Your daily look at news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today.
GOV. SCOTT PROMISES TO RAISE SCHOOL FUNDING
Florida Gov. Rick Scott is promising to boost school funding in Florida to its highest levels if he is re-elected. In an extraordinary move announced Thursday Scott says he’ll recommend a roughly $700 million increase for public schools for 2015. He’s making the announcement months before he is required to submit his recommendations to the Florida Legislature.
ACQUITTED MAYOR ASKS SUPREME COURT FOR JOB BACK
The suspended mayor of Miami Lakes has turned to the Florida Supreme Court in an effort to win back his job at city hall after his acquittal on federal corruption charges. Attorneys for Michael Pizzi asked the high court in a filing Thursday to force Gov. Rick Scott to reinstate him as Miami Lakes mayor. Scott has refused to do so because voters elected a new mayor in a special election shortly after Pizzi was indicted last year.
NEARLY 400 PEOPLE PAY IT FORWARD AT ST. PETE STARBUCKS
A woman started an act of kindness chain that lasted for hours at a Starbucks drive-thru in Florida. She ordered an iced coffee around 7 a.m. Wednesday in St. Petersburg and asked to pay for the caramel macchiato for the stranger in the car behind her. He returned the favor. The chain kept going as employees began keeping count. Around 6 p.m. customer number 379 pulled up and declined to buy a drink for another person.
FIREFIGHTER SUES IN SEX DISCRIMINATION CASE
A Jacksonville Fire Department lieutenant is suing the department for gender discrimination, claiming she was punished for complaining about her male colleagues’ profane comments and pornography. According documents filed in U.S. District Court in July, Lt. Candice Buckner says she filed an internal complaint in 2012 because of persistent sexually explicit comments and pornographic materials in the firehouse.
SUV CRASHES HEAD-ON INTO TRANSIT BUS IN ST. PETE
Several people were taken to the hospital after a sports utility vehicle crashed head-on into a transit bus in St. Petersburg. Police say the 57-year-old SUV driver was taken to the hospital in critical condition Thursday morning. Seven of the 15 people who were on the Pinellas County Transit Authority bus were also taken to the hospital. Officials say their injuries didn’t appear to be life-threatening.
