The headlines around South Florida:
- Ken Keechl was picked by his fellow Broward County commissioners as mayor, which is exciting because he's gay and because he hasn't been the subject of a recent criminal investigation for corruption. Progress! [WPLG]
- Rene Varela won the runoff for Lake Worth mayor, defeating restaurant owner and activist Laurence McNamara in a campaign that took some nasty turns. [Palm Beach Post]
- Fort Lauderdale City Manager George Gretsas, a polarizing figure (to put it mildly) during his five years in the position, lost a vote to have his contract renewed for another three years. Mayor Jack Seiler cast the crucial vote, deciding that it was too unsettling to have Gretsas "hanging by a thread," with two commissioners resolved to get rid of him. [Sun-Sentinel]
- Bullet train! Florida legislators hope to get billions of dollars from the feds that would pay for a train service in South and Central Florida. They'll need a special session to get it. [Miami Herald]
- How the hell did Jacob Payne get keys to a Cadillac Escalade. The 23-year-old, who police said was involved in a hit-and-run five months ago and who had a suspended license, appears to have caused an accident Tuesday on I-95 near Hollywood Boulevard, running from that scene only to cause a worse wreck that proved fatal for a woman police have yet to identify. [WSVN]
- A crazy blog post from Jose Lambiet, at Palm Beach Post's Page2Live, about a Palm Beach Sheriff's Office captain who fired a Glock pistol in his office. Seems the captain had two Glocks on his desk, one of which was loaded and the other wasn't. Lambiet: "I'm told the captain mentally lost track of the loaded firearm when he received a phone call. After he hung up, Eisenberg supposedly picked up one weapon and placed it between his legs to dry-fire it towards the floor." Nobody was hurt, thank God. A good general rule of handgun ownership, though: If you're not positive which gun is loaded, don't put it between your legs and pull the trigger. [Page2Live]
