Digest

Dateline Florida

By TIMES WIRES
Published July 25, 2007

What's in a name? For this boy, it's a flying problem

Michael Martin had a problem when he tried to fly out of Fort Lauderdale recently: He's on the no-fly list. The thing is, he's 7. "It's been happening since 9/11," his mother, Krista Martin, 36, told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. "I just think it's kind of ridiculous to put a 7-year-old on a no-fly list." Federal authorities blamed the airlines, which can automatically remove children from the list. An AirTran Airways official said they can't remove a child's name until they actually see him. Another Michael Martin was accused of trying to ship bomb detonators to the Irish Republican Army in 1995, the newspaper reported. As for little Michael, he was eventually allowed to board the plane to Baltimore to vacation with his family.

Unclaimed property is just sitting around, waiting for you

When Madaline DeVillez's husband died, she placed his Purple Heart and Silver Star from World War II in a bank safe-deposit box. The Homosassa woman was stricken with Alzheimer's and she lost track of the box. On Tuesday, the state returned the medals to Kenneth DeVillez's son Daniel. Surprised? Don't be. In the past year, the Bureau of Unclaimed Property has returned 255,000 accounts. There are 357,496 unclaimed accounts in Hillsborough (value $47.4-million) and 218,735 in Pinellas (value $40-million). Lose something? Visit www.fltreasurehunt.org or call 1-88-VALUABLE.

[Last modified July 25, 2007, 01:46:19]