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Appeals court won't take judge off Everglades case

MIAMI - An appeals court on Tuesday rejected an attempt by sugar growers to force a federal judge off the Everglades restoration case.

New Hope Sugar Co. had asked the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta to remove U.S. District Judge William Hoeveler from the case, saying he has lost his impartiality while policing cleanup efforts for 15 years.

The petition also sought reversal of Hoeveler's decision to appoint a special master to oversee Everglades' cleanup deadlines.

The appeals court rejected the motion in one sentence, saying New Hope lacks standing to bring the petition. New Hope, a sugar industry leader, is not a party to the ongoing Everglades litigation.

A similar motion filed by U.S. Sugar Corp. is pending in district court in Miami.

Attempts to oust Hoeveler follow his comments in court last month that a new Everglades bill passed by the Florida Legislature was "clearly defective" because it would have extended some of the deadlines established in a 1992 federal-state agreement for Everglades restoration. Gov. Jeb Bush signed it anyway.

Bush signed a bill Tuesday that was meant to tighten language in the earlier measure.

PENSACOLA - Two people died Tuesday at a hospital, which also belatedly disclosed another death that occurred Sunday, to bring a two-day drowning toll in the Florida Panhandle to nine, including seven in Walton County.

Ken Brindley, 36, of Conway, Ark., and Shalyn Cuadrdo, no age or hometown immediately available, died at Sacred Heart Hospital here. Hospital spokesman Michael Burke also said Bob Hehmeyer of St. Louis, in his early 50s, died in the emergency room Sunday.

Brindley and another victim, former CNN newsman Larry LaMotte, 60, of Atlanta, had gone into the Gulf of Mexico trying to rescue LaMotte's 12-year-old son from high surf and rip currents Sunday at Grayton Beach. LaMotte died Sunday. Other beachgoers saved his son.

Four other drownings occurred Sunday, three at Walton beaches and one at Destin in Okaloosa County; and a man drowned Monday at Pensacola Beach in Escambia County. Two people rescued in Walton remained hospitalized, one on life support.

Hundreds of people swam despite red flags warning them to keep out of the water Sunday and Monday because of strong underwater rip currents.