Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Brevard County still short of hurricane aid

By wire services
Published July 25, 2005

MELBOURNE - Brevard County is still waiting for millions of dollars in promised federal money to pay for storm damage and cleanup from last year's hurricanes.

So far, the county has received $19-million of the $32.4-million in federal money requested. They're still waiting for another $2.8-million FEMA promised to replace money the county borrowed from an insurance fund to make repairs.

"It's obligated and applied for, but we still haven't received it," Assistant County Manager Stockton Whitten said. "There is still a lot of money we're waiting for."

FEMA spokeswoman Nicole Andrews said the agency has been swamped with requests. In an ordinary year, FEMA will process 18,000 project worksheets for 50 to 60 disasters, she said. This year, the agency has 20,000 worksheets totaling $1.4-billion just for last year's hurricane season in Florida.

"It's cumbersome, but it's a big federal grant program we have to work through," she said.

ORLANDO - Florida A&M University's interim president promised greater financial oversight and requested more donations to prop up the troubled school at a weekend alumni gathering.

In an address delivered Saturday, Castell Bryant said FAMU will not be just the "best black school," but the "best institution in the country."

However, she also warned that further challenges lay ahead.

More than 250 alumni from across the country gathered at the Renaissance Orlando Resort for an all-class convention that focused on health issues, but was often overshadowed by the school's financial scandals.

Bryant, a former FAMU trustee, became the interim president in January after Fred Gainous was fired amid several administrative and financial missteps. So far, she's taken drastic steps to right the books, running an audit that found a $51-million budget overrun and $9.3-million in suspicious payroll expenses.

Bryant has also fired 41 employees, slashed sports teams and scholarships by $1.7-million, and closed the university's Institute on Urban Policy and Commerce. State officials are investigating its finances.

Bryant called on alumni to give more money to help rebuild the Tallahassee school's reputation, but deflected calls for her to stay as interim president indefinitely.

Bryant came out of retirement from Miami Dade College to take the interim post.

"You don't want me," she said. "You want someone with more energy and vision."

KISSIMMEE - Police found a missing Osceola County girl Sunday, a few hours after a man thought to be her father allegedly broke into an apartment and violently took her away for the second time in two months.

Sierra Turner-James, who turns 3 next month, was found unharmed at 10:15 a.m. - about nine hours after an Amber Alert went out - in Eatonville, about 30 miles north of her home.

Police say Michael James, an ex-boyfriend of Sierra's mother, broke into the apartment through a kitchen window, allegedly grabbed a knife and struggled with another man inside before swiping the child at 1:35 a.m.

James, 28, was booked Sunday afternoon into Orange County Jail in Orlando, where he was being held awaiting charges. It was not immediately known when he'd make his initial court appearance.

Officials said he could face charges of kidnapping, armed occupied burglary, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, violation of injunction and violation of probation.

James set off an Amber Alert in May after another late-night alleged kidnapping, that time taking both Sierra and her infant sister, Samaya Turner-James, who is also thought to be his daughter.

The three were found in Orange County hours later after James' car broke down. He was charged in that case with interfering with child custody and battery for allegedly fighting with the girls' mother.

DELRAY BEACH - Shots fired through the open window of a moving vehicle killed a 19-year-old driver Sunday on Interstate 95 and wounded his sleeping passenger, police said.

Michael Reich, of Lake Worth, was shot twice in the side and died on the scene, said Delray Beach police spokesman Jeff Messer.

Barbara Wallace, 19, of Lantana, was asleep in the passenger seat, which was reclined, and had her feet hanging out the window of the white Ford Taurus.

The spray of bullets struck both of her feet and went over her body, striking Reich, Messer said. Police don't know why the pair were targeted and the shooters remain at large.

"We don't know if it was a road rage incident," Messer said.

The friends were returning home at 3:45 a.m. from listening to bands in Broward County, police said. Wallace was asleep during the shooting, but woke up and steered the vehicle to the curb before calling 911

[Last modified July 25, 2005, 01:12:19]