Florida

MIAMI (AP) — Relatives of a UPS driver killed after robbery suspects took him hostage on a wild police chase across South Florida questioned Friday why officers had to unleash a torrent of gunfire when the truck got stuck in rush-hour traffic.

Both suspects, 41-year-old cousins Lamar Alexander and Ronnie Jerome Hill, were killed along with the driver, Frank Ordonez, and another motorist, 70-year-old Richard Cutshaw, who was waiting at a busy intersection when officers ran up and opened fire from behind the cars of innocent bystanders.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — SpaceX launched a 3-ton shipment to the International Space Station on Thursday, including “mighty mice” for a muscle study, a robot sensitive to astronauts’ emotions and a miniature version of a brewery’s malt house.

The Dragon capsule also is delivering holiday goodies for the six station residents. NASA’s Kenny Todd isn’t giving any hints, but said, “Santa’s sleigh, I think, is certified for the vacuum of space.”

The recycled capsule should arrive Sunday.

MIRAMAR, Fla. (AP) — Four people, including a UPS driver, were killed Thursday after robbers stole the driver’s truck and led police on a chase that ended in gunfire at a busy South Florida intersection during rush hour, the FBI said.

Both robbers were shot and killed, and the fourth victim was in a nearby vehicle when shots rang out at a crowded intersection in Miramar, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) north of where the incident began, FBI Special Agent in Charge George Piro said during a news conference Thursday night.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA’s sun-skimming spacecraft, the Parker Solar Probe, is surprising scientists with its unprecedented close views of our star.

Scientists released the first results from the mission Wednesday. They observed bursts of energetic particles never seen before on such a small scale as well as switchback-like reversals in the out-flowing solar magnetic field that seem to whip up the solar wind.

NASA’s Nicola Fox compared this unexpected switchback phenomenon to the cracking of a whip.

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Prompting a profane chant. Describing his own speeches as “ranting and raving.” Advising the governor of Florida to not always wear a jacket so people know he’s not fat.

Now a Florida man, President Donald Trump held what his campaign dubbed a “homecoming rally” near Miami Tuesday, continuing to lash out at the ongoing impeachment inquiry in a state that will be crucial to his 2020 reelection bid.

MIAMI, Nov 26 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A Chinese woman who stirred fears of espionage when she entered President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort carrying multiple mobile phones and a malware-spiked thumb drive was sentenced to eight months in prison Monday.

Zhang Yujing, 33, was arrested on March 30 at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, where Trump was on one of his frequent visits. She was found guilty of trespassing and lying in September.

On Monday, a federal judge in Fort Lauderdale, Florida sentenced her to eight months in prison, according to the Miami Herald.

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — With billions in federal aid and seats in Congress at stake, some states are dragging their feet in carrying out one of the Census Bureau’s chief recommendations for making sure everyone is counted during the 2020 census.

Five states — Florida, Louisiana, Nebraska, South Dakota and Texas — have not set up “complete count committees” that would create public awareness campaigns to encourage people to fill out the questionnaires.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The most distant world ever explored 4 billion miles away finally has an official name: Arrokoth.

That means “sky” in the language of the Native American Powhatan people, NASA said Tuesday.

NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft flew past the snowman-shaped Arrokoth on New Year’s Day, 3 ½ years after exploring Pluto. At the time, this small icy world 1 billion miles (1.6 billion kilometers) beyond Pluto was nicknamed Ultima Thule given its vast distance from us.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Mercury is putting on a rare celestial show next week, parading across the sun in view of most of the world.

The solar system’s smallest, innermost planet will resemble a tiny black dot Monday as it passes directly between Earth and the sun. It begins at 7:35 a.m. EST.

The entire 5 ½-hour event will be visible, weather permitting, in the eastern U.S. and Canada, and all Central and South America. The rest of North America, Europe and Africa will catch part of the action. Asia and Australia will miss out.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Nestor raced across Georgia as a post-tropical cyclone late Saturday, hours after the former tropical storm spawned a tornado that damaged homes and a school in central Florida while sparing areas of the Florida Panhandle devastated one year earlier by Hurricane Michael.

The storm made landfall Saturday on St. Vincent Island, a nature preserve off Florida’s northern Gulf Coast in a lightly populated area of the state, the National Hurricane Center said.