New Florida advert Stricklin embraces project of following Foley

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) Born and raised in Mississippi, and with stops at Auburn and Kentucky on his resume, Scott Stricklin has spent more than two decades in the Southeastern convention.

He is aware of the league inner and out, and has witnessed pretty lots everything during his career. So he is aware the daunting task of following Jeremy Foley. He also welcomes the opportunity.

Florida hired Stricklin as its athletic director Tuesday, giving him a six-yr deal price $1.076 million yearly to be triumphant Foley. Stricklin is leaving his alma mater, Mississippi State, and taking over a enormous amenities improve in Gainesville. The bigger challenge just might be changing Foley, one of the vital a success faculty activities leaders within the nation.

''i admire so much what has took place here,'' Stricklin said. ''So it changed into a lot more exhilaration than it turned into trepidation. it's a lot more suitable commencing from a place of a spot it is aware of success, is aware of the way to exhibit that success, have the appropriate americans in location. ... i'm going to advantage from all the work he's carried out. So I see it as nothing but a good.''

Foley had been scheduled to retire Saturday after 40 years with the Gators, together with the remaining 25 as athletic director. right through Foley's tenure, the Gators gained 27 country wide championships in 10 sports and 130 SEC titles. He now will continue to be in place unless Nov. 1, creating a little added transition time.

Foley has the choice of serving as emeritus ad and senior adviser to the college president for 5 years after his retirement, both full or part time. He can also decide to be an adviser to Stricklin.

''i may be very respectful,'' Foley stated. ''i'm not trying to be the ad in the back of the curtain. ... he's not going to fail. everybody are going to do everything we will to make him now not fail, and i'm going to do my half in that. i could appreciate him, admire the decision he is made and i want to do all i can to aid him. it really is going to investigate the place he needs me.''

Stricklin has been the Bulldogs' advert considering 2010. He has a heritage in fundraising, so as to serve him well at Florida.

Foley unveiled plans two weeks ago to spend $100 million to convey Florida's athletics application up to date, together with building a one hundred,000-rectangular-foot, stand-alone soccer facility.

Stricklin spearheaded more than $a hundred and forty million in facility advancements all through his time at Mississippi State. He also oversaw colossal increases in booster membership membership and donations.

Florida first contacted Stricklin concerning the opening in June. They talked on and off for a couple of months earlier than negotiations heated up in August. The sides agreed to the deal closing week, and it grew to be legit when the school Athletic association's board of trustees unanimously accepted the employ Tuesday.

For Stricklin, the determination changed into a no brainer. He noted many times that Florida is the handiest job he would have left Mississippi State to take.

''The best consistent in existence is change,'' Stricklin mentioned. ''So we've two choices, right? we can either sit down again, sort of let every little thing circulation round us, or we will keep pushing forward and making certain Florida maintains its place as the pre-eminent athletic branch within the nation.

''To do that, we should be innovative. We need to be artistic. We should be progressive. We should proceed to push the envelope in the entire appropriate ways to make sure Florida maintains its advantage that or not it's had for thus many years.''

Florida has developed a acceptance as a strong tutorial establishment and has a successful culture few faculties can match. Stricklin can earn up to $200,000 a 12 months in performance bonuses tied to academic and athletic success.

''it be the surest job in college athletics,'' spoke of Stricklin, who additionally hung out at Tulane and Baylor.

it be certainly within the dialog. The Gators have gained the SEC's All-activities Trophy 24 of the final 25 years.

Stricklin's wife and two daughters, Abby and Sophie, joined him at the introductory news conference. One was born in Waco, Texas; the other in Lexington, Kentucky. they have moved with their father and switched allegiances a couple of instances already. now not quite then, they gave the impression comfortable decked out in orange and blue.

''You finally bought the optimal colors within the SEC,'' Foley advised them.

---

AP school soccer website: www.collegefootball.ap.org

Amber signals canceled for children taken via mother from Florida home, little ones found safe

update: The amber alert has been canceled and the toddlers had been discovered protected with the suspects, their fogeys, in Georgia.

An amber alert has been issued for 2 toddlers in Florida, NBC Miami mentioned.

The alert was issued Saturday for 1-yr-historic Mason Williams and three-12 months-old Rylan Williams, who officers stated have been taken through their homeless mother from the home of their legal guardian in Citrus County.

Stacey Williams, 38, reportedly referred to as the children' legal guardian previous in the day asking for permission to discuss with, however the guardian denied her request. Williams then entered the Lecanto domestic of the toddlers's guardian took the toddlers.

The suspect then smashed the guardian's cell and assaulted her, the station suggested.

officers accept as true with the toddlers may be en path to Ohio or West Virginia.

Ryan Williams, the little ones' 29-yr-historic father, may additionally even be with the group.

Mason turned into last seen donning an orange shirt and a diaper. he is described as two toes tall, weighing 20 pounds with blond hair and blue eyes. 

Rylan was wearing a purple costume with out a shoes. She is three feet tall and forty kilos, with blond hair and blue eyes.

Williams changed into reportedly using a white Ford excursion with Florida tag quantity DNSC62.

any individual with tips on the whereabouts of either the toddlers or their folks may still call the Florida branch of law Enforcement or the Citrus County Sheriff's workplace at 352-726-1121.

Homebuilder Lennar to buy WCI in $643 million deal to expand in Florida

(Reuters) - Lennar Corp <LEN.N>, the No. 2 U.S. homebuilder, stated it will purchase WCI Communities Inc <WCIC.N>, which makes luxury buildings, in a $643 million-deal so that it will combine two of the greatest homebuilders in Florida.

Lennar's offer of $23.50 per share – half in money and half in stock – represents a top rate of about 37 p.c to WCI's Wednesday shut. WCI shares rose to $23.50 premarket on Thursday.

Lennar, which mainly caters to buyers trying to find a second domestic, whereas WCI calls itself a lifestyle neighborhood developer and builds single-household and multi-family unit luxurious buildings, including luxurious excessive-upward push towers.

"WCI's land portfolio dovetails completely with our personal Florida footprint and expands our product providing to catch more of the circulate-up market," Lennar Chief executive Stuart Miller mentioned in an announcement.

The transaction, which might be in the form of a merger between WCI and a newly shaped Lennar unit, gives WCI an commercial enterprise price of $809 million, Lennar spoke of.

WCI stated the merger settlement gave it 35 days to shop for a far better offer.

Lennar pointed out it had the alternative of expanding the cash portion of the offer, including paying the full volume in money.

WCI's fiscal advisers are credit score Suisse and Citigroup world Markets Inc and its legal advisers are Latham &amp; Watkins LLP.

Lennar's legal adviser is Goodwin Procter LLP and Gibson Dunn &amp; Crutcher LLP is its special tax information.

(Reporting via Arunima Banerjee in Bengaluru; enhancing by means of Savio D'Souza)

Tags: Housing/building

Police in Florida haven't any approach to investigate proof of assurance at crash web page

can you believe some people supply fake insurance cards when there's an accident? It leaves innocent crash victims to undergo each bodily and financially. The I crew exposes a loophole in the equipment that leaves police in Florida powerless to detec

WFTS

Police cannot become aware of fake insurance cards on scene.

WFTS

Copyright 2016 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This cloth may additionally no longer be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

assurance Regulators Approve Most citizens rate Hikes

State regulators have authorised fee hikes for the residents property assurance business.  The state-backed insurer will enhance premiums in line with water loss claims.

Florida's insurer of remaining lodge is busy satisfying claims involving storm Hermine—the first time it has crucial to respond to a storm in more than a decade.  however at its fee listening to last month citizens President Barry Gilway explained even with no storm, water claims are driving charges better.

"due to the fact 2013, non-climate water claims have risen sharply—affecting each inner most insurers and citizens," Gilway complained.

at the equal hearing office of assurance regulation chief David Altmaier mentioned his workplace might alter citizens' rate requests.

"We definitely have some actuaries on the way to go through their evaluation and look at the numbers and the signs," Altmaier defined.  "Actuaries advance ranges for costs and we look at what their indication is and we analyze that compared to our degrees we may additionally make some changes."

within the conclusion, OIR authorized rate hikes for each coverage line but one.  Regulators gave citizens a 6.four % raise for multi-peril domestic guidelines.  citizens requested a 6.9 p.c bump.

Florida: 'life-threatening' typhoon Hermine moves nearer

by JOSH REPLOGLEAssociated Press

CARRABELLE, Fla. (AP) - storm Hermine roared ever nearer to Florida's Gulf Coast early Friday, sending battering waves against docks and boathouses because the state braced for its first direct hit from a typhoon in over a decade.

The country wide hurricane center mentioned the storm's good sustained winds clocked eighty mph (a hundred thirty kph) as of midnight with Hermine bearing down on northwest Florida. Forecasters said they anticipated Hermine's eye would come ashore inside hours.

Hermine's landfall changed into anticipated early Friday within the big Bend area - the on the whole rural and calmly populated nook the place the Florida peninsula meets the Panhandle - then drop returned down to a tropical storm and push into Georgia, the Carolinas and up the East Coast with the abilities for drenching rain and lethal flooding.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott warned of the dangers of robust storm surge, high winds, downed bushes and vigor outages, and had urged individuals right through the day to circulation to inland shelters if imperative and make sure that they had satisfactory meals, water and medication.

"here is a lifestyles-threatening circumstance," Scott talked about on Thursday as the storm approached. "it's going to be loads of risk. presently, I need every person to be safe."

Courtney Chason, a longtime resident of Carrabelle within the huge Bend coastal area, warily watched as huge waves started bashing some docks and boathouses, the angry surf flowing correct over them. Water also crashed into yards closest to the shore.

"I've certainly not considered it this excessive, it be pretty damn loopy," Chason mentioned. "i hope it doesn't get any larger; we need loads of prayers."

Hermine also despatched heavy squalls with its outer bands over Gulf coast seashores in other places.

by means of Thursday evening, the normally extensive, sugar-sand seaside on Florida's Treasure Island become wholly coated in water. Palm bushes whipped within the wind. regional, individuals stood gawking on the abnormally big waves and took selfies forward of the storm.

The metropolis of St. Petersburg changed into littered with downed palm fronds and tree branches, and low-lying streets have been flooded.

In north Florida, some 32,000 clients were suggested devoid of vigour in a single day in Tallahassee, the capital metropolis about 35 miles from the coast. The metropolis govt site tweeted that crews would fix work after the winds subsided. Blustery winds have been already rocking timber in Tallahassee earlier than morning time.

Scott said that 6,000 country wide Guardsmen in Florida are ready to mobilize after the storm passes. The governors of Georgia and North Carolina declared states of emergency.

at midnight, the category 1 hurricane become situated about 35 miles (60 kilometers) west of Keaton beach, Florida, while moving north-northeast at about 14 mph (22 kph).

Projected rainfall ranged as much as 10 inches in parts of northern Florida and southern Georgia, with 4 to 10 inches feasible along the coasts of Georgia and the Carolinas with the aid of Sunday. Lesser amounts had been forecast farther up the Atlantic Coast, because the storm turned into expected to veer out to sea.

Florida's governor ordered many state government places of work to close at noon, including those in the Tallahassee, home to tens of thousands of state personnel. The metropolis has now not had an immediate hit from a hurricane in 30 years.

The ultimate hurricane to strike Florida become Wilma, a powerful class 3 storm that arrived on Oct. 24, 2005. It swept across the Everglades and struck closely populated south Florida, inflicting five deaths in the state and an estimated $23 billion in hurt.

Residents on some islands and different low-lying, flood-prone areas in Florida were advised to filter past Thursday.

Flooding become expected across a large swath of the huge Bend, which has a marshy coastline and is made of mainly rural communities and small cities, where fishing, looking and camping are mainstays of lifestyles.

On Thursday, residents were out in drive preparing for the storm, and shops started operating low on bottled water and flashlights. metropolis crews struggled to sustain with demand for sand for filling sandbags.

On Cedar Key, a small island along the big Bend, about a dozen people went from storefront to storefront, inserting up shutters and nailing pieces of plywood to give protection to agencies from the wind.

one in all them, Joe Allen, spray-painted on plywood in tremendous black letters: "deliver it on, Hermine." regardless of the bravado, he observed, "i'm worried. which you can on no account totally guard yourself from nature."

Chris Greaves and family members stopped in Tallahassee to select up sandbags for his garage and the church they attend. Greaves stated he lived in South Florida when typhoon Andrew devastated the area in 1992. whereas he stated he does not are expecting the equal form of widespread hurt, he warned that tropical climate is "nothing to clutter with."

___

associated Press writers Freida Frisaro and Curt Anderson in Miami; Jason Dearen in Perry, Florida; Gary Fineout in Tallahassee, Florida; Jeff Martin in Atlanta; and Bruce Smith, in Charleston, South Carolina, contributed to this report.

Copyright 2016 The associated Press. All rights reserved. This cloth may also no longer be posted, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Florida braces for 'lifestyles-threatening' hurricane Hermine

[unable to retrieve full-text content]It may rip siding off my residence." Florida's governor ordered many state govt offices to shut at noon, together with these within the state capital of Tallahassee, domestic to tens of lots of state personnel. The city, roughly 35 miles from the coast ...

The latest: Winds shut Florida's Sunshine Skyway Bridge

[unable to retrieve full-text content]10 a.m. Florida Gov. Rick Scott is ordering state govt offices ... The order included the state capital Tallahassee and home to tens of lots of state workers. The metropolis, which is located roughly 35 miles from the coast, has no longer had an instantaneous ...

Hermine strengthens to hurricane, set to strike Florida

Doyle Rice, united states of america these days , KING 12:20 PM. PDT September 01, 2016

"I even have four duplex garages I deserve to cowl." says landlord Tim O'Rourke as he hundreds his automobile with sandbags from the Lawrence-Gregory community core in Tallahassee on Wednesday Aug. 31, 2016. (image: Alvin McBean, Tallahassee Democrat)

Hermine reached hurricane power Thursday afternoon because it barreled towards the Gulf Coast of Florida, where or not it's anticipated to make landfall via early Friday.

If it continues typhoon power, it might be the state's first hit from a hurricane for the reason that Wilma on Oct. 24, 2005, a record storm-free streak of 3,965 days.

"probably the most important factor all of us ought to put in our minds is that here is lifestyles threatening," Florida Gov. Rick Scott informed newshounds on the Florida Emergency management middle. "We have not had a storm in years, people have moved right here and we have guests."

facts from USAF storm hunter finds #Hermine is now a storm. Max sustained winds to near seventy five mph (one hundred twenty km/h). https://t.co/7e9BAZsIGc

— Natl typhoon Ctr (@NWSNHC) September 1, 2016

due to the fact that Wilma hit Florida, the state's inhabitants has risen via about 2 million americans, in keeping with the U.S. Census Bureau. considering 2010 by myself, the variety of residents in the state grew by 7.8%. it really is an immense chunk of recent Floridians who've by no means endured a typhoon.

Hermine is the 4th typhoon of the 2016 Atlantic typhoon season.

As of three p.m., ET, Hermine was located 115 miles south-southwest of Apalachicola, Fla., with winds of seventy five mph. It become moving to the north-northeast at 14 mph. A typhoon warning is in effect for the massive Bend area of Florida's Gulf Coast.

In enhance of the storm, Scott declared a state of emergency. a compulsory evacuation observe was issued for Franklin County, determined alongside the coast of the Gulf of Mexico on the Florida Panhandle. a couple of Florida schools announced closings on Thursday or Friday as a result of the storm.

storm situations are anticipated to reach the coast starting late Thursday, the country wide typhoon center talked about in an advisory. Winds will reach tropical storm electricity with the aid of this afternoon, making outdoor preparations problematic or unhealthy, it warned.

Residents and americans with holiday buildings all started leaving the enviornment Thursday. Robert Glazer spent the previous two days getting his ocean-entrance home prepared. He stopped in Panacea, Fla., to get ice after taking his 28-foot Contender named "Elvis" out of the water. He stated his biggest worry is storm surge.

"I'm preparing for a fine looking huge mess," he noted.

Scott mentioned his suitable problem turned into storm surge, which could lure americans of their buildings as Hermine passes overhead.

"we can come get you but we cannot do anything else all the way through the storm," he mentioned. "That's why you deserve to take action."

Storm surge flooding in some areas alongside the Gulf Coast might reach as much as eight toes. there's a danger of existence-threatening inundation in the subsequent 36 hours, the hurricane middle stated.

The tropical-storm-drive winds are expected to down trees and trigger widespread energy outages, the national climate carrier in Tallahassee said.

Tornadoes could spin out of the gadget as it makes landfall, the climate carrier warned. A twister watch turned into in area for important portions of the state until 11 p.m. ET.

Florida cities at risk for twisters consist of Tampa, Orlando, Ocala, Melbourne, Gainesville, Jacksonville, Daytona beach and Tallahassee, according to AccuWeather. The finest threat for tornadoes is Thursday afternoon, the Storm Prediction center forecast.

Areas on the western side of the storm might see between 10 and 15 inches of rain whereas east of it rainfall totals may reach 20 inches, probably leading to flash flooding.

with the aid of Friday and Saturday, Hermine or its remnants will deliver rain and wind to the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic coasts, though the accurate song of the storm is still uncertain. Tropical storm watches have been issued for Myrtle seashore, S.C., and for Wrightsville seashore and Surf city in North Carolina.

in the Pacific Ocean, Tropical Storm Madeline narrowly missed hitting the huge Island of Hawaii in a single day, although typhoon Lester may still have an effect on the island chain over the weekend, in accordance with the important Pacific hurricane center.

Contributing: The Tallahassee Democrat, Naples each day information

KING