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The ride operator, Orlando Slingshot, said in a statement on Thursday that it decided to take down the 430-foot-tall FreeFall drop tower in response to 14-year-old Tyre Sampson’s death on March 24. The teen slipped out from his restraint during the ride and fell to his death, officials said in March, adding that an investigation into his death has been opened. “We are devastated by Tyre’s death. We have listened to the wishes of Tyre’s family and the community, and have made the decision to take down the FreeFall,” said Ritchie Armstrong, Orlando Slingshot’s CEO, in the statement on Thursday....

The evacuation occurred before the building’s 50-year recertification inspection, which Miami-Dade County requires every 10 years following its initial 40-year inspection, local news station WTVJ reported. Building resident Austin Harper told the Associated Press that the residents were given until Tuesday afternoon to vacate the building. It appeared that officials in the Miami area were taking no risks after last year’s devastating collapse of the 12-story Champlain Towers South building in Surfside, Florida....

Marques has played for great Brazilian clubs like Corinthians, but his strongest link is with Atlético-MG and he’ll enter in the books as one of the greatest Galo idols. The former striker is representing Atlético-MG in the Florida Cup and gave an exclusive interview to Goal about his expectations for the 2017 season. Are you excited about Roger as the team’s new manager? Roger has already proved himself as a great coach who makes his teams plays beautifully, so this season should be much better than the last....

“Leadership matters and because of Governor Ron DeSantis’ commitment to ensuring vaccine access to all seniors – regardless of background, income or zip code – millions of seniors in Florida have received the vaccine, and over 61 percent of our state’s senior population have been vaccinated, the highest in the nation,” DeSantis’ office said in a statement released Friday. The federal complaint claimed DeSantis selectively distributed vaccines to wealthy communities developed by donors to his re-election campaign....

On Tuesday, Florida officials reported 2,472 cases of a new coronavirus, the second-largest increase in cases over the past 30 days. Local health officials and public health experts are concerned the spike indicates reopening measures are fostering the spread of the virus, but DeSantis isn’t entertaining the idea of closing back down. DeSantis attributed the statewide increase in new cases to a rise in infections in areas where people live and work in close quarters....

Despite doctors and nurses being fully vaccinated, a growing number of medical staff continues to test positive with the COVID-19 virus. Hospital groups say there are growing concerns medical professionals will need to be isolated and off duty because of the increased positivity rate. Staffing shortages at Florida hospitals even forced the shutdown of a department at Holy Cross Health in Broward County when the hospital elected to close their maternity ward earlier in the week, placing the Labor and Delivery unit on diversion status....

Robert Torres, 19, of Oldsmar, Florida, allegedly used an outside breaker to turn off the power to the donut store on Tampa Road at around 12 a.m on July 20. After the power went out, the employees left the store and were then confronted by Torres, who was wearing a hoodie and covering up the bottom part of his face with a shirt. According to the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office arrest report, it is unclear if Torres was armed at the time, but he did reply “yes” when the employees asked if they were being robbed, reports WFTS....

Jesus Oscar Ferrer Jr., 30, is facing a felony charge after he allegedly battered a woman, with whom he shares a child, with “sweet and sour sauce packets” on Sunday evening because she “bought the wrong food from McDonald’s” to their motel room, according to a complaint affidavit. At around 6 p.m. Pasco County deputies responded to a location on Gall Boulevard in Zephyrhills after being advised by the victim that a “physical altercation” had occurred, reported WFLA....

Authorities claim that Andy Sigears, 48, was spotted Wednesday swerving and blocking traffic in the middle lanes of a road positioned outside a local sheriff’s office. A police report indicates that a lieutenant observed Sigears on the self-balancing vehicle near the Polk County Sheriff’s Office Central substation. The man was seen heading into traffic on the wrong side of the street. The officer had to warn vehicles to avoid crashing into the wayward Segway, before making contact with Sigears....

Nathan Yedinak, a 36-year-old resident of Ocala, was arrested on June 10 following an incident in which he threatened his neighbor. He then threatened his neighbor’s son with a rifle, saying “You’re going die today if you [expletive] with me.” The neighbors said Yedinak pulled his car into their driveway, honking. When the father came out, Yedinak allegedly started a verbal altercation about stalking and interfering with him. The unnamed neighbor said Yenidak seemed to be under the influence or not in the right state of mind....

Del Rio’s injury is expected to sideline him for two to three weeks, according to the report. After Saturday’s game in Knoxville, the Gators (3-0, 1-0 in the SEC) travel to Vanderbilt on Oct. 1 and then host LSU on Oct. 8. MORE: Week 4 AP Top 25 Austin Appleby, a graduate transfer from Purdue, will start against Tennessee. He was 2-for-4 passing for 30 yards Saturday after replacing Del Rio, who took a low hit in the third quarter that drew a personal foul penalty and sent Florida coach Jim McElwain into a rage....

State Representative Joe Harding had his amendment removed by fellow Republican Representative Sam Garrison from House Bill 1557 on February 22. This withdrawal comes as the bill progresses throughout the state legislation. The amendment was originally written to force schools to out students to their parents within six weeks of them openly discussing their sexual or gender identity with faculty members. Although the amendment did set up regulations that would require healthy conversations on LGBTQ+ identity between family members, it did not provide any protections for students who said they were abused or neglected because of their orientation....

The results of a private survey by Republican pollster Tony Fabrizio show DeSantis would be supported by 64 percent of respondents compared to 12 percent for Rubio and 10 percent for Scott, according to a Monday report from Politico. A similar poll conducted by Fabrizio in July showed DeSantis ahead of Rubio by only 11 percent, meaning that the governor’s lead has widened by 41 points in about 7 months....

You’re not going to play with little enthusiasm and waltz through that cake ACC schedule. You’re not going to play with little focus, and beat Notre Dame or Florida. You’re not going to play bored and eventually turn it on when you need it and escape any Saturday this fall. HAYES: Four in, four out of playoffs from Week 1 MORE: Scores | Week 1 photos | Top 25 roundup | Video...

According to WFLA, Bartow police and the Florida state attorney’s office have filed two misdemeanor battery charges against Polk County educator Rhonda Rice. She is due to be arraigned on March 31. The charges relate to an alleged incident that took place at Bartow Middle School in October 2021. Kathy Toro told WFLA her 15-year-old nephew and another student were allegedly bitten by Rice, who was working there as a teacher, after she attempted to take a jar of pickles from the school store the pair were manning at the time....

The medical examiner’s report notes that Davis attended a 100-person church event, where people were not required to wear face masks, roughly two weeks before she died in a Miami-Dade County hospital. During the nine days that followed, she was given antibiotics, hydroxychloroquine and oxygen via her grandfather’s portable machine by her parents while at home. Her mother, Carole Brunton Davis, is a nurse. The hospital recommended intubation when Davis was admitted to its pediatric unit on June 19, but her parents declined the procedure, according to the county medical examiner....

That was 20 years ago. You do the math. The first one went to China to polish his Mandarin. The second left for college in the fall. I still have a chick in the nest, and what a chick she is, but increasingly it feels like an aerie too large for its occupants. Recently I told her we were going to be doing something we had always done as a family....

That was the real question when Floyd Mayweather Jr. unveiled his new ride on Instagram (via Washington Post), a Koenigsegg CCXR Trevita worth close to $5 million. Koenigsegg made just two Trevita cars and Mayweather now owns one of them. Hypercars are in an elite classification, a step above top-tier exotic supercars in terms of performance and price. A photo posted by Floyd Mayweather (@floydmayweather) on Aug 22, 2015 at 7:48pm PDT...

To give his teeth the best protection possible when battling in the ring, the 38-year-old spent around $25,000 for a custom-made mouthguard, according to TMZ. As if that wasn’t wild enough, it’s also stuffed with $100 bills. MORE: Mayweather’s hilarious Instagram posts | Awesome Mayweather-Pacquiao hype video | Fight PPV to cost $99 Mayweather buys his mouthpieces from Dr. Lee Gause, who is apparently the best in the business. Gause flies out to Vegas before Mayweather’s fights to make sure that the welterweight champion is content with his product....

Bieber is trying to turn the world into “beliebers” one jab at a time.