Nikki Gaskins

JC La Verde was seriously injured in an alligator attack while swimming in Lake Thonotosassa on Aug. 3. The attack was captured on video.
HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FL — A Florida man is recovering from serious injuries sustained in a recent alligator attack.
JC La Verde of Tampa suffered bite severe wounds to his head, face and chest while shooting an instructional video in Lake Thonotosassa on Aug. 3 for his company, DefeatX, according to his family.
"All I felt was scales, teeth and then right t...

Despite facing criminal charges and a trial in September, Baltimore prosecutor Marilyn Mosby officially launched her re-election campaign.
BALTIMORE, MD — Despite facing criminal charges and a trial in September, Baltimore's top prosecutor officially launched her re-election campaign Tuesday.
After vanishing from social media for several months, Marilyn Mosby returned to announce plans to seek a third term as Baltimore city state's attorney.
"Over the past few years, we have seen both good an...

Gov. Ron DeSantis says Disney has "crossed the line" as several groups file a lawsuit to challenge the "Don't Say Gay" law aimed at schools.
ORLANDO, FL — After Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed HB 1557 — commonly called the "Don't Say Gay" bill — into law Monday, Walt Disney Co. wasted no time issuing its strongest response yet opposing it.
According to the entertainment company, the bill should have never passed, and Disney now vows to help repeal it.
The controversial Parental Rights in Edu...

Florida deputies said the toddler told them that Amber Chapman, 35, put him in a dryer, closed the door, and he "went round and round."
LAKE COUNTY, FL — A Florida woman is accused of putting a 4-year-old toddler in a dryer filled with towels, closing the door and turning on the machine.
Amber Christine Chapman, 35, of Eustis has been charged with felony aggravated child abuse.
Deputies said Chapman babysat for the toddler often while his parents worked.
According to an arrest affidavit, on F...

In an email to Patch, Maryland's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner confirmed that David Riston, 49, died of "snake envenomation."
MARYLAND — Maryland's top medical examiner officially confirmed Wednesday the cause of death of a man found dead inside his home earlier this year with more than 100 snakes.
In an email to Patch, Maryland's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said that David Riston, 49, died of "snake envenomation," which is the exposure to a poison or toxin resulting from a bi...

Gov. Brian Kemp on Tuesday signed a law that allows Georgians to carry handguns without a license.
ATLANTA, GA — Gov. Brian Kemp on Tuesday afternoon signed a law that allows Georgians to carry handguns without a license.
Senate Bill 319, commonly called the Georgia Constitutional Carry Act, became law in a signing ceremony held at Gable's Sporting Goods in Douglasville. Kemp said he chose that location because it was where he bought one of his daughter's first handguns.
Supporters, including...

BERKELEY COUNTY, S.C. – At 83-years-old, not a whole lot surprises Rudolph “Hoot” Gibson of Moncks Corner. However, that all changed when he took a simple at-home DNA test last year from 23andMe and got the shock of a lifetime: he had a 56-year-old biological son named Zane Stokes living in Maryland.
“I can’t explain the feeling that I had, but it was absolutely the thing that came into my life that I never expected,” Gibson, a U.S. Navy veteran and retired trooper with the South Carolina Hig...

David Bennett died two months after receiving the first pig heart transplant. The hospital confirms the heart had a porcine virus.
BALTIMORE, MD — The genetically modified heart transplanted into a Maryland man earlier this year was infected with a porcine virus, the University of Maryland Medical Center confirmed to Patch.
As a result, transplant specialists said it may have played a contributing factor in the death of David Bennett, the patient who received the world's first pig heart trans...

The North Georgia Conference voted to let 70 churches disaffiliate from the United Methodist Church over its stance on LGBTQ inclusivity.
GEORGIA — Seventy Georgia churches have been given the green light to disaffiliate from the United Methodist Church over its stance on LGBTQ inclusivity — pitting conservative churches against more progressive ones.
Leaders of the 2022 North Georgia Annual Conference in Athens ratified the disaffiliation agreements Thursday. This means that on June 30, 2022...

The bodies of the Florida couple were found in a wooded area in Houston, TX in 1981. Their infant daughter had been taken, authorities said.
FLORIDA — A cold case involving the mysterious death of a Florida couple and the disappearance of their infant daughter has had a major breakthrough.
According to a news release from the Texas Attorney General's Office, the couple's infant daughter, "Baby Holly," has been located more than 40 years after she went missing and is alive.
Authorities said Ti...

Xichen Yang, 21, said he was upset that his wife burned his passport and admitted to killing her, according to police in Florida.
ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, FL — Police said a Florida man stabbed his wife, put on her favorite music and held her hand as she died.
Xichen Yang, 21, was charged with first-degree murder and tampering with evidence, jail records showed. He remains behind bars at the Seminole County detention center.
Police said Yang admitted to killing his wife, Nhu Quynh Pham, whom police...

Andrew Gillum, the former Democratic opponent of Gov. Ron DeSantis, has been charged with conspiracy, wire fraud and making false statements
FLORIDA — Andrew Gillum, the former Tallahassee mayor and 2018 Democratic nominee for Florida governor, is facing 21 federal charges related to a scheme to seek donations and funnel a portion of them back to him through third parties, the Department of Justice announced Wednesday.
The 42 year old's charges include conspiracy, wire fraud and making false ...

Gov. Larry Hogan said Dan Cox's win during last Tuesday's primary will cost his party the governor's seat during the general election.
MARYLAND — Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan says he won't support Dan Cox in the November general election for governor.
Cox, endorsed by former President Donald Trump, won the Republican primary for governor last Tuesday. Hogan had endorsed Kelly Schulz for governor, who was a cabinet secretary in Hogan's administration.
Hogan called Cox's win a blow to Maryland's R...

Florida voters would choose Gov. Ron DeSantis and former President Donald Trump over Joe Biden for president in 2024, a new poll finds.
FLORIDA — If the presidential election were held again in the Sunshine State, Joe Biden would lose, according to a new poll.
Instead, more than half of Florida voters would choose Gov. Ron DeSantis for president in 2024, if he were the Republican nominee, over President Biden, a new Suffolk University/USA TODAY network poll found.
The poll surveyed 500 Florid...

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — The New York City Police Department is currently on the lookout for two men caught on camera engaging in a gun battle that turned part of an Upper West Side street into a scene right out of a cowboy western.
Video released by the NYPD shows the two men — both between 18 and 22 years old — blasting bullets at one another in the middle of the day Tuesday.
According to police, the gun battle broke out around 2:20 p.m. in front of 210 W. 103rd St. In the video, one of the sh...