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ACLU to offer libraries warnings about privacy

MIAMI - Next to the usual "Please be quiet" and "No food in library" signs, Florida library patrons soon may see a more troubling message: Big Brother could be watching what you read.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida said Wednesday it will offer hundreds of placards to county and university libraries advising users that the USA Patriot Act enacted after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks can subject library records to government surveillance without their knowledge.

The 10-by-12-inch poster depicts the Statue of Liberty and reads, in big yellow letters: "Attention. Under Section 215 of the federal USA Patriot Act records of the books and other materials you borrow from this library may be obtained by federal agents." The poster also notes that the law prohibits librarians from telling patrons if their library records have been seized and urges users to direct questions to Attorney General John Ashcroft.

Howard Simon, executive director of the Florida ACLU, said the signs are meant to inform as well as to provoke outrage over what the ACLU considers an invasive law that tramples on basic First Amendment rights.

Whether libraries actually post the signs is up to them.

BISCAYNE NATIONAL PARK - A diver hunting for spiny lobsters died in 15 feet of water Wednesday, the start of the two-day lobster miniseason in Florida.

Randy Kruse, 43, was with two groups of divers, who noticed about 7:30 a.m. that he was on the bottom and not moving, said Miami-Dade police Detective Randy Rossman. Divers brought him to the surface and called state and federal authorities in the park, on Florida's southeastern tip.

Kruse was airlifted to Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, where he was pronounced dead, Rossman said. Medical examiners were to perform an autopsy.

Police did not release Kruse's address.

FORT LAUDERDALE - A former Davie man admitted stealing nearly $6-million from at least 100 South Florida investors.

Myles W. Farrington, 64, now of Berry, Ala., appeared Tuesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Kenneth Marra in Fort Lauderdale to accept a plea agreement.

He pleaded guilty to mail fraud and engaging in illegal monetary transactions, said Farrington's attorney, Jim Lewis. Farrington faces up to 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count at sentencing Nov. 14.

Five other counts will be dismissed under the agreement, Lewis said Wednesday.

Farrington promised investors a 20 percent return on money they put into his foreign trust corporation, Landmark Properties Ltd., which he founded on the Caribbean island of St. Kitts in 1987. But he used their money to buy himself land in Costa Rica, a home and race horses and pay bills, while mailing bogus statements to investors saying their investment was doing well.

More than 53 investors have joined a lawsuit against Farrington in an attempt to recoup losses.

PUNTA GORDA - A Port Charlotte High School gym teacher was sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty to having a sexual affair with a 16-year-old female student.

Kenneth Swencki, 33, of North Port, worked at Port Charlotte High for five years, coaching girls soccer and weightlifting. He was arrested Jan. 17.

He allegedly had sex with the student at the school and in cars and motels in North Port and Fort Lauderdale.