Top Stories
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Action News Investigates: No recall after multiple reports of dishwasher fires
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Fowler family knows they got lucky the night their dishwasher caught fire. "We're very grateful we were here to witness it," says Doug Fowler. If they weren't there, their home could have burned to the ground. The Fowlers later learned that the electronic control panel in their Whirlpool Kenmore dishwasher had overheated. Action News has learned
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Pill abuse is tearing up families in Clay County
GREEN COVE SPRINGS, Fla. -- It’s the dirty little secret that's getting to be too big for even the experts to handle. "We really have ourselves a challenge right now. If it gets worse I may not have the beds to be able to do it,” said David Abramowitz, Northeast Regional Director for the Florida Department of Children and Families.
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DCF probes relationship between local teacher & student
NEPTUNE BEACH, Fla. -- The Florida Department of Children and Families is investigating the relationship between a local male student and a female teacher. According to DCF, "inappropriate communications," allegedly occured between a teacher at Beaches Chapel School in Neptune Beach and one of her students. A teenager who attends the school tells Action News the teacher had some sort of inappropriate communication with a student.
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Hundreds of new jobs coming to Jacksonville
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Jacksonville just got a huge jolt. Wednesday, Mayor Alvin Brown announced 200 jobs are available and up for grabs. "The average salary is going to be from 40 to 60 thousand dollars a year," he said. Florida Blue will be providing the jobs via it's subsidiary Novitas Solutions. According to Mayor Brown, more than 38,000 people are
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Drivers unaware of past parking tickets
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A number of River City drivers got a surprise in the mail recently; a collection company coming after them for a parking ticket they didn't know about. “It came as a big shock.” Dave Tillis is downtown daily and with parking meters posted every few feet, he rarely forgets to feed the machine. But that's not the case
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911 tape: Confusion at home where mom shot kids
PORT ST. JOHN, Fla. (AP) - The neighbors of a Florida woman who fatally shot her four children before committing suicide were confused initially about who had been shot when they opened their front door in the middle of the night to find three of the kids outside. A 911 call released Wednesday shows that the neighbors weren't sure if
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Marissa Alexander's husband speaks out
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Rico Gray says he and Marissa Alexander had only been married two and a half months before that August 2010 night when she fired a gun at him and his two young sons. He says he and Marissa had been fighting over text messages on her phone. He says he wanted to call off their marriage, when
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Man shot in head
PALM COAST, Fla. -- Deputies in Flagler County are investigating a possible shooting of a man who initially claimed a filing cabinet fell on his head. The victim showed up at a fire station on Palm Coast Parkway with a wound to his head. Investigators found a letter in the man's car that led them to believe that he was
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Watching for possible storm development
JACKSONVILLE, Fla -- The large area of rain and storms that moved across especially Northeast Florida earlier today is moving east into the Atlantic. The First Alert Weather Center is now watching for new storm development into this evening. Since Southeast Georgia has had the most sun today, temperatures have warmed well into the 80s making for an unstable atmosphere.
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FBI raiding local college
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Federal Bureau of Investigation is executing a search warrant on FastTrain College. The FBI is not giving many details about the raid, but a spokesperson does say the Bureau is executing the search warrant as part of a joint investigation between the FBI and the U.S. Department of Education. FastTrain College's website says the school has
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Man gets 55 years in home invasion attack
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- It's difficult to imagine that anybody could harm a helpless 79-year-old woman, but in January 2010, now 81-year-old, Kathleen Jones was beaten, tied up and robbed by burglar Kenneth Sumpter. Today, Jones feels justice has finally been served as her attacker was sentenced to a minimum of 50 years in prison. He has no chance of release
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New pretrial dates set for Cristian Fernandez
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Cristian Fernandez was not in court this morning as a judge presided over a pretrial hearing for Jacksonville's youngest murder suspect. Fernandez is charged with the murder of his younger brother. He also faces sex battery charges. The judge set Fernandez's next hearings for May 30 and May 31.
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Just Rain So Far...Storms to Follow?
JACKSONVILLE, Fla -- Gray skies, rainy conditions across the Jacksonville Metro Area so far on this Wednesday. It's been a well-needed soaker across parts of Northeast Florida, especially inland. The most significant weather has been in southern St. Johns County, Putnam County, and Flagler County. Thunderstorms moved across Palatka, Marineland, Espanola, Dupont Center, Crescent Beach, Palm Coast, and Bunnel around
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Police looking for woman stealing wallets from the elderly
FLEMING ISLAND, Fla. -- Police are looking for a woman who is following elderly shoppers in grocery stores and stealing their wallets from their carts. On April 28, 2012, a woman called police in reference to a stolen wallet. Viki Pourciau said that she was doing her weekly shopping at the Fleming Island Publix at 5000 Highway 17. Prior to
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US lowers cutoff for lead poisoning in young kids
ATLANTA (AP) — For the first time in 20 years, U.S. health officials have lowered the threshold for lead poisoning in young children. The change means many more children could be diagnosed with high levels of lead in their blood. Too much lead is harmful to developing brains and can mean a lower IQ. Recent research persuaded government officials that
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11 students affected by rash at high school
HOLLYWOOD, Fla. (AP) — Eleven students and a teacher at a South Florida high school are being transported to local hospitals after coming down with a rash while in class. Broward County Public Schools officials say the students were all in the same classroom at McArthur High School in Hollywood on Tuesday morning when they started complaining about an itching
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Mother kills 4 children, herself
PORT ST. JOHN, Fla. -- Signs are sprinkled throughout Port St. John, a community in shock, mourning the loss of four kids. Joel, Jazzlyn, Jaxs and Pebbles Johnson were shot to death by their mother, Tanya Thomas, who then took her own life. "Most of my teachers were crying and I have never seen a teacher cry before," one student
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Why do Florida Reps. refuse to pay more than $8 a month for health insurance?
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Eight bucks. These days it can't even buy you a movie ticket, let alone something substantial. But that's because you're not one of the 120 members of the Florida House of Representatives, the last "state employees" still paying $8.34 a month for health insurance. For a whopping $30, they get health insurance for their entire family. Action
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Records detail George Zimmerman's medical injuries
MIAMI (AP) - Court records show George Zimmerman had a pair of black eyes, a nose fracture and two cuts to the back of his head after the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. The medical records were part of evidence released Tuesday that prosecutors have in the second-degree murder case against Zimmerman. He has entered a plea of not
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Crews try to stop AZ blaze from crossing fire line
CROWN KING, Ariz. (AP) - Firefighters have been working to prevent a wildfire near the historic mining town of Crown King from spreading to an area where it could quickly grow. Fire incident spokeswoman Loretta Benavidez said Tuesday night that authorities are worried that flames from the Gladiator Fire will get past a fire line that's about a mile
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Thief caught on camera stealing donation jar
ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. -- Police say a man stole a donation jar full of money meant to help a critically injured boy. "It's a scumbag that came in, saw the generosity of the community and stole from it," says Brandon Beardsley, a father who donated money. Surveillance video shows the man taking the jar from the Outback Crab Shack. The
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Traffic moving again after accident takes out power pole
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- South Lane Avenue has reopened after an SUV crashed into a power pole early this morning. Police originally said the road would be closed until about 7 a.m., but traffic is moving around that power pole right now. Action News has a crew monitoring the situation on the scene and will bring you the very latest as
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Another afternoon of storms
JACKSONVILLE, Fla -- Intense thunderstorms will move across much of Northeast Florida and Southeast Georgia this afternoon and will produce blinding rain and frequent lightning. A few storms will also be capable of hail and strong, even damaging winds. Storm cells will move northeast near 20 mph. Expect some ponding of water and minor flooding on streets and highways resulting
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3-month-old rushed to the hospital
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A 3-month-old is in the hospital fighting for her life. Police tell Action News the little girl was found unresponsive in an apartment at Hollybrook Homes on the Westside around 6:30 Tuesday night. Police say she was with her dad, but they are still investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident to make sure there was no foul play. The child
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Local woman wins dinner with President Obama and George Clooney
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- As a former Jaguars cheerleader, Karen Blutcher is used to the big stage. What she wasn't expecting was a phone call telling her she'd been selected to eat dinner with President Barack Obama. "After I picked myself off the floor, I ran and told my husband. It was just unbelievable to think that $14 got me a
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Debt ceiling debate
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Obama will meet with the heads of both parties Wednesday to push for a series of bills he says will create jobs and build a stronger economy. Obama will discuss eliminating tax breaks for companies that send jobs overseas, giving tax breaks to small businesses hiring U.S. workers, extending tax breaks for clean energy companies and job
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JEA votes to lower electric rate
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Mary Killings has lived in her historic Springfield home for more than 40 years. With an older property, she's watched her electric bill climb through the roof. "I approximately started with about a $50 bill maybe, but now I'm having between two and 300 bill," she said. After a quick stroll around Killings house we could see her
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Funeral set for unarmed man killed by police
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Funeral services are set for an unarmed man shot and killed by police last week. Davinian D. Williams will be laid to rest at the Titus Harvest Dome Spectrum Church on Atlantic Boulevard this Saturday. Services begin at 11 a.m. Police say Williams sped away from an officer who tried to pull him over for a traffic
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Mayor's pension problem
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- If he said it once on the campaign trail, he said it 1000 times. Mayor Alvin Brown vowed not to take a pension. But Action News has learned the mayor has been collecting city money since taking office in July of 2011. Mayor Brown wasn't available for an interview on the issue. But his administration issued a statement early
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Scandal in St. Augustine Beach
ST. AUGUSTINE BEACH, Fla. -- There was standing room only inside the St. Augustine Beach City Commission meeting Tuesday afternoon. Friends and neighbors watched as the Commission made three important decisions regarding Police Chief Richard Hedges and Assistant Chief Daniel Decoursey. First, the FDLE will investigate the police department. Second, Chief Hedges is on paid administrative leave during that investigation. And