News Update for 12/19/24
The School Board of Highlands County has recently decided to join a multidistrict lawsuit brought forth by a Miami Law firm that aims to seek reimbursement for the over payment of insulin products caused by so called price fixing schemes. According to Ferraro Law Firm, insulin prices have increased exponentially over the last two decades, upwards of over 1000%, driving a prescription drug affordability crisis orchestrated by insulin manufacturers and pharmacy benefit managers. The litigation effort intimates that Government employees have been significantly impacted by the manipulation of insulin prices, and that public health budgets have been burdened. The School Board has approved an agreement in which they agree to pay 25% of any total gross recovery in favor of the client, as attorney’s fees.
Nemours Children’s Health is planning a major expansion in Central Florida. Among a series of upgrades, the healthcare system says it will double the size of its pediatric hospital’s emergency department on Orlando’s Lake Nona campus. The 300-million-dollar project would also add two new facilities over the next four years. Nemours says the development is meant to keep up with demand since the region’s pediatric population is expected to grow by nearly five-percent in the next five years. The healthcare company currently serves more than 300-thousand children in the Sunshine State.
A Polk County teacher is suspended after what the school district calls troubling allegations. The sheriff’s office announced yesterday that Thomas Griffin was arrested Tuesday. Deputies say the 51-year-old showed up at his ex-girlfriend’s home on Saturday, forced his way in and attacked a man who was there. The victim says Griffin choked him, pinned him against a wall and punched him multiple times. No one else was hurt. Griffin is facing charges that include burglary with assault and battery by strangulation. Griffin teaches at McLaughlin Middle School in Lake Wales. The school district says Griffin is now on administrative leave pending further investigation.
College football fans from around the country will spend the holidays in Orlando. Bowl season is underway, and Orlando’s Camping World Stadium is hosting three games over the next couple weeks. The Cure Bowl takes place tomorrow at noon between Ohio and Jacksonville State. The Pop Tarts Bowl on December 28th features Iowa State and Miami, and in the Cheeze-It Citrus Bowl on New Year’s Eve, South Carolina will play Illinois. Florida Citrus Sports estimates the games will generate almost 100 million dollars in economic activity.
A Central Florida stepmom is facing charges in connection to the death of a five-year-old boy about two months ago in Osceola County. Police say 25-year-old Cheyenne Fite was responsible for watching three kids while they played outside back in October. Her husband’s son died after he drowned in a seven-foot drainage ditch that was dug near a pigpen on the property. Authorities say the victim was found unclothed and unconscious. Fite told investigators that she was inside her trailer folding clothes when another child warned her about the incident. However, one of the kids claims she was sleeping when the drowning happened. Fite is being held without bond after she was charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child.
Two people are dead after a murder-suicide in Hillsborough County. It happened last night in New Tampa on Royal Forest Drive. The sheriff’s office says Timothy Lobianco shot Steven Glantz to death at Glantz’s home and then turned the gun on himself at another location. The 67-year-old Glantz and the 66-year-old Lobianco were neighbors, but there’s no word on what led to the incident. Sheriff Chad Chronister says this tragic event serves as a painful reminder of the devastating effects of senseless violence on our community.
Rick Scott is celebrating what he calls big wins for Florida’s military. Senator Scott released a statement yesterday after Congress passed the National Defense Authorization Act. He says the NDAA includes over ten million dollars for child development centers at NAS Whiting Field in Santa Rosa County and NAS Jacksonville. Scott says these additions will increase access to childcare for military families throughout North Florida. He also says the bill ensures Homestead Air Reserve Base in Miami will continue to be a critical military asset through at least 2028.
The man accused of trying to assassinate Donald Trump is facing new charges in Florida. Attorney General Ashley Moody announced yesterday she has obtained an arrest warrant for Ryan Routh [[ ruth ]]. The 58-year-old is wanted for felony attempted murder for a traffic crash that gravely injured a six-year-old girl. Moody says the crash happened as Routh was trying to get away from law enforcement officers the day he allegedly tried to shoot Trump three months ago in West Palm Beach. Martin County deputies were arresting Routh when the five-car crash happened on I-95 North. Moody says Routh committed a felony, domestic terrorism, and that felony seriously injured and could have killed the child. The maximum penalty is life in prison.