Florida: 5 Things To Know For Dec 24th

Your daily look at news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today.

ADVOCACY GROUP REBUTS SEAWORLD’S OPEN LETTER

An advocacy group that produced the award-winning movie “The Cove” is taking issue with SeaWorld’s defense of its treatment of killer whales. The Oceanic Preservation Society issued a rebuttal on Monday to full-page ads that SeaWorld took out in seven newspapers last week, defending its record with killer whales.

2 WOMEN SENTENCED IN $4M MEDICARE FRAUD SCAM

Two South Florida women have been sentenced to 10 years each in prison for their roles in a $4.1 million Medicare fraud scheme. The sentences were imposed Tuesday on 39-year-old Yiral Cardona and 42-year-old Susan Chi, both of Miami. They were convicted in October of conspiracy and illegally paying health care kickbacks from their Vista Home Health Services.

FLORIDA STARTS DAILY FINES FOR WEBSITE VENDOR

The state of Florida is starting daily fines against the company that built the state’s new unemployment claims website. The Department of Economic Opportunity on Monday began fining Deloitte Consulting $15,000 a day. State officials say they will keep imposing the fines until the system is fully functioning.

MIAMI MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO STOLEN IDENTITY SCHEME

A South Florida man has pleaded guilty to identity theft, stealing the security information of some 400 people. Jean-Elguentino Cayo of Miami Gardens was among 47 people charged in recent months in separate identity theft cases. The 26-year-old Haitian native sold the data to an undercover agent on three separate occasions in January, April and June of this year, for which he received $2,000.

FLORIDA UNIVERSITY WON’T APPEAL COURT RULING ON GUNS

The University of North Florida is going along with an appeals court ruling that says universities can’t regulate guns on campus. University President John Delaney told students on Friday that effective immediately, campus rules will allow students to store guns in their cars.

Source: Associated Press