A proposed housing project on Sparta Road will not come to fruition. The housing project was slated to have several facilities aiming to serve military veterans, aptly named Hero’s Village at Sebring. According to the City of Sebring, the Pensacola based Veteran’s Builder group that sought to complete the project never closed on the 365-acre property at 5525 Sparta Road. The property remains for sale by Rhon Ernest-Jones and his partnership group, and is listed at $7.5 million dollars.
A woman is dead after a domestic disturbance in Osceola County. St. Cloud Police announced yesterday a woman was found dead Saturday in a home on Nottel Drive in Hanover Lakes. According to police, officers responded to the home after a 911 call. When officers first approached the home, they were met with gunfire. Officers retreated and sent a drone into the home, but the drone was shot at, too. A crisis negotiator was able to get Jose Manuel Otero-Fontanez to surrender peacefully. That’s when officers went into the home and found his wife’s body in an upstairs bathroom. The couple’s children were not hurt. No officers were hurt, either. The 48-year-old Otero-Fontanez is charged with first-degree murder.
A Florida teen is behind bars in Hillsborough County after he allegedly stabbed a man hours before dawn Friday in Plant City. According to the local sheriff, 18-year-old Roelmer Fabrisio faces a single count of second-degree murder following the stabbing that happened early Friday morning on Bob Smith Avenue. Deputies called to the scene found the male victim suffering from severe "upper-body trauma." The victim reportedly ID’d Fabrisio as his assailant before he was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he later died. A court date in the case is pending.
Seminole County is home to world champions. A team from Lake Mary won the Little League World Series yesterday in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. They beat Chinese Taipei, 2-one, in eight innings for Florida’s first LLWS title. Lake Mary was down to its final out in the bottom of the sixth when DJ Mieses drove in Chase Anderson to tie the game at one and force extra innings. They scored the game-winner in the eighth when the Chinese Taipei pitcher fielded a bunt and threw to first, but no one was there covering, and the throw went into the outfield. Lathan Norton scored from second for the win. Afterward, he said it feels like the most amazing thing ever.
The 598th Range Squadron of the Avon Park Air Force Fire Department is mourning a significant loss after losing their beloved Fire Chief Jeffrey D. Goodwin, over the weekend. Chief Goodwin dedicated his life to serving and protecting our community. He is known for his courage, selflessness, and commitment to our country.
Two more people are facing charges in connection to a deadly shooting that killed a Lake County store clerk earlier this year. The alleged gunman, 25-year-old Alex Lopez, was the first suspect arrested in the case. He is accused of robbing a Leesburg convenience store in May before killing the 51-year-old employee. Lopez’s mother and sister were arrested and charged Thursday after police say they prevented law enforcement from capturing him. Investigators are still looking for his girlfriend, Kaili Dupuis, who is also accused of helping Lopez escape custody.
A meeting today could determine if more than a million Floridians will see their property insurance bills go up. The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation is meeting to discuss Citizens Property Insurance Corporation’s proposal to raise rates by almost 15 percent. The average policy could go up more than 500 dollars. The goal is to bring Citizens rates more in line with companies in the private sector to reduce the number of policies Citizens has. Citizens is state-run, and it was supposed to be an insurer of last resort, but it has become the state’s largest carrier.
NASA managers will play it safe and wait until February to bring home a pair of astronauts stranded on the International Space Station. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson says they will attempt to undock the Boeing-built Starliner capsule from the space station and fly it uncrewed for a landing in New Mexico. The test flight of Starliner has been plagued by helium leaks and thruster issues since its launch in June. Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will come home on a SpaceX capsule that will now launch with a smaller crew next month.