MEDIATION SET FOR PHOTOGRAPHER’S SUIT AGAINST JUSTIN BIEBER
A mediation session is set in Miami in an attempt to resolve a lawsuit against pop star Justin Bieber filed by a photographer who says he was roughed up by the singer’s security. Bieber was expected to attend the Tuesday mediation behind closed doors at a downtown law firm. In the lawsuit filed in June 2013, photographer Jeffrey Binion seeks unspecified damages for what he claims was an assault by a Bieber bodyguard outside a recording studio.
ORLANDO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT DECIDES TO KEEP TSA
Officials with the Orlando International Airport have recommended against making it the largest airport to get rid of the TSA. An airport advisory committee on Monday voted to keep Transportation Security Administration officers and not replace them with privately hired guards, provided the TSA meets certain benchmarks. Those benchmarks include moving passengers quickly through security lines.
1 DEAD FOLLOWING HOME FIRE
Authorities say one person is dead following a Florida Panhandle home fire. The Crestview Fire Department reports that rescuers responded to the home Sunday evening. Officials didn’t immediately identify the victim. About $50,000 in damage was done to the home. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
SOUTH FLORIDA HOMELESS ADVOCATE MOVES TO HAINES CITY
A man who ran a homeless shelter in South Florida is planning to buy a 125-room central Florida motel where he’ll rent rooms to tenants for up to $24 a day. Sean Cononie ran the Homeless Voice shelter for more than a decade before Hollywood officials agreed last week to pay him $5 million to leave town. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports Cononie took 112 people with him to Haines City. He has a contract to buy a former Howard Johnson motel in Haines City for $2 million. Deputy Polk County manager Gary Hester questions whether the property is zoned for a homeless shelter. But Cononie calls it a low-income hotel.
BREVARD ZOO EUTHANIZES RIVER OTTER
Officials at the Brevard Zoo euthanized a 16-year-old North American river otter because of declining health. Saba died Friday morning at the zoo where she had lived since she was 6 months old. Her companion Ozzie died in November. Zoo spokeswoman Olivia Wiggins says they plan to get new river otters though no immediate plans have been made. Florida Today reports Saba suffered from cancer.
