Florida
More South Florida school zones will be getting speed cameras – how it's been going
If you don’t look carefully, you could easily miss the cameras set up outside schools. They, however, are watching you, and if you’re going at least 10 miles over the speed limit, you will receive a $100 surprise in the mail.
“If you don’t want to get one of those violations just stay within the speed limit, very simple,” said Village of Pinecrest Police Chief Jason Cohen.
Pinecrest and South Miami were the first cities in South Florida to take advantage of a new state law allowing automated cameras to catch speeders in school zones. Since their systems went online in October, they’ve sent out about 7,400 citations in South Miami and about 5,800 in Pinecrest.
“It’s too early to say from the data on the overall impact it’s going to have around the schools, but we believe it’s going to change peoples’ driving patterns, that they’re going to be cognizant that they’re near a school and they’re going to automatically slow down, that’s the goal,” Cohen said.
Diane Gilmore has been a security monitor for decades at Palmetto Senior High School. She said she sees speeders fly past the school all the time as students are trying to cross the street, and she’s glad the cameras have been installed.
“I think they did a good idea because a lot of times, they be going across the street, these cars don’t respect us at all, they come fast and I say it ain’t careful, somebody gonna end up getting killed,” Gilmore said.
Students spilling out of school seem to appreciate the cameras.
“I think it’s good, ‘cause it controls the drivers so the drivers don’t speed and especially in a school zone,” said Nicholas Henriquez, a senior at Palmetto who drives to school.
Not everyone agrees. Christian Gutierrez picks up a student regularly and he’s not impressed with the cameras’ impact.
“Even speedbumps, I feel like, stops speeding,” Gutierrez said. “More than the cameras, yeah, for sure.”
The school zone cameras operate only on school days, starting a half hour before school starts and ending a half hour after school ends, no matter what the speed limit is during those hours. The police departments make $39 for each citation issued.
“But I think it’s important to highlight that the funds coming in have to be used for public safety,” Chief Cohen said. “Anything that can help make our city safer, especially around the children and the schools, we looked at it as a win.”
Soon, police departments in Miami Gardens, West Miami, Davie and Plantation will be starting up their own school zone camera systems. Miami-Dade Police have also installed cameras outside eleven schools with many more to follow. Cohen predicts almost all South Florida police departments will join the trend.
Florida
US Coast Guard saves 8, including infant and child, after vessel capsizes off Fort Myers Beach
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A quick-thinking crew from U.S. Coast Guard Station Fort Myers Beach saved eight lives, including an infant and a child, after a boat capsized Friday afternoon near the Sanibel Causeway in Florida.
Responders rushed to the capsized vessel, executing a rapid, coordinated effort that resulted in every person being safely recovered from the water.
Officials credited the success of the operation to the crew’s “relentless” preparation and teamwork.
The U.S. Coast Guard shared photos of the boat nearly completely underwater following the swift rescue. (U.S. Coast Guard Station Fort Myers Beach via Facebook)
AT LEAST 6 PEOPLE INJURED AFTER BOSTON DUCK BOAT OVERTURNS NEAR ENTRANCE TO POPULAR TOURIST ATTRACTION
“A successful mission is measured by the lives brought home safely,” U.S. Coast Guard Station Fort Myers Beach wrote in a statement on Facebook.
The Coast Guard emphasized the high-stakes rescue serves as a powerful reminder of why its crews train constantly and remain ready to respond at any hour of the day or night.
Victims were rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard in Florida on Fourth of July weekend. (U.S. Coast Guard Station Fort Myers Beach via Facebook)
CBP, COAST GUARD INTERCEPT MIGRANT VESSEL HEADING FOR PUERTO RICO; 40 APPREHENDED INCLUDING UZBEK NATIONAL
“When seconds matter, preparation, communication, and teamwork make all the difference,” the Coast Guard station wrote. “We are grateful for the opportunity to serve our community and thankful that this incident ended with everyone returning home safely. Our thoughts are with those involved, and we’re proud of every responder who played a role in this successful rescue.”
The U.S. Coast Guard shared photos of the boat sinking into the water near Fort Myers Beach. (U.S. Coast Guard Station Fort Myers Beach via Facebook)
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The Sanibel Causeway is in southwest Florida, just west of Fort Myers on the Gulf Coast.
The Florida Supreme Court is reversing legal precedent that previously required judges to throw out evidence collected by police, when they don’t knock and announce themselves.
Typically, when police conduct a raid with a search warrant without giving residents enough time to answer the door, the evidence gathered is not allowed in court.
The Justices overturned that procedure in a 6-1 ruling.
Justice Meredith Sasso wrote for the majority that Florida’s knock-and-announce statute does not give judges the authority to suppress that evidence.
The ruling stems from a investigation out of Leon County. State and local police obtained a search warrant for a residence connected to a suspected trafficking organization. During the raid, police knocked and announced themselves several times, but only said they had a search warrant moments before barreling through the door.
As the case moved along, a judge ruled to suppress evidence found during that raid.
That decision was appealed and the case made its way up to the state’s Supreme Court.
Maternal health care training
The University of South Florida is sending medical educators into rural Florida communities to provide critical maternal health care simulation training to local hospital staff and first responders. FOX 13’s Briona Arradondo reports.
TAMPA, Fla. – The University of South Florida is sending medical educators into rural Florida communities to provide critical maternal health care simulation training to local hospital staff and first responders.
Florida rural medical training
The backstory:
Fewer hospitals are delivering babies or providing maternity health care in rural Florida communities, forcing pregnant women to travel hours for care. In response, USF Health launched a state-funded maternal health care training program covering 16 rural counties.
The program is led by a partnership between Florida Center for EMS at USF, Florida Prenatal Quality Collaborative and Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation. It brings high-tech simulation mannequins directly into local patient rooms. These advanced simulators can mimic life-or-death scenarios like seizures, preeclampsia and postpartum hemorrhaging.
“I was really surprised, because my background as a firefighter-paramedic I worked in an urban environment where I had those resources. But going out to the rural communities in the Panhandle, sometimes the transport time is over two hours away,” said Penni Eggers, the director of education and assistant professor at the Florida Center for EMS at USF.
The program has already trained emergency personnel in Calhoun County, and the cities of Perry and Arcadia, teaching critical symptom management from the moment a patient enters an ambulance.
Saving mothers and babies
Why you should care:
According to Eggers, 80% of maternal deaths are preventable, and up to half happen after birth. Providing rural staff with hands-on tools builds the confidence needed to handle critical issues until a patient can be safely transferred to a specialized unit.
Emergency training sentiments
What they’re saying:
“This is actually going to touch more people and save more lives, I think. This is more to me, one of the most rewarding things we’ve ever done,” Eggers said.
She added that after training, “they feel much more confident that they can handle an emergency maternal problem, and they feel that they have some tools now and resources that they can actually do their job.”
Expanding medical simulation
What’s next:
The mobile USF Health training team plans to head to Wauchula next to conduct its next simulation exercises for local health care workers.
The initiative began in 2025 as a successful pilot program in Franklin County. The positive results secured a grant through the Florida Department of Health to expand operations, which will fund the training for the next year or two.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered by FOX 13’s Briona Arradondo with the director of education Penni Eggers at USF Health’s Florida Center for EMS.
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