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By Compiled from Times staff, wire and Ledger reports
© St. Petersburg Times, published September 7, 2000
FORT MYERS -- Burglars struck at a Brinks warehouse stuffed with cash over the holiday weekend, making off with more than $3.34-million meant to restock area bank vaults after Labor Day, the FBI said Wednesday.
The burglary was discovered Tuesday when Brinks workers returned after the long weekend to an area of the warehouse where cash earmarked for banks is kept, said FBI Agent Brian Kensel.
Brinks spokesman Marvin Moss refused to comment. The Darien, Conn., company transports cash and other valuables to and from banks and businesses in armored trucks, often holding funds in transit. Kensel said he could not comment on whether there was forced entry to the warehouse, or what type of security systems were in use there.
Democrat asks Bush to open private meetings
State Rep. Lois Frankel has asked Gov. Jeb Bush to include Democrats in a series of meetings with legislative leaders.
In a letter to Bush on Wednesday, Frankel said she's pleased he is meeting with Republican leaders but thinks he should listen to diverse interests and also meet with Democratic leaders.
And the governor should open the meetings to the press and public, Frankel added.
"He'll take her request into consideration," said Press Secretary Elizabeth Hirst.
Bush has met behind closed doors with Sen. John McKay, R-Bradenton, and Rep. Tom Feeney, R-Oviedo, to discuss an agenda. McKay and Feeney are slated to become leaders of their respective chambers if Republicans retain a majority in November.
Once the leaders take office, the state Constitution requires such meetings to be conducted in public, but the law is silent on meetings before they formally take office in mid November.
MIAMI -- A man has filed a wrongful death lawsuit after his wife was strangled by an apartment complex security gate.
The suit against the condominium developer and association and gate manufacturer calls the motorized gate "a death trap" and claims Marbella Villa Condominium residents have been petitioning developer Adi Chabli for more than a year to install safety devices and provide a pedestrian walkway.
Ivonne Diaz, 32, a real estate agent, was strangled by the gate Aug. 4 after it opened while she was trying to reach through to a security key pad on the other side. Diaz was trying to exit the 16-unit development in the Coconut Grove area after showing a unit.
"This death was preventable," said Neal Roth, an attorney for Diaz's husband, Miami firefighter Faustino Diaz, 36.
Roth contends manufacturer John Greene Corp. and Royce Parking Controls System failed to inform condominium management that the gate's security features don't include standard sensors that reverse the motor when something is caught in the gate when it is moving.
LAKELAND -- For days, Florida Highway Patrol troopers searched for the driver of a semitrailer truck thought to be responsible for bumping a Honda Accord off Interstate 4, killing the driver.
But there was no truck.
Gregory Sayler, 23, of Indian Harbour Beach, was headed east on I-4 about 10:30 a.m. Friday at the U.S. 98 overpass when he crashed through the outside, landing on a concrete embankment and hitting several palm trees, splitting the car in half. At the time, troopers said a semitrailer truck had bumped Sayler's car from behind. But an FHP report issued Tuesday said there was no truck.
"We had a witness on 98 that looked up on the overpass," said FHP Sgt. Ronald Lanier. "If you look up there and the vehicles aren't side by side, they look like they're in the same lane and it could give the optical illusion that it had been hit."
When troopers were able to examine Sayler's car, they found no damage that would be caused by a truck.
TALLAHASSEE -- The Florida Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit filed by a state lawmaker over whose names are listed first on the ballot.
State Rep. Willie Logan, who is running for the U.S. Senate with no party affiliation, filed the lawsuit last week.
He argues that state law gives Republicans and Democrats an unfair advantage.
The top position on the general election ballot goes to the candidate from the major political party holding the governor's office. The next position goes to the candidate from the other party, followed by candidates from minor parties and those with no party affiliation.
Logan said that violates the Constitution, changed in 1998 to guarantee equal access to the ballot. He wants candidates' names placed on the ballot alphabetically, at least for the Nov. 7 general election.
Logan faces U.S. Rep. Bill McCollum of Longwood, the Republican nominee, and Insurance Commissioner Bill Nelson, the Democrat.
A call to Logan's campaign was not returned.