Local vet fighting to get treatment from exposure to toxic burn pits

Earlier this year, the government declassified documents that found servicemen at an Uzbekistan air base were exposed to toxins from smoking pits. However, the Veterans Affairs refuses to cover vets who developed cancer that were deployed in the area. 

• Now a Port Richey veteran is fighting for the VA’s office to pay medical costs for those who were exposed to toxic smoke from burning pits. 

A U.S. Congressman has even weighed into the fight saying, “It is disappointing to see the VA take such a misguided position on this important issue.”

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Ocala man who tried to blow up child welfare office sentenced

Last November, Tommy Lee Holt was accused of attempting to set a child welfare office on fire with a Molotov cocktail. 

• A federal court sentenced him to four years and seven months in prison. 

• Witnesses say Holt showed up to the welfare center and lit the cocktail, but accidentally dropped it as he tried to throw it at the building.

Holt had a history with the welfare office as he has five children who have all been placed into the foster care system.

$5 million allocated to restoring Florida’s coastal reef

The National Coast Resilience Fund just donated $5 million to help restore the Eastern Dry Rocks reef in the Key West.

• Last year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced a plan to revive Florida’s vast coastal reef, which has been slowly degrading over the years.

• The money will go towards planting more than 60,000 corals as well as hiring local companies to remove harmful debris. 

This is one of the largest federal projects to restore our nation’s reefs.

Florida Rapper charged with double murder

Billy Bennet Adams, a popular local rapper who goes by Ace NH, has been charged with fatally shooting two men in a recording studio.

• According to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, Ace NH had been recording music at a studio when he shot the two men.

• The Sheriff also said that Ace NH and one of the victims both identify as members of the Crips gang.

The rapper is being held without bail.

Gasparilla Parade rescheduled for April

Tampa’s Gasparilla Pirate Parade has been postponed until Spring of next year due to concerns over the coronavirus pandemic. 

• The festival, which attracts more than hundreds of thousands of attendees, was originally delayed until January 2021. 

• The decision to push the event to April came after over 50,000 cases of the illness were reported throughout the state last week.

Mardi Gras parades were similarly cancelled in New Orleans.