Florida
Hundreds in Florida order license plate honoring late Jimmy Buffett. These are the most popular
Hundreds of people have preordered a new specialty Florida license plate in honor of the late singer Jimmy Buffett.
The “Margaritaville” plate became available for preorder on Oct. 1, and as of Oct. 21, data from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV) shows 777 people have preordered it.
“Proceeds from sales of the Margaritaville License Plate will support Singing for Change, created by Jimmy Buffett, to benefit Florida nonprofits helping victims of hurricanes and other disasters,” according to the Margaritaville website.
Vouchers for the Margaritaville license plate cost $33. The payment is non-refundable, unless the plate doesn’t meet the presale requirement.
“New specialty plates in Florida must sell at least 3,000 presale vouches before the new specialty plate will be manufactured and made available,” the FLHSMV says on its website.
Data shows it’s the fourth-most popular license plate in the state of those available for presale, behind the ones for Biscayne Bay, Inter Miami CF and Protect the Gopher Tortoise, in that order.
Miami-Dade County license plates
In Miami-Dade County, the most popular license plate preordered, by far, is the one for Biscayne Bay, with 1,286 sales.
This may be because the county has been able to waive fees for the plate, which benefits the Miami Foundation so its proceeds can be used for Biscayne Bay restoration and education efforts.
“Thanks to a generous donation from the Brady Hunter Foundation, the fee to reserve the ‘Protect Biscayne Bay’ specialty plate will be waived, allowing us to fulfill statewide circulation requirements sooner and distribute license plate vouchers to people passionate about climate and environmental resilience,” the county said on its website.
Inter Miami CF follows with 229 sales, which according to the team, will go “towards the Inter Miami CF Foundation and will be used directly for community programming in South Florida, specifically on youth enrichment initiatives to benefit the underserved and at-risk kids in our community.”
In Broward County, the Gadsden flag license plate has the most sales with 22 preorders.
Florida
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Florida
Florida investigating AI role in mass shooting at university
Florida on Tuesday announced a criminal probe into whether artificial intelligence played a role in a deadly mass shooting at a university in the US state.
“If ChatGPT were a person, it would be facing charges for murder,” Uthmeier said.
Florida law allows anyone who assists or counsels someone in the commission of a crime to be treated as an “aider and abettor” bearing the same responsibility as the perpetrator, according to Uthmeier.
In exchanges with ChatGPT, the accused shooter sought advice on what type of gun and ammunition to use, as well as where and when on campus a lot of people would likely be found, the state attorney general said during a press briefing.
“Last year’s mass shooting at Florida State University was a tragedy, but ChatGPT is not responsible for this terrible crime,” an OpenAI spokesperson said.
Florida
Florida wildfire strands Amtrak passengers for over 24 hours
A massive wildfire in Putnam County in northern Florida left Amtrak passengers stranded on a train for more than 24 hours.
One train heading to New York City was forced to turn around, arriving back in Miami Monday night, including one passenger who said he had been on that train for about 38 hours.
He says he and other passengers were left uncertain about what was going on.
“Angry, confused, uncertain, in the dark,” said John Reardon.
Reardon, who lives in New York City, says he boarded the train around 7 a.m. Sunday to go back home. He said around 3 p.m. Sunday, the train stopped near Jacksonville.
“Finally, after about 5 hours, they said we’re not going to New York, we’re going back to Miami,” Reardon said. “One stop at a time.”
Amtrak said for the safety of its passengers, the train couldn’t continue going north because of the fire.
“Amtrak sends a notification to the phone saying, ‘Hey, there’s an issue with the wildfire, it’s too close to the railway,’” said passenger Katrinia Wheeler.
Multiple crews are battling multiple fires in two Florida counties, leaving at least 3,000 acres burned.
“I saw that there was a lot of smoke coming from the woods, and then I saw the fire trucks and emergency services,” Wheeler said.
The train that left Miami at 7 a.m. on Sunday returned around 9 p.m. on Monday, leaving passengers frustrated.
Amtrak corporate says they made the decision out of safety for their customers and said customers would receive full refunds and vouchers.
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