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Church rebuffs top US general’s concern that Quran burning will endanger troops

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 15:02:00 +0000

A Christian minister said Tuesday that he will go ahead with plans to burn copies of the Quran this weekend to protest the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks despite a warning from the top U.S. general in Afghanistan that doing so would endanger American troops, reports the Associated Press. Pastor Terry Jones of the Dove World Outreach Center said he understands Gen. David Petraeus' concerns, but plans to go forward with the burning this Saturday, the ninth anniversary of the attacks. He left the door open to change his mind, however, saying that he is still praying about his decision. Petraeus warned Tuesday in an e-mail to The Associated Press that "images of the burning of a Quran would undoubtedly be used by extremists in Afghanistan — and around the world — to inflame public opinion and incite violence." Jones told the AP in a phone interview that he is also concerned but wonders how many times the U.S. can back down. "We think it's time to turn the tables, and instead of possibly blaming us for what could happen, we put the blame where it belongs — on the people who would do it," he said. "And maybe instead of addressing us, we should address radical Islam and send a very clear warning that they are not to retaliate in any form." Jones, who runs the small, evangelical Christian church in Gainesville with an anti-Islam philosophy, says he has received more than 100 death threats and has started wearing a .40-caliber pistol strapped to his hip. The threats started not long after the 58-year-old minister proclaimed in July that he would stage "International Burn a Quran Day." Supporters have been mailing copies of the Islamic holy text to his Dove World Outreach Center to be incinerated in a bonfire that evening. The fire department has denied Jones a required burn permit for Sept. 11, but he has vowed to go ahead with his event. Muslims consider the Quran to be the word of God and insist it be treated with the utmost respect, along with any printed material containing its verses or the name of Allah or the Prophet Muhammad. Any intentional damage or show of disrespect to the Quran is deeply offensive. Jones, who has about 50 followers, gained some local notoriety last year when he posted signs in front of his small church proclaiming "Islam is of the Devil." The Quran, according to Jones, is "evil" because it espouses something other than the Christian biblical truth and incites radical, violent behavior among Muslims. "Whenever there's a perception that America is somehow anti-Muslim, that harms our image and interests around the Islamic world," said Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council on American Islamic Relations, a Washington-based Muslim civil rights group that has worked to discredit Jones and counter his message. Church changes "No Homo Mayor" sign How offensive can a church be? Let's start with this one More FloriDUH

Fla. mom mistaken for alleged prostitute

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 13:46:00 +0000

An Orlando mother was arrested after disembarking from a cruise ship, mistaken for a suspected prostitute wanted in central Florida.

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Ex-cop guilty in groping nursing mom

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 11:19:00 +0000

A former Orlando police officer accused of groping a nursing woman's breast took a plea deal Tuesday morning and was found guilty of a misdemeanor — disorderly conduct, reports the Orlando Sentinel. In pleading no contest to the disorderly conduct count, Brandon Loverde also agreed to relinquish his Florida law-enforcement certification. He was supposed to turn that certification in to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. He took the plea on the day scheduled for him to go on trial on charges of false imprisonment, a felony, battery and disorderly conduct. The prosecution dropped the first two charges as part of the plea agreement. Police reports show Loverde had been working off-duty at Club Firestone in downtown Orlando in December 2009. At some point, Loverde ordered club patron Rachelle Cortez to follow him into a parking lot at the rear of a nearby business, according to reports. Loverde handed her a bottle of water, squatted in front of her and slipped a latex glove on his hand. The police report shows Cortez said Loverde then reached inside Cortez's bra and squeezed her right breast until milk squirted onto the glove. Police arrested Loverde in January. The Police Department placed him on unpaid leave shortly after the incident, but he resigned in May. Loverde had been with the Police Department for three years. Records show he previously worked for the New York Police Department at the 75th Precinct in Brooklyn. Today, Rachelle Cortez told the court that she considered Loverde's punishment like a slap on the hand. "Basically it's saying anybody can go around grabbing females," she said. Following the proceeding, the victim's father Jesus Cortez, said, "I think the system failed today." He wanted to see Loverde receive some kind of incarceration. The Cortez family did express satisfaction that Loverde will not be a law enforcement officer in Florida anymore. Assistant State Attorney Ryan Vescio, the prosecutor in the case, told Circuit Judge A. Thomas Mihok that after taking depositions he could not prove the more serious charges in the case. Vescio said the deposition testimony revealed that the "state could not convict on felony charges." Loverde had no comment following his court date today. He walked out of court in silence alongside his attorney. Details of the incident from original post: Lactating mom says cop fondled her breast outside nightclub Former Orlando officer Brandon Loverde faces false imprisonment and battery charges for allegedly groping a lactating woman's breast at Club Firestone in Dec. 2009. (Orange County Jail, Orange County Jail / September 7, 2010) More FloriDUH

Former officer takes plea deal in groping case

admin — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 23:41:00 +0000

A former Orlando police officer accused of groping a woman has taken a plea deal.

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Cruise ship passenger with baby wrongly arrested, accused of prostitution

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 12:17:00 +0000

Paola Londono, 32, stepped off a cruise ship in Fort Lauderdale following a weeklong vacation in the Caribbean. Holding her son in her arms, Londono passed through U.S. Customs, unaware she was about to be arrested and jailed for a crime she did not commit, reports WKMG News in Orlando. In March, Kissimmee police arrested another woman named Paola Londono, 26, on charges of prostitution and drug possession. When she failed to appear in court, a judge issued a warrant for her arrest. Somehow, the cruise ship passenger's birth date was mistakenly printed on the suspected prostitute's arrest warrant, reports WKMG News. The Londono arrested in March is 5 inches taller and 40 pounds lighter than the other Londono. They also have different dates of birth, different social security numbers and live at different addresses, reports CBS4 News in Miami. Broward County authorities had no choice but to arrest her because her name and birth date appeared on the arrest warrant, according to a Broward County Sheriff's Department spokewoman. Then Londono hit another snafu: Because of the holiday weekend, her attorney Jose Baez said he had trouble finding someone in Osceola County who could send the suspected prostitute's fingerprints to the Broward County Jail, reports WKMG News. On Monday night, Londono's lawyers persuaded an Orange-Osceola circuit judge to issue a court order demanding Londono be released on her own recognizance. At about 10:30 p.m., Londono was set free from the Broward County jail and tearfully reunited with her husband and son, according to WKMG News. But it is not over for Londono. She still has to appear in an Osceola County courtroom to verify her identity, said her lawyer. Photo: CBS4 News in Miami The woman on the left, Paola Londono, said she was wrongfully arrested and her only crime is sharing a name with the woman on the right, who police say is wanted on an outstanding arrest warrant. More FloriDUH

Toy pony blown up by bomb squad

admin — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 11:36:00 +0000

Was it just a toy pony or a Trojan horse? A "suspicious" toy pony was blown up after it was found abandoned in the middle of a cul-de-sac near an Orange County elementary school yesterday morning, reports the Orlando Sentinel. The FurReal pony, an expensive, life-like toy, was investigated as a possible explosive device after someone called Orange County deputies to report it. A robot inspected the toy before a pack of explosives was placed near the stuffed animal and detonated. Students at nearby Waterbridge Elementary School were placed on a modified lockdown in which no one was allowed in or out of the building during the investigation. The lockdown was lifted after the pony was blown up. Orange County Sheriff's spokesman Jeff Williamson said the pony was later declared "non-threatening." Parent Shanie Lucas, who uses the area to pick-up and drop-off her 9-year-old daughter, Valerie, thought the whole incident was funny. Lucas saw the pony this morning around 8:30 when she dropped Valerie off at school and thought someone put it there to deter people from double-parking inside the small circle. But when Lucas received an automated call from her daughter's school about the lockdown, she got nervous. She scoured the Internet looking for information and realized it was the same pony she saw earlier in the morning. The toy is made by Hasbro and is part of the FurReal Friends brand that offers toys that "come to life" and provide "realistic, nurturing animal experiences," according to the Hasbro website. The pony was first sold in 2006 as a "dream-toy" for children. No one was hurt. Photo: WFTV News in Orlando More FloriDUH

Faith-based movie productions find green pastures in central Florida

Beach Blogger — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 17:20:07 +0000

Faith-based movie productions find green pastures in central Florida ORLANDO, Fla.

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Prank 911 call: Man says he killed his wife

admin — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 13:18:00 +0000

Eustis police say Robert Brooks called 911 last month saying that he had killed his wife and that he was going to kill his baby, reports WFTV News in Orlando. Police sent 35 officers, a helicopter, and SWAT teams — but it turned out to be a prank. Investigators say Brooks made the call that sent police to neighbor Chris Dunn's home. Additionally Brooks is also accused of pulling the same prank three different times to random addresses in Seminole County over the summer. Innocent people were forced out of their homes and neighborhoods were in lockdown, reports WFTV News. Brooks told WFTV News from the Lake County jail that a mysterious friend, not him, made the prank the calls using a computer program. “I understand that you have to take it to the extent, but they're making it too serious,” Brooks told WFTV News. Brooks was charged on Thursday with filing a false police report. He is being held on $2,000 bond, according to the Lake County Sheriff's Office. And Brooks gets to spend his 22nd birthday, which is today, in jail. Photo: Robert Madison Brookes / Lake County Sheriff's office More FloriDUH

Camera found in restaurant’s bathroom

admin — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 12:54:00 +0000

The Seminole County Sheriff’s Office says someone put a camera in the bathroom of a popular Winter Springs restaurant, reports WFTV News in Orlando. The cell phone camera was discovered in the women’s bathroom at a Chipotle restaurant. An employee found the camera on Friday, but Read More

School’s tough new dress code makes first exemption

Sat, 04 Sep 2010 12:14:00 +0000

If you want to wear a short skirt at this school then you'd better be a cheerleader. Seminole County schools' tough new student dress code designed to make students look more "professional" already has its first exception: Cheerleaders will be allowed to wear short uniform skirts to class on game days, as has been tradition, reports the Orlando Sentinel. While some complain it is unfair, district officials have decided that the ban on short skirts on girls does not apply to cheerleaders. The decision came after high school principals huddled at the start of football season and agreed to give cheerleaders an exemption to the new rules, which say "dresses, skirts and shorts must be at least mid-thigh or below in length" and nixes clothing that is "sexually suggestive." The rules also ban "garments that are distracting" – and spirit-building distraction is the intent of having the cheer squad wear outfits to school on game days. "It is tradition that they wear their uniforms on game day, like the football players wear their uniform shirts," said district spokeswoman Regina Klaers, a former cheerleader at Seminole High. Klaers said the mother of a Lake Brantley High girl who was sent home for wearing a short skirt complained that cheerleaders were getting privileged treatment. But Klaers said the new dress code provides that principals make final decisions on what apparel meets the rules. The School Board wrestled for a year over tougher dress standards for students, saying sharper dress would set an atmosphere for higher student achievement. School Board Chairman Sandy Robinson said she was striving for a "professional look," but the final code fell short in many aspects, including allowing students to wear flip-flops on their feet. Klaers said she was uncertain whether other exemptions to the code would be made, but anticipated some. For example, she said, schools sometimes have a "pajama day" to build school spirit. Pajamas are specifically banned as every day wear. Other items such as chains linking pierced noses to pierced ears also are banned, as are dog collars worn as jewelry and T-shirts that promote sex, drugs, alcohol, tobacco or violence. Photo: Seminole High cheerleaders work the crowd before kickoff at a football game against DeLand in October. (Jacob Langston/Orlando Sentinel) More FloriDUH