Your daily look at news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today.
ZIMMERMAN’S ESTRANGED WIFE HURT IN CRASH
Authorities say George Zimmerman’s estranged wife was injured in a central Florida car crash. Winter Park police report that Shellie Zimmerman was making a left turn at an intersection late Friday morning when another driver ran a red light and hit her. Zimmerman was taken to a nearby hospital with minor injuries. The man who crashed into Shellie Zimmerman faces charges related to driving under the influence.
BOBBY BOWDEN’S GRANDSON KILLED IN CRASH
Authorities say former Florida State football coach Bobby Bowden’s grandson was one of two men killed when their car flipped into a small ditch off a central Florida road. The Polk County Sheriff’s Office says in a news release that 23-year-old Taylor Jeffrey Bowden and 25-year-old Rafael Fernandes De Aguiar Valim, who had been driving, both died in the Thursday crash in Winter Haven. A third man was rescued.
TAMPA TOURISM REBOUNDING
Officials say Hillsborough County’s tourism industry is recovering from the recession. In the last fiscal year, the county has collected $21.2 million in tourist taxes. That’s the most they’ve collected in a year since 2007.
FIU JOINS IN CONDEMNING ACADEMIC BOYCOTT OF ISRAEL
Florida International University has joined a growing list of schools opposing academic sanctions against Israel. The nonprofit American Studies Association proposed the boycott last week over the country’s treatment of Palestinians, particularly scholars and students. FIU Provost Douglas Wartzok says it doesn’t make sense to protest the lack of academic freedom for one group by limiting it for another.
TARGETS IN BP SETTLEMENT INQUIRY ASSAIL FINDINGS
Nearly six months after a federal judge appointed former FBI director Louis Freeh to investigate alleged misconduct inside the settlement program for compensating victims of BP’s 2010 Gulf oil spill, the targets of his inquiry are questioning his independence and trying to rebut his findings. A report that Freeh issued in September concluded that top members of Patrick Juneau’s staff, including Lionel Sutton III, engaged in conduct that was improper, unethical and possibly criminal.
Source: Associated Press
