Articles Tagged with orlando

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A 73-year-old snorkeler has died after he was found passed out off Key Largo this week, according to local media.

The man, Dwaine David Anderson, of Crystal Falls, Michigan, was swimming on the Grecian Rocks reef off Key Largo Monday. Anderson was out with a commercial dive operation when he was found passed out, officials with the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office told the Miami Herald.

The dive boat crew performed CPR as they raced back to shore. Anderson was transported to the Mariners Hospital in Tavernier where he was pronounced dead.

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The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is conducting the search for a child who remains missing as of Tuesday after a boating accident in North Florida that killed three people, officials say.

The incident happened 8 p.m. Friday when an 18-foot vessel carrying eight people flipped. Three bodies, including one child, were recovered from the water. Emergency responders were called out to the scene after passersby reported seeing the overturned vessel with at least “four people on top … and an additional four people possibly underneath,” according to reporting from The Miami Herald.

No one involved in the incident was wearing a life jacket, officials with the U.S. Coast Guard told reporters.

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Card Sound Road, one of the only ways in and out of the Florida Keys, will have intermittent closures Thursday morning due to fast-moving brush fires, according to reporting from The Miami Herald.

Thursday marks the third day in which the road saw shut downs due to the wildfires as firefighters continue to battle the flames. The road will have these closures for fire mitigation and air water drops.

The 14,000-acre, South Florida wildfire broke out Tuesday afternoon in a largely rural area and, as of Thursday morning, was at least 20 percent contained, according to reporting from The Palm Beach Post.

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Two 16-year-olds who went missing Monday afternoon from the Cedar Key Fishing Pier north of Tampa were found on an oyster reef Tuesday morning.

The girls were found 14 miles from the pier where they launched their board. Officials say it was a combination of strong winds and waves that pushed the two out to sea. The two were reported missing by family and multiple agencies, who were out searching for them into the night. Several volunteer boaters were also out on the water looking for the girls.

Lt. Scott Tummond with the Levy County Sheriff’s Office told reporter with ABC news that the number of first responders they had out searching was “astounding.”

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A circuit court judge ordered George Pino, the 54-year-old Doral real estate broker facing vessel homicide charges related to the 2022 boat crash that killed an Our Lady of Lourdes Academy student, to no longer contact the teen’s parents during trial.

Circuit Court Judge Marisa Tinkler Mendez granted the order Wednesday, barring Pino from contacting the family of 17-year-old Luciana Fernandez via a third-party, social media, electronically or in person for the remainder of the trial. The text message was reportedly sent last week from Pino to the girl’s parents that “appealed to both families’ Catholic faith,” according to reporting from the Miami Herald.

While Tinkler Mendez said in court she did not believe the message was sent with “intentional malfeasance,” prosecutors said it could be interpreted as intimidation or witness tampering.

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More than two years ago, a Miami-Dade County family suffered the unimaginable loss of their daughter in a boat crash, now the parents of Luciana Fernandez are fighting for legislative change.

It was Labor Day 2022 when then 17-year-old Luciana and over a dozen others were on a boat that crashed into a channel marker and were ejected from the vessel into Biscayne Bay. The crash killed Luciana, daughter to Melissa and Andy Fernandez, and severely disabled one other girl, Katerina Puig.

This week, Luciana’s parents published an OP-ED announcing their “mission to prevent others from suffering such a tragic loss.” Their solution? New legislation filed by State Reps. Vicki Lopes (R-Miami) and Vanessa Oliver (R-Punta Gorda) that will increase penalties for reckless boating, boating under the influence and accidents that result in death on the water. In addition to stricter penalties for violators of boating laws, House Bill 289, also known as “Lucy’s Law,” will also expand on boating safety and education requirements.

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Attendees of the 19th Annual Florida Keys Seafood Festival should bring out stretchy pants for the celebration this weekend presented by the Florida Keys Commercial Fishermen’s Association.

The family-friendly festivities are set to begin at 11 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 15 at Key West’s Truman Waterfront Park. On the menu includes freshly caught seafood from local fishermen like spiny lobster, Key West pink shrimp, stone crab, fried local fish and more. The fish will be used in signature dishes prepared by the fishermen and their families like smoked fish dip with crackers, lobster bisque, conch chowder and fritters. Other cookout favorites like hot dogs, burgers, and Key West’s signature Key lime pie will also be available to order.

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The Monroe County Board of County Commissioners recently released an advisory to remind Florida Keys boat owners that the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is once again accepting applications for its Vessel Turn-In Program (VTIP) to prevent possible.

The VTIP is entirely voluntary and was established in late 2022 to help boat owners dispose of unwanted or at-risk vessels before they become derelict, preventing possible future legal issues for the derelict boat owner in possible boat crashes and protecting Florida’s marine life. Vessels being considered must be free of all liens or other claims of ownership ad the applicant must be the titled owner of the vessel. The vessels will be removed from state waters and destroyed at no cost to the owner.

The program removes vessels on a first come, first served basis and applicants are accepted until funding runs out, or the program ends

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At least four people were rescued from a sinking boat off the coast of Marathon, Florida, Sunday.

Th incident happened about 11 miles off the coast around 5 p.m. when a distress signal reached the U.S. Coast Guard. A crew was sent out to find the 27-foot, sinking vessel and its four passengers.

Additional information including what caused the boat to sink or whether anyone was injured were not immediately available Monday.

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A father who was allegedly driving drunk the day he crashed his car into a tree, killing his daughter, 5, and injuring his son, 3, faces DUI manslaughter charges, police said in a Dec. 31 news release.

The crash happened in Polk County, Florida, on Nov. 7 when a father, who is not being named to protect the identity of his son, was allegedly three times over the legal limit when he was behind the wheel. The man picked up his children from their grandfather’s home, missed a turn and ran a stop sign, according to police. He later crashed into a tree and the car went up in flames. The man’s daughter died in the incident and his 3-year-old son suffered burns to his face.

The man tried getting his son out of the car but fell to the ground. A passerby helped the child. The father was also injured in the crash, according to reporting from the Miami Herald.

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