Childers' lawyer, Richard Lubin, commissioned a Jan. 6 poll that he said showed 49 percent of Escambia residents who are aware of the charges think Childers is guilty. Five percent think he is innocent, Lubin said.

"There has been (an) unending torrent of highly prejudicial and inflammatory news and opinion coverage," Childers said in a sworn statement attached to the change-of-venue motion.

The motion filed Monday suggests moving the trial to one of eight counties, all outside the judicial circuit that includes Escambia. They are Alachua, Brevard, Collier, Orange, Polk, Sarasota, Seminole and Volusia.

Trial currently is set for March 31 in Pensacola. Childers, a former president of the Florida Senate, is charged with money laundering and with bribing another suspended commissioner, Willie Junior, to vote for buying a former soccer complex for $3.9-million.

Luxury 'Queen Elizabeth 2' fails health inspection

FORT LAUDERDALE -- The Queen Elizabeth 2, the most prestigious cruise ship afloat, failed an inspection by federal health regulators at Port Everglades two weeks ago.

Inspectors found cockroaches in the kitchen, dishwashers that didn't work properly or weren't hot enough, mold residue in icemakers, food residue on plates and plugged-up air conditioning drains in the child activity center.

The 34-year-old flagship of Cunard Line is on the first leg of a 105-day world cruise. It left Fort Lauderdale Jan. 7.

The QE2 has not had an outbreak of Norwalk virus, the gastrointestinal bug that has plagued the cruise industry in recent months.

Inspectors gave the QE2 a grade of 85 after touring the ship Jan. 3. Ships are graded on a scale of 1 to 100, and grades below 86 are unsatisfactory.

Cunard officials said they were correcting the deficiencies.

Police refuse to let suspect finish crack break

PANAMA CITY, Fla. -- A robbery suspect barricaded in a bathroom told police he wouldn't come out until he finished smoking the crack cocaine he purchased with his loot, authorities said.

Police said they sprayed chemicals into the bathroom several times before the five-minute standoff ended Monday with the surrender of Stephen Ray Carson, 29.

Carson, a transient, robbed a liquor store at gunpoint, taking several hundred dollars before fleeing on foot, police said. They said he stopped to buy the crack before kicking in the door of an apartment where he was arrested.

Burned photo leads to loss of house, pet, officials say

COOPER CITY -- A teenager set a photo of his girlfriend afire in anger, igniting a blaze that left the family homeless and killed their dog, police said.

The 16-year-old was charged as a juvenile with arson and cruelty to animals.

The teen told police he set the photo afire in the garage, then stomped it out on the floor. He walked away thinking he had snuffed the flames, said Cooper City Police Capt. Marvin Stoner.

The smoldering cinders ignited paper in the garage and the fire spread through the two-story home Sunday, Stoner said.

The house, owned by the family's grandmother, was home to 12 people, including six children.

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Lucy Morgan

From the Times state desk