It's Friday. If you are not hung over from your holiday party, then I offer my grudging congratulations. Here are the headlines:
- Those of you who suspected Scott Rothstein was a crook before he got busted, well, you must have a "crystal ball." So says Gov. Charlie Crist, who would like to borrow that crystal ball. He asked Sun-Sentinel reporters. "Should we distance ourselves from somebody because there's a lot of 'talk'?"
- Tamarac residents will elect a new mayor today. All write-in votes for "the dude with the gun" will be counted toward Edward Portner. [Miami Herald]
- Three Riviera Beach cops were charged with a bunch of crimes. William Dodson, for instance, got bombed at a retirement party, then cut himself about 100 times with a box cutter, beat himself with a hammer, and fired his gun at nothing in particular. Must have been some party! [Palm Beach Post]
- A Boca Raton woman has been charged for negligence in the deaths of her 11-year-old daughter and her daughter's 12-year-old friend, who were left in an SUV that was running inside a garage. They died of carbon monoxide poisoning. [WPLG]
- You can have a home for half-price, thanks to the city of West Palm Beach, which is trying to revitalize Coleman Park. Also, you can have a home for half-price anywhere in Florida, thanks to the collapse of the housing market. [WPBF]