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‘What he needs to do’: President Biden sees Helene devastation in Florida first-hand

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‘What he needs to do’: President Biden sees Helene devastation in Florida first-hand


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KEATON BEACH — President Joe Biden stopped in north Florida for a whirlwind visit to meet with local leaders and residents reeling from the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene last week.

Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., and John Louk, director of Taylor County Emergency Management, showed the president a FEMA map in a briefing on the side of the road in front of toppled trees and remnants of destroyed homes.

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They detailed Helene’s catastrophic wind speed in Florida and explained how the storm cut a path of destruction into the Nature Coast, up to North Florida and whipped through South Georgia.

Preliminary damage estimates are a little over $50 million on the Taylor County coastline alone, said Andrew Morgan, the public information officer for the county’s emergency management agency.

About 250 to 300 homes on the county’s coast were lost or are uninhabitable, he said.

Florida continues to recover in the aftermath of the Category 4 storm, which left at least 19 dead, including at least 12 in Pinellas County — hundreds of miles away from where the storm made landfall. In the Southeast, the death toll surpassed 200 as the need for power and water in North Carolina grew more urgent for hundreds of thousands of residents.

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On Thursday morning, the president arrived at Tallahassee International Airport in Air Force One and then departed on Marine One to tour ground zero of Helene’s landfall.

Bill Collins, a resident of Keaton Beach, was on his neighbor’s porch when the motorcade arrived and said he was glad to see the president make a stop in Taylor County.

“That’s what he needs to do. He’s supposed to go through and at least see with his own eyes,” Collins said.

He hopes Biden frees up more federal aid for states hit by Helene, especially North Carolina and Tennessee.

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“We aren’t the only ones,” he told the USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida. “We’re all in this together.”

In a post on X, Sen. Scott said he would be filing an appropriations bill to fund FEMA, the USDA and the SBA for Helene recovery efforts.

“During my meeting with President Biden, I stressed that the federal government’s response to hurricanes over the last two years has left too many Floridians, especially our farmers, hurting and with unmet needs – and this must be fixed NOW,” Scott wrote. 

He also criticized the federal government’s response to hurricanes Ian, Idalia and Debby.

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“I’ll be fighting like hell to deliver disaster aid to our state, and ensure seamless debris removal guidance for our local communities, and I urged the federal officials there today to put Floridians and all Americans first by doing the same,” he said. 

In the briefing with the president, Louk said that while some of the homes are still standing, they are advising residents to inspect their homes for structural damage.

Biden, who donned a baseball cap and aviator sunglasses, spent time speaking with Taylor County’s first responders, including Sheriff Wayne Padgett.

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“He was very nice, he shook all of our hands,” Morgan said.

Biden even sang “Happy Birthday” to one of the first responders.

“He was very supportive of what we have going on,” Morgan added.

The entire visit to Taylor County took no longer than two hours. 

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Biden then returned to the Perry airport and boarded Marine One to head to Valdosta, Georgia. 

Gov. Ron DeSantis did not accompany the president on this visit. He also skipped out when Biden came to Florida after last year’s Hurricane Idalia, though he did meet with him after Hurricane Ian in 2022.

“No, it’s just we had this planned,” DeSantis said, when asked whether there was any reason he didn’t accompany Biden Thursday. DeSantis spoke from Ana Maria Island in Manatee County, more than 200 miles away from where Biden visited.

He held a press conference to announce three executive orders related to recovering from Helene: waiving local governments’ rental date requirements; allowing supervisors of elections affected by Helene to set up alternative polling places; and streamlining ports and supply chain operations to mitigate the effects of the port strike and get needed supplies into the state to aid recovery efforts.

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Ahead of Thursday’s tour of devastation in Florida and Georgia, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre briefed reporters in the air on the way to Tallahassee airport. She trumpeted how the Biden administration will cover 100 percent of the costs associated “with things like debris removal, first responders, search and rescue, shelters, and mass feeding operations.”

“Still, we know there is more work to be done,” she said. “And we will be here, doing that work, for as long as it takes.”

Ana Goñi-Lessan, state watchdog reporter for the USA TODAY Network – Florida, can be reached at agonilessan@gannett.com. 



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Traffic stop goes viral after Florida deputy accuses driver missing right hand of holding phone

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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.

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“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.

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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.

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“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.





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Blue Origin New Glenn rocket explodes on launch pad in Florida

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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.”

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A Blue Origin rocket explodes on a launch pad in Cape Canaveral, Florida. May 28, 2026. 

SPACEFLIGHTNOW


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.

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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.”  

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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.”

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Florida to pay Sumrall’s assistants a combined $11.2M in 2026

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Florida to pay Sumrall’s assistants a combined .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.

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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.

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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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