AMERICA TOGETHER: Florida teen fixes American flags for local businesses

A Florida man was arrested Wednesday in the 1998 kidnapping and rape of a 22-year-old woman after DNA collected from a discarded cigarette last month linked him to the case, investigators said. James Byrd, now 60, was arrested in Marion County on charges of armed kidnapping and sexual battery in the 22-year-old case, Tampa police said.

A prison guard in South Florida was arrested after allegedly accepting payment and agreeing to traffic an undisclosed amount of cocaine into a correctional facility outside of Miami. Dade Correctional Institution Sergeant Travis Thompson has been charged with one count of Cocaine Trafficking, a first-degree felony, Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle announced Saturday.

A Florida woman has been charged with storing a dead man’s body in a trash can in order to collect his Social Security benefits. Michelle Haney, 49, of Bradenton, was arrested and charged Wednesday with abuse of a dead body in connection with the death of 40-year-old Jon Christopher Leonard.

A kind-hearted Florida businessman is playing Santa for the second holiday season in a row — this year reportedly paying the overdue utilities bills for 114 families who were at risk of losing service. “This year to me probably is more meaningful than last year with the pandemic and all the people out of work having to stay home,” Michael Esmond, 74, told CNN.

 Serena Williams  and her husband  Alexis Ohanian  found a way for their daughter  Olympia Ohanian   to have her first snow day.The tennis pro posted a video Friday sledding down a mini snow hill with her family. You could tell the snow was fake by the fact that there was only one perfectly placed mountain of snow on a bed of healthy green Florida grass.

A Georgia youth football coach who was seen in a viral video earlier this week smacking one of his players to the ground will be charged with child abuse, Florida authorities said Friday. Gerrell Williams was the coach of the Savannah Gators youth football team, which was playing in the American Youth Football national championships in Kissimmee, Fla., this week when a video showed the man striking one of his players.The parents declined to press charges, but authorities stepped in.

Rapper Lil Wayne pleaded guilty in a federal district court on Friday to illegally possessing a loaded, gold-plated .45-caliber handgun while traveling to South Florida on a private jet last December. An anonymous tip led officers to the Opa Locka Executive Airport just two days before Christmas in 2019 where officers found Lil Wayne, whose real name Dwayne Carter, whose plane had just arrived from California, U.S.

Don't mess with Gunner and Richard Wilbanks. The Florida puppy who was rescued from the jaws of an alligator by his fearless owner has been named a Deputy Dog by the local sheriff's office.

Florida deputies begged and pleaded with a suspect at gunpoint to just put his hands up for four minutes before they were forced to use deadly force, video shows — and experts said incidents like this show the incredible challenges cops face on a daily basis.

While the holiday season will look markedly different among the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic, Americans are getting festive in creative ways to keep the spirit of the season alive.  We're hanging Christmas decorations early this year and buying plenty of lights and trees, as many families spend more time at home.

: The American Conservative Union says it will hold the 2021 Conservative Political Action Conference in person amid the coronavirus pandemic. And for the first time ever, the largest and most influential annual gathering of conservatives that’s best known as CPAC, will be held far from the nation’s capital.

The Sunshine State is a bit dimmer this morning. Fort Lauderdale, one of Florida’s biggest cities, has been declared the most unsafe in America according to a new survey from WalletHub.

Former NFL All-Pro wide receiver Chad Johnson is known for going the extra mile for restaurant workers, and he spread more good tidings at an eatery on Friday. Johnson was in Jacksonville, Fla., apparently getting ready for the Jacksonville Jaguars and Cleveland Browns game on Sunday, according to News 4 Jax.

America’s most prolific serial killer — who has credibly confessed to more than 90 murders — admitted to killing a woman whose death sent an innocent man to prison, according to a report Thursday. Samuel Little, who has gleefully described strangling dozens of women between 1970 and 2005, copped to slaughtering two new Florida victims, Miami Herald reported.

Florida Georgia Line's Tyler Hubbard is revealing why he briefly unfollowed his bandmate, Brian Kelley. During an interview with Sirius XM's podcast , Hubbard explained that the unfollow came amid the recent election.Hubbard's wife, Hayley Hubbard, expressed excitement on Instagram after the race was called for President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.

Tyler Hubbard says his brief social media divorce from Florida George Line partner Brian Kelley was political.

The NFL is currently looking into a dispute involving Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Antonio Brown and his homeowners association that began back in August over a landscaping issue.  Reports surfaced earlier in the week that Brown had allegedly destroyed a security camera and threw his bicycle at the security gate of his luxury development in Hollywood, Fla., in October after being asked to escort a guest inside.