Curt Anderson, Author at The Rapid City Post

This photo provided by Florida Department of Corrections shows Bryan Frederick Jennings. (Florida Department of Correction via AP)

Former Marine who killed 6-year-old girl more than 4 decades ago set for execution in Florida

November 12, 2025

A former Marine convicted of killing a 6-year-old girl more than four decades ago is scheduled for execution in Florida, which would be the record 16th death sentence carried out under Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis. Barring a last-minute reprieve, Bryan Frederick Jennings is set to die by lethal injection at 6 p.m. Thursday at Florida State Prison near Starke. The 66-year-old Jennings was convicted and sentenced to death twice for the 1979 abduction, rape and murder of Rebecca Kunash in Brevard County, both of which were reversed on appeal. The final trial in 1986 resulted in a third death sentence.

FILE - A cyclist crosses a rainbow-painted intersection, Aug. 27, 2025, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara, file)

St. Petersburg to vote on flags for LGBTQ+ and Black communities after DeSantis erases murals

October 9, 2025

The Florida city of St. Petersburg, long a bastion of LGBTQ+ rights and mindful of its racially segregated past, is considering approval of two flags recognizing those issues after Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered similar street murals erased because of supposedly political messages. The St. Petersburg City Council is set to vote Thursday on the flags, which were designed by an artist who did one of the main erased street murals. The resolution’s sponsor, council member Gina Driscoll, said the goal is to assure residents and visitors that the city remains committed to diversity and inclusion. The flags are in reaction to a decision by DeSantis to erase street art around the state seen as too political.

Workers replace the sand washed away by recent hurricanes along the gulf Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025, in Indian Rocks Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Florida county battered by 2024 hurricanes spends $125M on beach restoration

October 7, 2025

The white sandy beaches along a swath of Florida’s Gulf Coast were battered by three hurricanes last year, leading to a multimillion-dollar effort to repair a coastline that is the region’s economic engine. Crews are working with dredges, trucks and pipelines along the 35-mile stretch of beach in Pinellas County that includes cities such as Clearwater Beach, Indian Rocks Beach, Belleair Beach and Redington Beach. It’s a prime tourist destination that is still recovering from hurricanes Helene, Milton and Debby. In past years, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers played a major role in beach restoration, but not this time. So Pinellas County is spending more than $125 million in tourism tax revenue to cover the costs.

New Tampa Bay Rays ownership managing partner and co-chair Patrick Zalupski, center, answers a question, as co-chair Bill Cosgrove, left, and chief executive officer Ken Babby, right, look on during an introductory baseball news conference, Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

New Rays owners promise Tropicana Field repairs, search for new ballpark around Tampa

October 7, 2025

The new owners of the Tampa Bay Rays are promising to get hurricane-damaged Tropicana Field repaired in time for next season and beginning a search for a new, permanent ballpark to open in 2029. The group led by Florida-based real estate developer Patrick Zalupski finalized a $1.7 billion purchase last week from Stu Sternberg, who owned the Rays for 18 years and had long sought to find the team a new stadium. Zalupski and other top executives Ken Babby and Bill Cosgrove said at a news conference Tuesday they intend for the team to remain in the Tampa Bay area.

This photo provided by Florida Corrections Department shows Samuel Lee Smithers. (Florida Corrections Department via AP)

Record 12th execution set in Florida this year for a man convicted of killing wife’s family

September 16, 2025

A Florida man convicted of killing his estranged wife’s sister and parents and then setting their house on fire is scheduled to be put to death Wednesday evening. His final appeals denied, 63-year-old David Pittman is set to become the record 12th person executed in Florida this year. A death warrant signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered the lethal injection to begin at 6 p.m. at Florida State Prison near Starke. Pittman and his wife were going through a contentious divorce in May 1990 when the killings occurred at the central Florida home of his wife’s parents and their 21-year-old daughter.

FILE - Clouds hover over the entrance of the Florida State Prison in Starke, Fla., Aug. 3, 2023. (AP Photo/Curt Anderson, file)

Florida man who killed 2 women set for lethal injection next month, extending execution record

September 13, 2025

A Florida man convicted of killing two women whose bodies were found in a rural pond in 1996 is scheduled to be put to death in October under a death warrant signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who continues to set a record pace for executions. Samuel Lee Smithers, 72, is scheduled to die by lethal injection Oct. 14 at Florida State Prison. Smithers would be the 14th person set for execution in Florida in 2025, by far the most in a single year and the most in the U.S. DeSantis signed the death warrant Friday night, a few days before the scheduled execution Wednesday of David Joseph Pittman. Another convicted killer, Victor Tony Jones, is set to die on Sept. 30.

FILE - Florida Department of Health Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo speaks during a Patient Freedom news conference on March 5, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara, File)

Florida surgeon general Ladapo’s vaccine mandates opposition goes against medical mainstream

September 5, 2025

Dr. Joseph Ladapo, a Nigerian-born physician with impeccable U.S. medical credentials, says that requiring vaccinations for diseases like measles, polio and chickenpox amounts to government-imposed “slavery.” It’s far from the first time Florida’s surgeon general has cut against the medical establishment grain. Ladapo, an appointee of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, made worldwide headlines this week by announcing Florida would seek to eliminate all mandated vaccinations for schoolchildren and others. He cast the immunization requirements, which date back decades and are considered a major medical achievement, as improper government intrusion in personal health decisions.

FILE - Professional entertainer and wrestler, Hulk Hogan, speaks during the Republican National Convention, Thursday, July 18, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson, File)

Police investigation continues into death of Hulk Hogan

August 21, 2025

Police in Florida are still investigating the death last month of professional wrestling icon Hulk Hogan from what the medical examiner concluded was a heart attack. The Clearwater Police Department said in a statement Thursday that the “unique nature” of the case requires multiple interviews of witnesses and obtaining medical records for several providers. Hogan, whose real name was Terry Bollea, died July 24 at age 71 at a hospital after paramedics and police rushed to his beachfront home in Clearwater following a 911 call. That call, and police body camera video of the scene, has not yet been released as the investigation continues.

FILE - Hulk Hogan, right, and his son Nicholas, left, wife Linda and daughter Brooke arrive at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards in New York, Aug. 31, 2006. (AP Photo/Stuart Ramson, File)

Dozens gather at Florida church for Hulk Hogan’s funeral service

August 5, 2025

Dozens of people have gathered for a funeral service for wrestler Hulk Hogan, who died last month at 71. The service was held Tuesday at the same church where Hogan was baptized in 2023. The Pinellas County medical examiner has said Hogan died after a heart attack July 24 at his home in Clearwater, Florida. The examiner’s report said Hogan previously had leukemia and atrial fibrillation, an irregular heart rhythm. He will be cremated.

This photo provided by Florida Department of Corrections shows Edward Zakrzewski. (Florida Department of Corrections via AP)

Florida set to execute man for killing wife, 2 kids in new state death sentence record for 1 year

July 30, 2025

A Florida man convicted of killing his wife and two children with a machete in 1994 is set for execution. Thursday’s would be the ninth death sentence carried out in Florida in 2025, a new state record for a single year. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis also set 10th and 11th executions for August. A death warrant signed by DeSantis for Thursday directs that 60-year-old Edward Zakrzewski be executed by lethal injection at 6 p.m. at Florida State Prison. The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected Zakrzewski’s final appeal. Florida has executed more people than any other state this year. Texas and South Carolina are tied for second place with four each.

Santa Ono rejected for University of Florida presidency amid conservative backlash

June 3, 2025

Longtime academic Santa Ono has been rejected for the University of Florida presidency by the state university system board. The vote Tuesday came amid sharp criticism from political conservatives about his past support for diversity, equity and inclusion programs and other initiatives they view as unacceptable liberal ideology. The Florida Board of Governors, which oversees the state’s universities, voted 10-6 against Ono, who was most recently president of the University of Michigan. The University of Florida Board of Trustees had voted unanimously in May to approve Ono as the school’s 14th president, and it is unprecedented for the governors to reverse such an action.

Curt Anderson.