Two emergency landings in two days for Allegiant Airlines at the St. Petersburg-Clearwater Airport. This time it was Flight 844 to Stewart New York. Pilots returned to St. Pete after discovering a hydraulic problem. Hydraulics are what allow pilots to control the plane. Yesterday, firefighters stood by as another Allegiant jet landed with some kind of mechanical problem.
The search is on for a dark Chevrolet with front end damage after a morning hit and run at Highway 60 and County Line Road in Mulberry. The pedestrian who got hit remains in serious condition.
A warning to residents in the Loma Vista and Bella Toscana neighborhoods of Polk County. Lock your car doors. Three dozen vehicles have been broken into this week. The thieves are still out there.
The fired Palm Beach Gardens cop accused of manslaughter in the death of a stranded motorist will get help from the police union. The union says it believes Officer Nouman Raja identified himself when he walked up to Corey Jones as Jones sat in his car waiting for a tow truck. Raja opened fire when he saw that Jones was holding his legal handgun. Bail for Raja is 250 thousand dollars.
Inspectors get a big surprise as they look over a cargo ship docked in the Miami River; 2 thousand pounds of cocaine wrapped in bricks and stashed under the ship’s top deck. The coke was likely put on the vessel in Haiti. No arrests have been made.
A Florida Amber Alert is up for a 9-year-old Fort Myers area girl. Diana Alvares was not in her bed when her mother checked on her at 2 a.m. Sunday morning. She may be with 28 year old Jorge Guerrero, who once rented a room from Diana’s parents at their home. They could be in a tan Chevrolet Malibu with Florida tag 78NHD. Guerrero has ties to Orange County and Okeechobee Counties.
Florida’s fight against the Zika Virus is getting off to a slow start. Nationwide demand for mosquito traps means Florida has only gotten 120 out of 300 it ordered. Mosquitoes that end up in the traps are tested for Zika. So far, all 162 Floridians with Zika got it overseas. 38 of those are pregnant women—bad news because Zika causes birth defects.
Tampa City Council votes today on a plan to force mortgage lenders pay 125 dollars a year for every foreclosed property they own. The money would go to keep up the abandoned property so it doesn’t become an eyesore.
