Well, let's see. They closed down U.S. 1 for a while near Fort Lauderdale
because of a swarm of bees. And the AP wire was hopping yesterday with the
arrest of Jeannette Odom, 75, who came out of her trailer in Ocala and
confiscated the new Christmas ball that a kid kept accidentally kicking into
her yard. That's about it.  Well, almost. [WPLG-TV (Miami)] [Associated
Press via BayNews9.com]

God Smites F State on Christmas Day At least five tornados hit (Lake City, Daytona, Deland, Leesburg, Port
Richey), ruining the days of at least 20 God-fearing families. But sheriff's
spokesperson Laurie Windham had the proper religious perspective, in
Bible-intensive Lake City: "We are incredibly blessed today [because no one
was killed]." [Associated Press via MSNBC]

Sounds Like a Joke So state Sen. Gary Siplin of Orlando, who is boldly resuming his seat in the
new legislature despite the fact that he's a convicted felon (on appeal,
which means that, under Senate rules, he doesn't have to step down yet) just
announced his primary legislative thrust for the new year: restoring voting
rights to convicted felons. [Associated Press via Miami Herald]

The Year of the Python Scott Hardin, of the state wildlife commission: "Without a permit and
without signing anything, you can go buy a young Burmese python for $20," he
said. "But within a year it's going to be 6 feet long and in two years it's
12 feet long, and now instead of eating mice, it's eating rabbits. And you
only have $20 invested in it, so it's disposable." And if you live in south
Florida, that means the 'Glades, and now they're pumping out the babies
faster than the rangers can kill them. [St. Petersburg Times]

Follow-Ups U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Miami cut her losses and admitted that she
said she wanted Castro dead [The F State, 12-20-2006]. When she kept denying
it before, that was really, uh, that was, well, she didn't say. [Miami
Herald] . . . . . Horse herpes [The F State, 12-19-2006] has now spread to
10 horse farms in Florida [Palm Beach Post].

More Things To Worry About Today A gang-oriented shooting on Christmas eve at Boynton Beach Mall left a man
dead; authorities hope to learn the exact motive soon, even though they know
that whatever it is, it'll be stupid [Palm Beach Post] . . . . . Ritchie
Davis, 15, of Fern Park, was sent to juvie for 4 yrs for commandeering a
transit bus and operating the route for a while, accepting and discharging
passengers [Associated Press via Fox News] . . . . . Jacksonville preacher
Alexie Kelly will soon be back on the prowl, as his 5-yr sentence for having
sex with a 13-yr-old girl was overturned on appeal (he confessed, but not
properly) [FirstCoastNews] . . . . . Even though Miss USA Tara Conner was
given a reprieve by pageant owner Donald Trump, Florida's own girl-gone-wild
Katie Rees, formerly of Largo, was fired from her title reign as Miss Nevada
USA for a topless video on the Internet [Tampa Tribune].

This article appears in Dec 27, 2006 – Jan 2, 2007.