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The person he was talking to via social media had no affiliation with the school. Nash Central athletic director Michael Mosley got in touch with Florida personnel after the news of Gaines’ commitment had spread. “When I talked to a coach, they told me they hadn’t spoke to Gaines in several weeks,” Mosley told Rocky Mount Telegram. “I think he was talking to someone he thought was a coach. I guess he said that he had talked to a coach the night before [the announcement], but they said he hadn’t talked to anybody on the coaching staff....

The latest single-day jump in cases not only exceeded past records confirmed in Florida, but those confirmed by health departments in all other U.S. states since the pandemic began. New York, which was considered the epicenter of the national virus outbreak throughout March, April and May, held the nation’s previous record. The New York State Department of Health confirmed more than 12,200 new infections on April 4, as virus patients overwhelmed hospitals and daily fatalities surpassed 500 people....

Prior to a Tuesday interview with Chris Harry of FloridaGators.com, all updates regarding his health and status came through his family, via the basketball team’s official Twitter account (though he did send a video on Dec. 18 thanking fans for their support and prayers). After his collapse, health officials immediately rushed Johnson to Tallahassee (Fla.) Memorial Hospital; there, he was placed in a medically induced coma until he was transferred to UF Health in Gainesville two days later....

With two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning and a runner on first, a Jacksonville batter took ball three. Mistakenly believing it was ball four, the batter jogged to take his base, forcing the runner on first to advance. A commotion in the Florida State dugout alerted the team about the mistake and the runner was caught in a run-down between first and second base, only to be tagged out....

Webster Barnaby, a Republican who represents District 27 in Florida’s House of Representatives, filed HB 167, which he titled the “Florida Heartbeat Act,” shortly after 9 a.m. local time on Wednesday. The proposed legislation has already begun drawing comparisons to an abortion law in Texas that went into effect at the beginning of September. The bill says a doctor would be required to check for a fetal heartbeat before performing an abortion....

By a 6-0 vote (with one recusal), first reported by The Associated Press, the state’s high court upheld a lower court ruling that the UCF Athletic Association should receive the same “sovereign immunity” that protects Florida’s state agencies from having to pay more than $200,000 in legal damages. Plancher collapsed and died after conditioning drills at the school’s football complex in March 2008. He was 19. Plancher’s family, led by father Enock Plancher, claimed that negligence on the part of coach George O’Leary’s UCF program led to Ereck’s death and was awarded $10 million in a trial court....

William Crawford, 69, of Wesley Chapel, brought his laptop to be serviced at Best Buy last summer. A Geek Squad worker was scanning Crawford’s computer when he allegedly encountered an image of what appeared to be a prepubescent child involved in a sex act, according to the affidavit. Best Buy contacted the authorities. After obtaining a search warrant for Crawford’s computer on August 19, police seized the laptop. Later forensic work by authorities during the computer imaging process found nine more images of child pornography, which included photographs of an adult male and a prepubescent female engaged in sexual acts....

Ian is looking to be one of the worst hurricanes the state has ever seen. It is expected to make landfall Wednesday and is classed as a Category 4 storm, with winds between 130 to 156 miles per hour. Category 4 hurricanes can cause severe and catastrophic damage. The storm has already caused flooding in areas across the Key West, with others likely to be hit. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) said in a statement that major storms such as Hurricane Ian can cause wildlife to become more active....

More than 6 square miles have burned on both sides of the interstate in Southwest Florida, resulting in the closure of a 20-mile stretch, also known as Alligator Alley. According to the Greater Naples Fire Rescue District, the fires, spanning 4,000 acres, merged overnight and 10 percent are contained at this time. The Board of County Commissioners authorized an immediate burn ban in Collier County back on April 16 due to the lack of rainfall the county received in March....

Lynn Fleming, from Ellenton, about 15 miles north of Sarasota, fell and cut herself while she was walking at Coquina Beach on nearby Anna Maria Island two weeks ago. Her son, Wade Fleming told Tampa’s Fox 13: “There was a little depression [on her leg] that she couldn’t see because it was under the water.” He continued: “She fell into it, came out with a little 3/4-inch cut; a bump on her leg....

Stacy Wagers filed a lawsuit against The Don CeSar Hotel in St Pete Beach, Florida, on Friday after a birthday meal last year went disastrously wrong, NBC News reported. Wagers, of Tampa, said she went to dinner at the Maritana Grille, on the hotel premises, with one of her best friends on November 11, 2018. They had just finished their dinner when Wagers, 45, said she saw a waiter pour a liquid on another customer’s dessert that caused it to “smoke....

Florida releases data related to COVID deaths on a state level, but hasn’t been disclosing the number of deaths on a county level for three months, The Palm Beach Post reported. According to the outlet, people in Florida will find it difficult to know the exact number of COVID deaths in each of the state’s 67 counties due to the shortcomings and inconsistencies in data published on federal websites....

Florists across the country have warned of the shortage, with many popular flowers not being available due to a combination of disrupted worldwide shipping and reduced supply. The supply shortage this year has been triggered by the ongoing pandemic and a cold stretch of weather in South America. South American countries are large exporters of cut flowers to the U.S., including big sellers such as roses and carnations, with 78 percent coming from Colombia, according to the Society of American Florists....

Game designer Richie Branson added “Money” and “Rowdy” as characters to the popular fighting game to find out who would come out on top in a battle of undefeated superstars. To get an unbiased result, Branson simulated the fight with the computer controlling both Mayweather and Rousey. MORE: Rousey’s career in photos | Good, bad and dirty from Mayweather vs. Berto There you have it. Rousey wins it by knockout....

But that didn’t mean Mayweather was just going to be nice to his foe. MORE: Five fights that defined Mayweather’s career Throughout the promotion, McGregor’s been adamant he will finish Mayweather and recently stated he will do it inside one round. The undefeated fighter in 49 career fights gave one final warning to McGregor and what he thinks of his prediction. “One thing about boxing and combat sports: Remember, if you give it, you must be able to take it,” Mayweather said....

The top 100 athletes on the list, released Wednesday by Forbes, were paid $3.2 billion over the past year. That’s a 17 percent increase over 2014’s list. Mayweather tops the list at an estimated $300 million. It is the second year in a row the undefeated boxer has been at the top spot. Here are some interesting stats about the top 100 list: It includes athletes from 10 sports. Baseball leads with 27 players, followed by basketball at 18, football 16 and soccer 15....

It may have looked like a minor scuffle over a distant moment in history. But it was a clash over Korea’s self-image. Koreans have never much liked looking inward. They point their fingers at imperial Japan’s past atrocities. But their own war record–the brutal civil war, the bloody involvement in the Vietnam War–has long been taboo. In the cold war’s almighty struggle against communism, South Korea’s authoritarian governments didn’t want to deal with embarrassing questions that might abet their enemies to the North....

Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) today announced that Pahang are officially out of the 2018 AFC Cup after the team did not submit any form of response prior to the November 30 deadline given. Last month, Football Association of Pahang have already stated that they will not be sending their team to the AFC Cup after the slot was given to them following Kedah’s failure to secure an Asian Football Confederation (AFC) club licensing....

Sharon couldn’t stop thinking that she’d come home one day to find her brother eating a peanut butter and banana sandwich in the kitchen–or that Ronnie, a fitness nut, might walk in the door and say, “C’mon sis, we’re going for a run around the track.” She imagined him safe, trapped in a pocket underneath the rubble. “He spent 16 years in the Marines,” she says. “Ronnie could eat rocks and survive....