6 Things to Know in Florida for December 27

BOBBY BOWDEN'S GRANDSON KILLED IN CRASH
 
Authorities say former Florida State football coach Bobby Bowden's grandson was one of two men killed when their car flipped into a small ditch off a central Florida road. The Polk County Sheriff's Office says in a news release that 23-year-old Taylor Jeffrey Bowden and 25-year-old Rafael Fernandes De Aguiar Valim, who had been driving, both died in the Thursday crash in Winter Haven. A third man was rescued.
 
STATE GEOLOGISTS MAPPING FLORIDA SINKHOLES
 
State geologists already have been to 30 sites and mapped about 50 sinkholes as they begin to plumb the depth of the state's vulnerability to ground collapse. Florida received a $1.08 million federal grant for a three-year statewide study, starting last month with a pilot study in Columbia, Hamilton and Suwannee counties.
 
MIAMI ACTIVISTS HOLD VIGIL IN HONOR OF HOMELESS
 
Miami area activists are joining in a national vigil to remember the homeless who died in 2013. Friday's noon vigil at government center is one of more than 150 planned around the country. The events are organized by the National Coalition for the Homeless and other nonprofits to bring attention to those whose lives often end anonymously.
 
FORMER POLICE CAPTAIN GETS LIFE FOR MURDER
 
A former Bradenton police captain has been sentenced to life in prison for killing his wife. A Manatee County judge sentenced 69-year-old Thomas Fleming on Thursday. He was convicted earlier this month of second-degree murder with a firearm. Authorities say Fleming shot his wife Claire at their Bradenton home in October 2012.
 
TEEN ACCUSED IN MOTHER'S FATAL STABBING TO BE TRIED AS ADULT
 
A 17-year-old Panhandle teen will be tried as an adult in the fatal stabbing of his mother on Christmas Eve at her Gulf Breeze house. The state attorney says the teen will be transferred from juvenile to adult custody Thursday.

5 ARRESTED AFTER CHRISTMAS MELEE AT MOVIE THEATER

A Christmas night brawl at a Jacksonville movie theater ended with five arrests. The Florida Times-Union reports the disturbance began around 8:30 p.m. Wednesday after a group of teens and young adults rushed an off-duty female police officer at the entrance to the Hollywood River City 14 theater.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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