Osceola school bell will ring on Aug. 10
Osceola County’s public school students will return to classes on Aug. 10 next year, as their school district takes advantage of a new state law that allows an earlier school year start. The Osceola County School Board approved a new calendar Tuesday that starts classes on Aug. 10 and wraps up the first semester before Christmas. The Orange County school districts will start a few days later on Aug. 15 but also earlier than in recent years. And it also plans to end the first semester before students take off for winter break. Neither the Lake County nor the Seminole County school districts have finalized plans but both are looking at similar 2016-17 calendars. The Legislature this year approved a law that rolled back a 2006 measure that prevented schools from starting any earlier than two weeks before Labor Day.
Leslie Postal
FBI offers help in ZombiCon shootings
FORT MYERS — The Federal Bureau of Investigation has offered to help Fort Myers police solve a shooting at a zombiethemed street festival that killed one and injured five others. FBI special agent Dave Couvertier said in an email that the Fort Myers Police Department is taking the lead on the investigation but that the bureau will “support them with investigative resources as deemed appropriate.” Police are searching for a man who they believe fired a semi-automatic handgun late Saturday night during the annual ZombiCon event in downtown Fort Myers. One of the victims, 20-year-old Expavious Tyrell Taylor, died at the scene.
Associated Press
Fugitive mother arrested in Osceola
A Minnesota woman accused of hiding her two teenage daughters from their custodial father has been arrested in Central Florida. Gianna and Samantha Rucki disappeared from Lakeville, a Minneapolis suburb, in April 2013 and have not been found. They are 15 and 17 years old. Sandra Grazzini-Rucki maintains she does not know where the girls are. The mother is charged in Dakota County — part of metro Minneapolis-St. Paul —with three counts of felony deprivation of parental rights. The parents were involved in a bitter divorce and custody battle when the girls disappeared. Grazzini-Rucki has accused the father, David Rucki, of abusing her and the girls. A judge granted custody to the father, who denies the accusations. Grazzini-Rucki was arrested Sunday in Kissimmee, where she was staying with a friend.
Associated Press
Deputies: 2 men shot in drive-by attack
Two men were shot in a driveby shooting Tuesday night in east Orange County, deputies said. A group of five or six men were standing in front of a house on Pine Fork Drive around 8:40 p.m. when a white sedan drove up and the occupants inside started shooting, according to deputies. The two victims arrived at Florida Hospital East. One was listed in critical condition while a second suffered non-life threatening injuries, according to deputies. Both men were in their 20s. Deputies do not have a motive or any further suspect information. The neighborhood is off Goldenrod Road near Curry Ford Road. Anyone with information should call Crimeline at 1-800-423-8477.
David Harris