The Tampa Bay Lightning shut out the New York Islanders yesterday 4 to 0 and now advance to the Eastern Conference Finals for the second year in a row. They won the best of seven series four games to one.
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Hillary Clinton will be the keynote speaker later this month in Fort Lauderdale during a conference organized by the Trayvon Martin Foundation. Clinton will address the third annual Circle of Mothers conference, a three-day event that helps mothers who have “lost children or family members to senseless gun violence.” The Circle of Mothers was founded by Sybrina Fulton, whose 17-year-old son, Trayvon
Martin, was fatally shot by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman in 2012. Those attending the Clinton speech are asked to donate $1,500, with the money raised going to the foundation.
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A man was shot and killed by a Pinellas County Sheriff Deputy in St. Pete early Saturday morning. 37-year-old Alton Witchard was a passenger in a van driving recklessly at a high rate of speed. The van struck two police cars and fled. Whitchard exited the van in an alley just south of 21st Avenue South near 22nd Street South. He was seen carrying an AR-15 assault rifle and ignore repeated orders to drop the weapon. The deputy feared for his life and fired his handgun at Witchard approximately five times striking Witchard twice. Deputies at the scene rendered first aid he was transported to Bayfront Medical Center where he was pronounced deceased. The assault rifle was loaded and set to fire.
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Vice President Joe Biden will give a speech in Tampa on his vision for U.S. policy in the Western Hemisphere. The Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce said Biden will address local business leaders in an
invitation-only event slated to begin Wednesday afternoon at the University of Tampa’s Fletcher Lounge. After the event, Biden is expected to travel to Orlando for the Invictus Games. The games are an Olympic-like completion for injured veterans.
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More than 500 soldiers from around the world are competing this week at the Invictus Games, an Olympics-like competition for veterans who have survived injuries. Former soldiers are taking part in sitting volleyball, wheelchair basketball, rowing, among other sports. The Invictus Games, a creation of Prince Harry, is in its second year. Athletes from 15 countries will compete in 14 sports beginning Monday and lasting until Thursday.
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One person is dead and a man has been arrested after a wrong-way crash earlier this morning. Just after midnight, 23 year old Ronal Vasques-Gonzalez was going south in the northbound lane on US-41 near Madison Avenue. He crashed into an oncoming car killing that driver. Troopers also believe Vasquez-Gonzalez was drunk. He was arrested for DUI manslaughter and driving without a license causing death.
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The Obama administration is giving nearly $11 million to help 12 health centers around Florida offer preventive health services to more low-income patients. The funds will help provide care to an estimated 38,405 new patients. The investment builds on the $6 million given to Florida health centers in September. The funding stems from the Affordable Care Act. One idea of the law was not only to get more people insured but to offer them preventive services and connect them with primary care doctors so they don’t wind up in emergency rooms when they are sicker and more expensive to treat.
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A 20-year veteran of the Tampa Police Department has died following an off-duty motorcycle crash. The department says Officer Howard Gimbel died Saturday at a local hospital. He was 52. His wife, Tonya, also was injured in the crash and she was in a stable condition at a hospital. The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the cause of the crash.
