MOTHER ARRESTED AFTER 2-YEAR-OLD SON DIES OF MORPHINE OD
Police in north Florida have arrested a mother in connection with the morphine overdose of her 2-year-old son. Gainesville police say 26-year-old Tracey Wells was arrested Tuesday after toxicology tests confirmed the toddler died of morphine toxicity on July 27, 2014. Authorities say Wells waited 9 hours before calling 911. Investigators believe the boy, Erin Wells, was fed morphine to calm him down. Wells had recorded video of Erin falling and unable to keep his eyes open.
ORANGE JUICE SALES POST BIGGEST DECLINE IN 3 YEARS
If Florida citrus needs a hero, it needs one right now. A month after posting the best results in seven months, U.S. orange juice sales posted its biggest decline in nearly three years. The disappointing sales results came just before the Citrus Department announced the release of the second issue of the adventures of Captain Citrus, a promotional campaign. But Captain Citrus is targeted at future OJ consumers, fourth- and fifth-graders in schools across the country, offering no immediate prospects for reversing the 13-year decline.
MAN BRINGS BODY OF NEIGHBOR TO LAWYER’S OFFICE
A southwest Florida man put his dead neighbor in the bed of his pickup truck and drove to his lawyer’s office claiming he’d killed the man in self-defense. Attorney Robert Harris the News-Press of Fort Myers that 52-year-old John Marshall showed up around 4 p.m. Wednesday, saying he didn’t know who else to trust. Attorneys called 911 and Marshall spent hours at Harris’ office before finally leaving for the hospital around 10:30 p.m. He had a swollen lip, missing tooth and what appeared to be two broken thumbs.
STRANGE CIRCUMSTANCES SURROUND GOLD HEIST ON I-95 IN NORTH CAROLINA
Details emerging from the theft of nearly $5 million in gold bars on an interstate highway indicate the heist was carefully planned and raise questions about who was involved other than the three armed robbers. The robbers pulled up almost immediately after the drivers made an unscheduled stop on a dark stretch of highway in North Carolina, according to a warrant. When the crew got out of the truck, they left their firearms behind in violation of their employer’s security rules, the sheriff said. And while the workers told authorities they had to pull over because strong gasoline fumes were making at least one of them sick, a mechanic found no problems with the truck. The circumstances led one detective to write that the heist on Sunday “could be an inside job,” though the sheriff declined to commit to that theory during a news conference Wednesday.
STETSON UNIVERSITY PONDERS BEER ON CAMPUS
Beer on campus? That’s a possibility at Stetson University where the school’s leaders are considering turning a coffee shop into a pub-like setting where beer and wine would be served some evenings. The Daytona Beach News-Journal reports the idea appeals to school officials because of the safety issue. It would offer a place on campus where students could drink with some supervision. Members of the Student Government Association first made the suggestion to Christopher Kandus-Fisher, the school’s vice president of student affairs. He encouraged them to pursue the idea.
