Your daily look at news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today.
KILLER OF 2 OFFICERS TO BE SENTENCED
This morning a Hillsborough County judge affirmed a jury’s recommendation that Dontae Morris receive the death penalty. Jurors found Morris guilty last year on two counts of first degree murder. Morris killed officers David Curtis and Jeffrey Kocab during a traffic stop in June 2010. The jury also unanimously recommended that Morris should face the death penalty. The judge is not bound by the jury’s recommendation, but he must give it great weight, and this morning Dantae Morris was sentenced to death. Morris was previously convicted of an unrelated murder and is also awaiting trial in two other murder cases.
HURRICANE TAX HOLIDAY TO RUN NEXT WEEK
Floridians can avoid paying sales tax next week on hurricane preparation supplies. The sales tax holiday begins Saturday and ends June 8. Floridians will be able to purchase batteries, flashlights, tarps and even generators worth $750 or less without having to pay the state’s 6 percent sales tax. The Atlantic hurricane season begins Sunday and runs through Nov. 30.
CHILDREN WITH AUTISM TAKE MOCK FLIGHT
About 50 students with autism participated in a mock flight in South Florida, allowing parents to gauge how their children might behave on a plane. As part of the Autism in Flight program, the children and their parents boarded a JetBlue plane at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on Thursday for a pretend flight to Honolulu.
TEEN DEAD AFTER RUN-IN WITH TALLAHASSEE POLICE
A teen is dead following a run-in with Tallahassee police. Authorities say 18-year-old Duane Erick Strong was fleeing was scene of a shooting when he almost hit a park car and nearly hit an officer. Officers fired at Strong’s car, and then a marked patrol car crashed into him. It wasn’t immediately clear if Strong was hit by a bullet or killed in the crash.
ORLANDO PROSECUTOR REASSIGNED AFTER COMMENTS
An Orlando prosecutor who was criticized for social media comments referring to drug addicts as “crack hoes” is being reassigned to a different division while the State Attorney’s Office conducts a review. Kenneth Lewis, a prosecutor for Orange and Osceola counties, has been moved from the homicide and major felonies sections to the general felonies section.
