Oil exploration firms are crossing paths trying to get permits to drill test wells in the greater Florida Everglades watershed, despite accusations that one of the firms, Burnett Oil Co., has left behind miles of scars in the environmentally-sensitive land during previous efforts. Trend Exploration of North Fort Myers, another firm that wants to drill for oil in Collier County, is challenging a November decision by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to deny it a permit the company sought to drill an exploratory well to seek oil reserves. Florida Division of Administrative Hearings Judge Francine Ffolkes is scheduled to hear Trend Exploration’s appeal.
The owners of the Orlando Slingshot ride at ICON Park have requested a formal administrative hearing to appeal a proposed $250,000 fine from the state following its investigation into 14-year-old Tyre Sampson's fall death in June.
Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony hadn’t withheld vital information from law enforcement forms that would have revealed he was involved in a fatal shooting when he was a teenager, his attorney argued to a state ethics commission. The commission found probable cause to pursue an ethics case against the sheriff anyway, for the second time in recent months.