizona and Florida are the big ones.

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The newest polling shows not only that voters overwhelmingly favor the amendments, but even Republicans lean in favor of them — 43-38 in Arizona and 43-34 in Florida.

That 60 percent overall number in Florida is notable because that’s the threshold for passage in the state — a higher bar than the one for most states.

It’s also notable because it suggests the potential for an even more resounding affirmation of abortion rights.

While abortion rights positions have won plenty of votes from Republican-leaning voters, they have done so to varying degrees. A good way to look at this is how they have performed relative to the 2020 presidential vote.

The best relative performance for an abortion rights amendment thus far? The most recent one. In Ohio last year, it over-performed Biden’s 2020 vote share by 11.6 points. Biden got 45 percent in 2020, but the abortion rights amendment got 57 percent.

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The average overperformance across the four states: eight points.

The new Arizona and Florida polls already show support for the amendments outpacing Biden’s 2020 share in those states by 16 points and 12 points, respectively — even with a fair number of undecided voters.

There have been states where the abortion rights position over-performed Biden by more than it did in the four states above: Kansas, Kentucky and Montana. But importantly, those states weren’t voting directly on enshrining abortion rights.

Montana’s measure was narrowly about infants born after failed abortions. Kansas’s and Kentucky’s measures asked voters to affirmatively state that the state constitution didn’t protect abortion rights. In those last two states, the measures over-performed Biden by 17 and 16 points, respectively — the biggest overperformances to date.

And that could be instructive.

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These were situations in which voters were effectively being asked not to add a right, but to foreclose one.

Indeed, what could set Arizona and Florida apart from the four states that have previously voted to enshrine abortion rights is how much those rights have been curtailed in those states.

The Florida Supreme Court last month greenlit the state’s six-week abortion ban, which even former president Donald Trump has sought to distance himself from. Then the Arizona Supreme Court last month revived a harsh 1864 law that banned nearly all abortions — even in the cases of rape and incest — and made providing one punishable by two to five years in prison. (This set off a panic in GOP circles which eventually led to the law’s repeal. A 15-week ban remains in place.)

This has set up a situation in which voters could effectively view the abortion rights amendments as referendums on the harsh GOP-backed laws and an opportunity to register their discontent. The same YouGov poll, for instance, shows 72 percent of Arizona voters approve of overturning the 1864 law.

Or, at the very least, the stakes of allowing their representatives to restrict abortion rights could be more real to them than to voters in California, Michigan, Vermont and Ohio, where similar laws weren’t in play.

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It’s that dynamic that makes these potentially resounding votes in Florida and Arizona particularly important for the future of abortion rights in America.



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Florida ranks in list’s top 10 states for most adults living with their parents. Here’s why

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Florida ranks in list’s top 10 states for most adults living with their parents. Here’s why


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In 2020, the Pew Research Center conducted a study that found more than 50% of young adults in the U.S. were living with their parents for the first time since the Great Depression.

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And that trend hasn’t slowed down, according to a newer study. 

Ahead of the mid-May Mother’s Day rush, trucking industry website Truckinfo.com analyzed data from the US Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the Federal Reserve to find how many young adults would only have to step out of their bedroom to wish their mother a happy Mother’s Day.

The study revealed that the number of young adults who live with their parents has continued to increase. And Florida ranked in the top 10 states where the most young adults are still living at home.

Here’s where Florida ranked on this list and why.

What percentage of 25-34 year-olds live with parents?

“Both men and women between the ages of 25 and 34 are twice as likely to live with their parents than in 1967,” the study said. 

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“While there was a steady increase until the early 2010s, the figure has grown significantly in recent years.” 

According to the study, around 32.1% of adults between the ages of 25 and 34 live at home with their parents. Florida’s state average is a little higher, at 34.8%, ranking the Sunshine State tenth in Truckinginfo.com’s list of states where the most young adults still live with their parents.

Which state has the largest percentage of adults still living with their parents?

New Jersey emerged as the state with the largest percentage of young adults living at home. California placed in second and Connecticut in third. Florida ranked at the bottom, in 10th place.

“Compared to the national average, adult children in coastal cities and the south are much more likely to live with their parents,” the study said. 

“Conversely, states in the Midwest and Mountain West are more likely to live with their spouses than the rest of the country”

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Here are the rankings, with the percentage of adults between 25 and 34 living with their parents in each state:

  1. New Jersey, 43.3%
  2. California, 38.6%
  3. Connecticut, 38.6%
  4. New Hampshire, 37.4%
  5. New York, 37.0%
  6. Delaware, 36.9%
  7. Maryland, 36.1%
  8. Rhode Island, 35.9%
  9. Mississippi, 35.8%
  10. Florida, 34.8%

The study also found that high housing costs have the biggest influence on why so many young adults are living at home for longer.

“Even for men gainfully employed, many struggle to afford a home. Since 1984, the home-price-to-income ratio in the U.S. has nearly doubled,” the study said. “Meaning homes are twice as expensive today than in 1984.”



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