Mike Schneider, Author at The Rapid City Post

FILE - Brian Littrell, of the Backstreet Boys, attends a meeting with fans for the presentation of the album 'In A World Like This' at 40 Cafe in Madrid, Spain, Nov. 12, 2013. (AP Photo/Abraham Caro Marin, file)

Backstreet Boys’ Brian Littrell sues Florida sheriff’s office over beach trespassers

July 16, 2025

Backstreet Boys singer Brian Littrell says a local Florida sheriff’s office isn’t doing enough to protect his multimillion dollar beachfront property from trespassers and is asking a judge for an order commanding deputies to do so. The petition filed last month by Littrell’s company in a Florida Panhandle county touches on a perennial tug-of-war between usually-wealthy oceanfront property owners and beach-loving members of the public, especially in Florida, which has 825 miles of sandy beaches. A spokeswoman for the Walton County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday that the office doesn’t comment on pending litigation.

Pulse nightclub: A haunting look inside before the mass shooting site is razed

June 16, 2025

Nine years after a gunman opened fire in an LGBTQ+-friendly nightclub in Florida, bullet holes can be seen in walls. And glittering disco balls and lit up bulbs on dressing room mirrors make it seem frozen in time. The Associated Press and other media outlets were allowed Monday to see the inside of the Pulse nightclub for the first time since gunman Omar Mateen opened fire there during a Latin night celebration on June 12, 2016, killing 49 people. The viewing came days after survivors and family members of the dead were allowed to walk through the nightclub before it’s demolished this year to make way for a permanent memorial.

Christine Leinonen, whose son, Christopher "Drew" Leinonen was killed in the Pulse nightclub massacre in 2016, talks to reporters after walking through the venue as part of a group of survivors and family members of those killed, on Wednesday June 11, 2025 in Orlando, Florida. (AP Photo/Mike Schneider)

Pulse massacre survivors revisit the nightclub before it’s razed for a permanent memorial

June 11, 2025

Survivors and family members of the Pulse nightclub massacre nine years ago are getting a chance to walk through the long-shuttered, gay-friendly venue this week. The central Florida club will be razed this week and replaced with a permanent memorial. In small groups over four days, the massacre survivors and family members of those who were killed can spend half an hour inside the space where Omar Mateen opened fire during a Latin night celebration on June 12, 2016. The shooting left 49 dead and 53 wounded. At the time, it was the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history. Mateen was killed after a three-hour standoff with police.

Florida agency tells newspaper to halt reporting angle on foundation associated with governor’s wife

June 9, 2025

Florida’s child welfare agency has sent a letter to a newspaper telling it to “cease and desist” its reporting on foster families for a story about a nonprofit associated with Gov. Ron DeSantis’ wife. The foundation is the subject of an investigation. The Orlando Sentinel received the letter on Friday from the Department of Children and Families. The letter claims the newspaper’s Tallahassee reporter intimidated foster families who had received money from the Hope Florida Foundation when he contacted them for interviews. The welfare program is the signature initiative of Casey DeSantis, Florida’s first lady. Orlando Sentinel Executive Editor Roger Simmons says the agency’s characterization is “completely false.”

FILE - In this Thursday, Sept. 21, 2017, photo, the remains of damaged and overturned trailers sit at the Sunshine Key RV Resort and Marina, in Big Pine Key, Fla. Monroe County is asking mobile home park owners to allow FEMA to set up temporary housing on their properties. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File)

What keeps the safety director of the most vulnerable spot in US up at night before hurricane season

May 23, 2025

No place is more vulnerable to hurricanes in the 50 U.S. states than the Florida Keys. The chain of islands celebrated by singer Jimmy Buffett in his odes to tropical escapism is surrounded by water. The Gulf and Atlantic Ocean are on either side of the islands that jut out 120 miles southwesterly from Florida’s mainland. Making sure that members of the Conch Republic stay safe during hurricane season is Shannon Weiner. She is the director of emergency management for Monroe County, Florida. Hurricane season starts June 1. The county has some new weapons this season, including a brand-new emergency operations center and a new seawater desalination water treatment plant.

Mike Schneider.

Backstreet Boys’ Brian Littrell sues Florida sheriff’s office over beach trespassers

Pulse nightclub: A haunting look inside before the mass shooting site is razed

Pulse massacre survivors revisit the nightclub before it’s razed for a permanent memorial

Florida agency tells newspaper to halt reporting angle on foundation associated with governor’s wife

What keeps the safety director of the most vulnerable spot in US up at night before hurricane season

Finance.

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