Florida
Your Florida Daily: State lawmakers return to Tallahassee, commercial moon lander suffers ‘anomaly’
ORLANDO, Fla. – It’s time to put away the Christmas decorations, Florida.
Strong to severe storms are coming today thanks to a front slicing through the state.
It’s coming south from the Panhandle and working its way across Florida throughout the afternoon and evening.
“So the two main weather impacts that we’re going to focus on are the severe wind risks. It’s showing about a 30% shot at seeing damaging, strong straight-line wind gusts. That means we’re clocking winds an upwards of 60-70 mph,” News 6 meteorologist Candace Campos said.
On the other side of the front is cooler drier weather! Wednesday’s high temperature is going to be in the 60s.
Florida lawmakers return to Tallahassee for legislative session
It’s a big day in Tallahassee.
State lawmakers are back at the Capitol to begin the annual legislative session. Over 1,600 bills have been filed for this year’s session.
That includes a proposal that would lower the minimum age to buy rifles and other long guns from 21 down to 18.
It would reverse part of a law passed after the deadly school shooting in Parkland in 2018.
Other measures up for debate this year would impact your daily drive including a proposed ban on red light cameras and a proposed fee for electric car owners to offset losses to the gas tax.
Limiting abortions is also back up for discussion. A bill filed Monday would ban almost all abortions in the state except to save the life of the mother.
One thing you may not hear much about is property insurance.
As of right now, Florida leadership is leaving the issue alone. They say they want to give more time for reforms that have already been passed to work.
Tap here to tell us what issues do you think Florida lawmakers should focus on during the legislative session.
Moon landing attempt by US company appears doomed after ‘critical’ fuel leak
Just hours after liftoff on the Space Coast, the moon lander onboard the new Vulcan Centaur rocket ran into big trouble.
The spacecraft was supposed to land on the lunar surface next month but the company behind it, Astrobotic, said it had a propulsion problem.
Teams are working to get as much data as they can from the lander but it’s still not known if it will be able to make it all the way to the moon, officials say.
In other space news, multiple sources are reporting that NASA will announce a big delay in its next mission to the moon.
The Artemis II mission, which aims to send four astronauts on a flyby journey of the moon, was set to lift off in November.
However, NASA is expected to announce the flight won’t take place until 2025.
Random Florida Fact
For those interested in the fascinating history of ocean exploration, check out the Man in the Sea Museum.
It’s located in Panama City Beach and displays a quirky, yet accurate, portrayal of mankind’s attempts at deep sea exploration over the centuries.
You can see early diving bells and diving suit rigs dating back to 1837, as well as prototypes for modern day mini-subs and remote craft.
The parking lot is filled with the collection’s biggest features, including the world’s first working undersea habitat SEALAB-1.
Copyright 2024 by WKMG ClickOrlando – All rights reserved.
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Florida
Florida mother Destiny Byassee killed when fake airbags ‘detonated like a grenade,’ lawsuit alleges
A young Florida mother was killed last year when her car’s counterfeit airbag “detonated like a grenade,” according to a lawsuit.
Destiny Byassee’s used 2020 Chevy Malibu passed through multiple conmen before its fake emergency airbags deployed in a June frontal collision, causing a blast that “shot metal and plastic shrapnel throughout” the car, her family alleges.
“Several fragments from the blast struck Ms. Byassee in the face, head, and neck, ultimately killing her,” stated the complaint, obtained by Law & Crime.
The 22-year-old “was a mother of two young children and had her entire life ahead of her,” attorney John Morgan, who is also representing the family, said in a news release.
According to the lawsuit, Byassee bought the doomed sedan from DriveTime, a national used car company, without being given a full history of the car.
The former Enterprise Rent-A-Car car was involved in a devastating September 2022 crash that caused damage that “was so significant that the vehicle should have been classified as a total loss, issued a salvage title, and removed from service,” the lawsuit alleges.
Rather than scrap the vehicle, Enterprise allegedly sold the car to DriveTime through Manheim Auctions, Inc., which bills itself as the largest wholesale automobile auction company in the world.
It was then repaired at Jumbo Automotive in Hollywood, Florida, the complaint continues, claiming that shop owner Haim Levy “purchased counterfeit and non-compliant airbag components” by a Chinese company to replace the Chevrolet factory airbag “and proceeded to install these components into the subject Chevy Malibu.”
Not only were the dangerous fake bags used, but Levy allegedly repaired the deployed seatbelt pretensioner — the part of a complete system that tightens the belt during a crash — incorrectly, but in a cunning way that made it appear to work properly.
Byassee “had no idea that the vehicle had been improperly and illegally repaired,” her family said.
Both the counterfeit airbag and faulty seatbelt pretensioner “were signaled to deploy” during the June 2023 collision, according to the lawsuit.
“However, because the subject Chevy Malibu’s front driver-side seatbelt pretensioner was inoperable, the pretensioner did not deploy as originally designed,” the lawsuit states. “Worse, because the subject Chevy Malibu’s front driver-side airbag system included counterfeit and non-compliant components, the airbag detonated like a grenade and shot metal and plastic shrapnel throughout the vehicle cabin.”
The filing pointedly said that photographs depicted the “horrifying event,” including one of the “shredded and blood-soaked front driver-side airbag.”
Cathy King, Byassee’s grandmother, filed the lawsuit on behalf of the 6- and 4-year-old children the young woman left behind, as well as her husband and mother.
Byassee “believed she was buying a safe and reliable vehicle, but our lawsuit alleges that several automotive companies worked to skirt the system by repairing what should’ve been a totaled vehicle, all just to make money,” Morgan said in the release.
“Because of that, Ms. Byassee lost her life, and her children will grow up without their mother.”
The lawsuit seeks a jury trial on 14 various counts against the various defendants – including strict liability, negligence and deceptive trade practices.
Neither Enterprise, Manheim, DriveTime nor Jumbo Automotive immediately answered The Post’s request for comment.
OCALA, Fla. (WCJB) – A former Marion County Sheriff was inducted into the Florida Law Enforcement Hall of Fame today.
Former sheriff Don Moreland got emotional giving his acceptance speech, more than fifty years after he was elected.
He was Marion County Sheriff for twenty years, from 1972 to 1992.
Once he left his post, former President Bill Clinton made him the Marshall for the Middle District of Florida.
“I am deeply honored being included in this whole thing. When you get to be 90 you really sincerely appreciate everything a little bit more,” said Don Moreland.
Moreland still holds the record for the ‘longest-serving sheriff’ in Marion County.
TRENDING: Gainesville Opportunity Center hosts its 3rd annual bike day
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