Florida restaurant paying employees $70K in back wages for allegedly giving tips to managers

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.

Florida authorities recovered more than 74 pounds of cocaine floating in waters off the Florida Keys ahead of Christmas, according to reports. A local fisherman reported the discovery to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday afternoon.

Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez make their way out of the gym after a post-Christmas workout on Saturday (December 26) in Coral Gables, Fla.

Florida authorities have launched an investigation after a college baseball player was found shot dead inside his off-campus apartment in West Palm Beach Sunday. The body of 21-year-old Derek Becker was found inside his apartment on Community Drive not far from the Keiser University’s flagship campus, where he played on the Seahawk baseball team. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

A Taco Bell employee in Florida was brought to tears when he was given a massive tip this week.  Joe DeCicco, 70, has been working at a Taco Bell in South Daytona, Fla., for the last 20 years, according to local TV station WESH 2. On Friday, DeCicco -- known in the drive-thru as "Taco Bell Joe" -- received a $6,095 check from a local group.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday reaffirmed his commitment to keeping restaurants open and criticizing other areas of the country like New York City where indoor dining has been suspended despite evidence that most coronavirus infections can be traced to small gatherings at homes.

A Florida woman who threatened to leap from a motel balcony on Monday was arrested after allegedly throwing her German Shepherd over the railing, authorities said. Allison Murphy, 35, was charged with animal cruelty over the incident at Motel 6 in Daytona Beach, according to the Volusia Sheriff’s Office.

In a second act of kindness, a Florida business owner is covering the overdue utility bills for 114 families at risk of losing service so close to the holiday season.  Michael Esmond's act of giving is a repeat of last year when he paid the utility bills for 36 families in the panhandle city of Gulf Breeze just before Christmas. Esmond, who owns Gulf Breeze Pools & Spa near Pensacola, told Fox News he donated $7,615 this year as the city faces an economic downturn caused by the coronavirus

Two inmates, who were on the run after escaping from a Tennessee minimum-security facility, were arrested Sunday in Pompano Beach, Fla., according to authorities.  Robert Lee Brown, 36, and Christopher Osteen, 34, were taken into custody by law enforcement more than two days after the pair escaped from the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville, Tenn., on Friday, the Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC) said in a news release.

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 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.

The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office this week went the extra mile to help some kids stuck at home because of the coronavirus pandemic.  Deputies from West Boynton Beach on Tuesday stopped by a few homes to deliver school meals to kids doing virtual schooling.  The sheriff’s office said that they were inspired to delivery the food after hearing from a few kids that the thing they miss most from school is lunch. Many of the families are dependent on school lunches, the sheriff’s office said.

Paul Phillips, a stage manager on such legendary Broadway productions as Sweet Charity, Mame, Pippin and Chicago, died Saturday of natural causes in Naples, Florida, a family spokesman said. He was 95.

: 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.

Paul Phillips, whose long career as a Broadway stage manager included work on such notable productions as Sweet Charity, Mame, Chicago and, in 1967, the now historic Judy Garland at Home at the Palace, died Dec. 5 of natural causes in Naples, Florida. He was 95.

Donald Trump can say he won the election all day long on Twitter, but at a certain point (January 20, 2021 — 47 days from now, not that we’re counting) he will actually have to leave the White House.

He really delivered. An Amazon delivery driver in Florida pulled an elderly man from a burning house, possibly saving his life.