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It was 1988. Flip Saunders, fresh off his duties as an assistant coach at Tulsa, had just gotten the job as head coach of the new Rapid City Thrillers of the Continental Basketball Association, and had arrived in town with the team’s 24-year-old general manager, Eric Musselman. When they got to the arena, they were shown a large workroom from which the team’s entire staff would operate. It was a bit like a high school study hall....

The Palace Bar and Restaurant was reportedly targeted with homophobic and transphobic threats after Angela Stanton-King, who ran a failed Republican campaign for Congress in Georgia last year, visited the club and uploaded an Instagram video showing the girls posing with a drag queen during a performance. The video was widely shared on social media in some conservative circles, prompting Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene (R-Ga.) to argue that those involved “should be arrested and charged,” despite the video not appearing to show anything illegal....

Florida has also seen a case increase of about 1,589 percent since the state began its first phase of reopening on May 4, according to historical data compiled by the COVID Tracking Project. Ocala-News first brought attention to the percentage increase of new cases in an analysis of state data published last week. As of Friday, August 28, the Ocala-based news site reported a nearly 948 percent increase in new cases since June 3, the date on which local officials allowed bars to reopen with limited indoor capacity....

Polk County Sheriff’s Deputy Eric Lawes, 33, suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries while dealing with 39-year-old suspect Marco Antonio Tolentino outside a motel in Dundee on Sunday, August 8. Tolentino is accused of possession of a homemade firearm known as a zip gun, which consists of two interlocking pieces of metal pipe that hold a single shotgun shell. When pressed together, the device is designed to fire a single projectile, in this case a 12-gauge shotgun buckshot round....

Dwight Anthony Tucker, of Tampa, was detained by officers from the Kauai Police Department on Tuesday after traveling to the island the day prior and checking in a hotel in Kapaa. He was stopped by authorities at about noon after making his way to the coastal town of Hanalei, WTSP reported. Under rules designed to limit the spread of COVID-19, there is currently a 14-day mandatory self-quarantine order in place for all incoming visitors that asks them to stay indoors....

Brent Smith, 46, was intoxicated when he returned to the home he shares with his mother in DeLand, Florida, on Saturday evening, the Volusia Sheriff’s Office said in a news release. An argument ensued and Smith shoved his mother several times while screaming at her and calling her “obscene names,” the sheriff’s office said. The sheriff’s office said Smith then grabbed a butter knife and threatened her, saying: “I will kill you....

Nathan Polit, from Boynton Beach, was stopped at a security checkpoint at Disney’s Animal Kingdom park at 9:30 a.m (local time) on Sunday after a 9mm Smith and Wesson handgun with eight target-style Luger rounds in it was found in his backpack. Polit did not have a concealed permit for the gun, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, Orlando’s WKMG reports. Polit claimed he had moved the gun from his vehicle to his backpack because he was worried about a break-in but forgot to take the gun out of his bag before going to the park, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office....

Bryan Riley has been formally charged by a grand jury in a 22-count indictment that includes the murder charges as well as attempted murder for repeatedly shooting an 11-year-old girl who survived the Sept. 5 attack by playing dead. He is also facing charges of kidnapping, arson, burglary, and animal cruelty for killing the family dog. Investigators said Riley told them he had “tortured” the girl after allegedly shooting four other members of her family, including her father and his girlfriend....

Markeith Loyd claimed he had been in “warrior mode” when he shot Sade Dixon eight times in December 2016, killing her and their unborn child, the Orlando Sentinel reported. Loyd, 44, told jurors at the Orange County Courthouse on Monday that he never meant to shoot Dixon, but that he started shooting in self-defense because he had been attacked by Dixon’s brother Ronald Stewart. “You’re really the victim today here, aren’t you?...

The proposed constitutional amendment, created by the group Regulate Florida, would allow people 21 and over to possess and use marijuana for recreational use. It would also let adults grow up to nine cannabis plants, with a maximum of 18 plants per household. Michael Minardi, an attorney serving as campaign manager for Regulate Florida, said voters in the state are “begging” to legalize the drug for personal use. “I think that if we get it on the ballot, we will be able to pass it,” Minardi told Newsweek....

A Monday press release from the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office noted that Enginio Dali Muniz-Colon was arrested on May 9, but police have now charged the Kissimmee pastor with exposure of sexual organs and released a photo of him to the public. “The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a male exposing his sexual organs while masturbating on the patio of Starbucks located at 1041 W Osceola Parkway, Kissimmee,” the press release said....

Florida granted Driskel his release from the program Saturday. The QB made his transfer decision final Monday, releasing a statement that he’ll play for Louisiana Tech in 2015. MORE: Best bowl game photos | Title game uniforms | Bama not going anywhere Driskel enjoyed his best season in Gainesville in 2012 when he threw for 1,646 yards and 12 touchdowns, but a broken leg in the third game of the 2013 season sent his Gator career into a tailspin....

Speaking with CNN host Brianna Keilar, Sabatini, a Republican, was asked about states that have imposed mandatory mask mandates, such as the one recently issued by Alabama Governor Kay Ivey. “When you look at the mandate versus voluntary mask wearing, a suggestion, where a government actually incentivizes and says, ‘Hey, we’d like you to wear a mask, here are free masks, etc.,’ I’m OK with that,” Sabatini said. “If a government wants to incentivize and recommend masks, as they’ve done in many places, that’s gonna get a lot of compliance, period....

Per the release, Johnson has also FaceTimed the team. That follows a Monday statement from the team in which it announced he was in critical — but stable — condition and “following simple commands.” Johnson had been in a medically induced coma after collapsing during a game Saturday against Florida State, according to his grandfather. He was transferred to UF Health in Gainesville, Fla., on Monday after spending two days at Tallahassee Memorial, Florida said....

Miami-Dade County has announced plans to formally suspend mask mandates in all of its schools. Superintendent of School Alberto Carvalho is citing low COVID-19 infection rates as the primary reason for the decision. “On the basis of current health conditions, which are dramatically improved, effective tomorrow parents can access the parent opt-out form from any elementary or K-8 school in Miami-Dade,” Carvalho said at a press conference. Children who are recorded on the opt-out form can stop wearing masks by Friday....

Forward Dorian Finney-Smith, the Gators’ second-leading scorer, has been suspended indefinitely for violating team rules, according to coach Billy Donovan. He will not play against SEC rival Vanderbilt on Wednesday and will most likely miss more games. MORE: Louisville guard suspended indefinitely | South Carolina suspends pair | Seton Hall player suspended for elbow Donovan said he will address Finney-Smith’s dismissal after Wednesday’s game. This is the second time in his career Finney-Smith has been suspended....

The NCAA’s leadership board on Tuesday issued a statement they “unequivocally support” transgender student-athletes’ right to designate their own gender. The NCAA responded to numerous states including Arkansas and Mississippi who have recently passed bills which limit transgender athletes’ ability to participate in sporting programs and tournaments. In Florida, the House GOP has proposed a ban on transgender female athletes joining girls and women’s athletic teams at either the high school or collegiate level....

Gators AD Jeremy Foley says it hasn’t happened. “We will have no comment on the recent multiple reports other than to say that we have made no job offers to anyone and reports claiming that are false,” the school released in a statement. MORE: Florida search tracker | 10 Nebraska candidates | 10 potential Michigan candidates Freeze has been mentioned as a lead candidate for the Florida job, vacated when Foley fired Will Muschamp....

Jack Petocz, who attends Flagler Palm Coast High School, promoted a statewide walkout against the Parental Rights in Education legislation, which would ban the discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in certain grades at Florida schools. After leading the walkout at his own school on Thursday, Petocz distributed around 200 pride flags for a rally. The teenager told The Daytona Beach News-Journal that he had been advised not to hand out the flags by the school’s principal, Greg Schwartz....

Gators coach Dan Mullen announced the suspension in a statement released by the university. SEC MEDIA DAYS: Mullen has ’extremely high’ expectations for UF program Watkins was booked into Alachua County Jail in Gainesville on charges of domestic battery by strangulation and false imprisonment/kidnapping, which are third-degree felonies, and two counts of battery causing bodily harm, which are first-degree misdemeanors, according to jail records. Bond has not been set....