Dateline Florida

By Times Wires
Published December 6, 2007

Weather likely a go for shuttle liftoff today

NASA predicted a 90 percent chance of good weather for today's launch of space shuttle Atlantis from Cape Canaveral. The shuttle is scheduled to carry a European-built laboratory called Columbus to the international space station. Liftoff is planned for 4:31 p.m. If all goes well, Atlantis will return to Florida on Dec. 17.

$2-million lottery prize expires Sunday

Somewhere, maybe stuffed in a rotting bag of trash in a landfill or tucked way at the back of a crowded sock drawer, is a lost fortune. A $2-million winning Mega Money lottery ticket in the June 12 drawing remains unclaimed. State lottery officials say the 180-day limit to claim the prize expires at midnight Sunday. The ticket was sold at a Publix supermarket in Sunrise. The winning numbers were: 13-24-28-44 and the Megaball number was 16. Any official Florida Lottery retailer can validate the ticket, but the money must be claimed at lottery headquarters in Tallahassee. For more information, call (850) 487-7787 or visit the Florida Lottery's Web site at www.flalottery.com.

His idea of giving is bad news for drivers

He's a mean one, that Mr. Grinch. Forty-five motorists were busted by the sour-faced green creature Tuesday morning for running a red light in south Orange County. A deputy dressed as the Christmas character helped write 60 traffic tickets for offenses that also included driving with a suspended license. "He is specifically trained to find those without any holiday spirit at all, those who don't care who they offend or how they drive," Orange County sheriff's spokesman Jim Solomons wrote in a news release.

Inside

Hillsborough County commissioners agree to pay $17.25-million for more than 1,000 acres adjoining Pinellas County's Brooker Creek Preserve.3B

[Last modified December 6, 2007, 00:05:46]