By Compiled from Times wires
Published September 9, 2003
Former U.S. Sen. Paula Hawkins will help state Sen. Daniel Webster, R-Winter Garden, in his race for her old Senate seat.
Hawkins will be honorary chairwoman of Webster's campaign. It's her first re-entry into the state political arena since she was defeated in 1986 by U.S. Sen. Bob Graham.
"I can think of no better person to fill the seat that I held in the U.S. Senate than my friend Daniel Webster," Hawkins said in a written statement released Monday. "He has the integrity, character and experience to represent Florida in the U.S. Senate."
Hawkins was the first woman and the first Republican elected to statewide office in 1972 when she won a seat on the Florida Public Service Commission. She was re-elected in 1976 and parlayed the role of being "a Maitland housewife" into her election to the U.S. Senate in 1980.
After her election to the PSC, Gov. Reubin Askew successfully led a campaign to make the PSC seats appointive offices.
Webster is running for the Republican nomination in a crowded field that is expected to include former U.S. Rep. Bill McCollum, House Speaker Johnnie Byrd and U.S. Rep. Dave Weldon of Palm Bay. Democrats in the race include former Education Commissioner Betty Castor, Miami-Dade Mayor Alex Penelas, and U.S. Reps. Allen Boyd of Monticello, Peter Deutsch of Pembroke Pines and Alcee Hastings of Miramar.
Although Graham is running for president, he has not foreclosed a bid for re-election to the Senate.
$50-million Lotto winner may have missed deadline
TALLAHASSEE - A $50-million Lotto jackpot winner either wasn't aware of it or was waiting almost literally till the last minute to claim the prize.
If the single winning ticket holder of the March 12 jackpot didn't claim the prize by 12:01 a.m. today, the money goes back to the Lottery.
The ticket was sold in Miami-Dade County at Kohl's Food Market in North Bay Village.
The winner didn't have to show up at the Lottery's Tallahassee headquarters to claim the prize - just at any Lottery retailer.
Lotto winners have 180 days to claim their prize. Since the game started in 1989, 19 Lotto jackpots had gone unclaimed before today, but none as large.
Former prosecutor pleads guilty to drunken driving
SANFORD - A former prosecutor pleaded guilty Monday to a charge of drunken driving.
Robin E. Wilkinson, 44, was fined $250, sentenced to a year of probation and ordered to do 50 hours' community service by Seminole County Judge Mark Herr.
Wilkinson resigned on July 25, hours after being charged by Winter Springs police with drunken driving. She refused to take a breath test.
Wilkinson could not be reached for comment. Her attorney, Warren Lindsey, told the Orlando Sentinel Wilkinson has completed DUI school and is "taking full responsibility for the matter."
Bill Vose, the chief assistant for State Attorney Lawson Lamar, said there is a possibility Wilkinson could return to the office where she worked for 19 years.
