ORLANDO - President Bush holds a slight lead over Democrat John Kerry in Florida, according to a new statewide poll.
A Mason-Dixon poll released Monday shows Bush at 51 percent and Kerry at 43 percent. Six percent were undecided.
Bush held a double-digit lead over all of his Democratic rivals in a Mason-Dixon survey conducted in November, but a similar poll conducted in early March by the Miami Herald and the St. Petersburg Times showed Kerry with a slight advantage.
Analysts said the latest survey reflects a month of television advertising by Bush that has accused Kerry of threatening higher taxes. Kerry has said he would repeal only the tax cuts Bush gave people earning more than $200,000 a year.
The poll of 625 likely voters, conducted March 30 through April 1, was conducted for several newspapers and television stations. It has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
Insurance will settle suit in teenager's death
BRADENTON - The family of a teen convicted in the fatal beating of a high school classmate will pay the victim's family $300,000 to settle a wrongful death lawsuit.
Last year, John Acosta was sentenced to nine years and three months in prison after being convicted of manslaughter in the October 2001 death of 16-year-old James Brier. Prosecutors said Acosta delivered a fatal blow as the teens fought after school.
Last month, the insurance company for Acosta's parents agreed to settle the lawsuit for $300,000, the maximum their policy would allow. A circuit judge approved it Monday.
Michael Packer, an attorney for the Acostas' insurance company, said the settlement does not mean John Acosta, now 20, or his parents are admitting liability. John Acosta has appealed the verdict.
Eighth worker dies after I-95 van accident
FORT PIERCE - An eighth victim has died from injuries suffered last week in a van rollover. The crash killed seven other Mexican workers who were returning home from work in a citrus grove.
Authorities said Santiago Laurel Solorio died Monday at St. Mary's Hospital in West Palm Beach. Other victims include: Edin Robledo, Isaias Mauricio Perez, Jose Luis Garcia Pichardo, Jose R. Rodriguez and Juan Garcia. The men's ages and hometowns were not available.
Other than the driver, Salvadore Leon, who remains hospitalized, no other names have been released. The van rolled over Thursday and flipped several times on Interstate 95.
Nineteen people were crowded into a 2001 Ford 350 cargo van designed to carry 15, and all were thrown onto the highway.
Man pleads no contest in disc jockey's murder
SHALIMAR - A slain disc jockey's brother-in-law has pleaded no contest to first-degree murder for strangling her with a shoelace. William Edward Brown, 36, avoided a possible death sentence by entering the plea just before jury selection for his trial was to start Monday. Circuit Judge G. Robert Barron sentenced him to life in prison without parole.
Valerie Brown, 29, of Mary Esther, was killed in June 2002. She worked for radio station WMXZ-FM in nearby Destin.
Barron also ordered a concurrent 15-year sentence for stealing money from the victim.
Jailed man gets 30 years for threatening officials
TAMPA - A Fort Myers man was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for mailing threats against President George Bush and other officials.
Cory T. Perry, 35, was sentenced Monday in Tampa. He pleaded guilty in January to the 34-count indictment stemming from letters he sent from July 6, 2001, to Oct. 26, 2002, from the Lee County Jail. The letters threatened the president, an assistant U.S. attorney, a federal judge and a deputy U.S. marshal.
Perry is already serving a 20-year sentence for trying to send letters containing a powdery substance to banks, newspapers and syndicated columnist "Miss Manners."
