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Man arrested in hit-and-run crash that killed 15-year-old girl

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Concerned residents in Fort Lauderdale joined a hit-and-run victim's family in a walk for justice Wednesday night, and one person in the crowd claimed that he knows who is responsible for the fatal crash.

Fort Lauderdale police confirmed Thursday that they have arrested Max Stevenson Francois, 28, on a charge of leaving the scene of an accident resulting in a death.

The man's claims came the same day that police released surveillance video showing a car that is believed to have struck and killed Jaliah Cross, 15, on Monday night.

"He said, 'Ma'am, I'm positive. I know exactly what kind of car, where it's at and everything,'" Cross' godmother, Verna Poole, said.

Cross was struck about 9 p.m. Monday while crossing the street in the area of Northwest 11th Street and 15th Avenue, just north of Sunrise Boulevard. Her family said she was walking home from a nearby convenience store.

Surveillance video shows a dark-colored car believed to be involved in the crash heading west on East Sunrise Boulevard before making a right turn on 15th Avenue.

Cross was taken to Broward Health Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead.

"(We want to) let him know that we're not laying down," Cross' mother, Felissa Williams, said. "We're not letting it sweep under the rug. We want justice."

Police said Francois turned himself in after police found his 2001 Ford Mustang under a tarp outside his home. Police said he lives at the home with his girlfriend and their 3-month-old baby.

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Dynamic Airways plane catches fire at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport

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The north runway of the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport reopened Thursday at 7:45 p.m. after 21 people were injured when a commercial airplane caught fire early Thursday afternoon.

The fire was reported about 12:45 p.m. on Dynamic Airways flight 405.

Broward Sheriff's Office Department of Fire Rescue spokesman Mike Jachles said firefighters were at the tarmac within two minutes while passengers and crew members were evacuating the plane. 

One passenger, Daniela Magro, told reporters at the airport that she saw the plane's left wing on fire.

"We didn't have an announcement," she said. "We just saw the fire and people started freaking out, and we just left the airplane."

"People started sprinting to the front of the airplane, and that's it," Magro's brother David said. "I turned around and saw flames and that was it."

Cellphone video shows passengers evacuate from burning plane

ON-AIR VIDEO

PASSENGER VIDEO

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Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said the Boeing 767 was taxiing on the runway when it was reported that fuel was leaking from the plane. Its left engine then caught fire. The flight was preparing to takeoff for Caracas, Venezuela.

Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue said 21 people were injured and taken to Broward Health Medical Center, including one child. Jachles said one of the patients suffered serious head injuries after falling down while running away from the burning plane. Two others suffered less severe injuries, and the rest suffered bumps and bruises, he said.

Emergency room physician Dr. Ian Russinoff said most of the minor injuries were to the patients' shoulders, knees, elbows and ankles.

"Many of them were injured just from going down the ramp," Dr. Julie Phillips said. "People piled up and so there is minor injuries, sprains and abrasions and a fracture -- a humerus fracture."

Russinoff said some were also experiencing chest pain and anxiety.

The patients include passengers and employees.

Broward Health spokeswoman Amy Erez said of the patients taken to the hospital, 19 have been treated and released. Erez said two people were admitted to the hospital.

RELATED: 10 safest airlines for 2015

Audio from the air traffic control radio transmission captured the conversation between the pilot and air traffic controllers in the moments before and after the plane caught fire.

"Engine fires are something that we train for," Jachles said. "It's not uncommon. That's why we prepare for those."

A passenger took cellphone video of the fire after getting off the plane. She is heard saying in Spanish, "They got us off in an emergency. The plane is burning. It's really burning."

Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport spokesman Greg Meyer said the airport was closed for about three hours after the fire. The airport's south runway reopened shortly before 3:30 p.m.

"We don't operate a runway unless we're at 100 percent," Meyer said.

A total of 101 people were on board the plane. Meyer said the passengers on the plane were taken by bus to terminal 4. The Broward County Aviation Department is working with airport officials to reunite those passengers with their belongings left on the plane during the evacuation.

Meyer said the runway closure will likely affect all flights along the Eastern seaboard, but said the airport has operated with only one runway in the past.

Officials said 226 flights were delayed by the incident and 43 flights were canceled. The aircraft was removed from the taxiway late Thursday night.

A contractor is expected to be at the airport Friday morning to inspect damage to the taxiway and to schedule repairs.

Dynamic Airways, based in Greensboro, North Carolina, was founded in 2010. The airline said in a statement that it is "conducting an initial investigation and will issue further information once available."

According to the Aviation Safety Database, the plane involved in the incident is nearly 30 years old, and Thursday's fire marks its 45th safety incident since 1983.

The National Transportation Safety Board is sending four people to investigate the fire, the agency announced on Twitter.

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Plane catches fire at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport

Carve your own virtual pumpkin

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Want to carve a pumpkin without the mess? Here's your chance - carve your own virtual pumpkin right here! Discover out some useful tips on how to carve your pumpkin like a pro and read about the history behind the art of pumpkin carving.

On this day: November 1

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The Sistine Chapel's ceiling is unveiled, the National Weather Service makes its first forecast, the U.S. explodes its first hydrogen bomb, and Honda opens its first U.S. factory, all on this day.

Center seeks fresh, carved pumpkins after Halloween

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The South Florida Wildlife Center said it is seeking unwanted fresh or carved pumpkins free of other substances as enrichment items for rehabilitating raccoons, opossums and squirrels.

Located in Fort Lauderdale, the center said enrichment activities help raccoons and other animals better adapt to life in the wild after they are released.

"Carved pumpkins are great to stuff with the raccoons' regular diet and teach them how to forage," SFWC said in a statement. "Whole pumpkins provide these animals with hours of entertainment."

The pumpkins should be free from wax, paint or other non-naturals, SFWC said.

Donations are accepted seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. The center is located at 3200 SW 4th Ave.

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Higher prices, political divisions challenge Obama health law's 3rd sign-up season

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The government's insurance website is faster and easier to use, but as a third sign-up season gets underway, President Barack Obama's health care law is approaching limits.

Enrollment on the federal and state exchanges began Sunday. While the law's expanded coverage has reduced the uninsured rate to a historic low of about 9 percent, the gains will be harder in 2016.

Supporters may feel they're running to stay in place, rather than taking a victory lap during the president's last full year in office.

The reasons have to do with the structure of the complicated law, the effects of a major change introduced by the Supreme Court and political divisions likely to be magnified in an election year.

The fate of the Affordable Care Act — known as "Obamacare" to its detractors — is very much in the hands of the next president. A weak sign-up season could embolden opponents who are so far unwilling to relent.

The law's two major engines of coverage expansion face challenges simultaneously.

Costs are going up on the private, taxpayer-subsidized coverage sold through HealthCare.gov and state insurance exchanges, and many of the more than 10 million eligible uninsured Americans are skeptics. They tend to be younger people on tight budgets, with other priorities for spending their money.

A sharp increase in fines may sway at least some fence-sitters. In 2016, the penalty will rise to $695 or 2.5 percent of taxable income, whichever is higher. This year, the fine is the greater of $325 or 2 percent of income.

On the law's Medicaid expansion, the other big mechanism driving coverage, the limitations are clearer and perhaps more consequential.

The 2012 Supreme Court decision that upheld the law's individual coverage requirement also gave states the choice to decline expanding Medicaid. Across the South, Republican-led states have turned down the Medicaid option, leaving millions uninsured.

Many are trapped in what's called the "Medicaid gap." They cannot get health insurance through HealthCare.gov because the law prevents people below the poverty line from using the insurance exchanges. So the private insurance alternative is closed to them, even as their states refuse to expand public coverage.

Among them is John Davis of Port Charlotte, Florida, a 49-year-old construction worker unemployed because of health problems. A doctor at a free clinic is monitoring a suspicious spot on his lungs. "They won't biopsy it. Nobody will touch it because I don't have insurance," Davis said. "I feel like I'm walking around with a time bomb on my back and I can't see the timer."

In the Dallas-Fort Worth area, there are about 580,000 marketplace-eligible uninsured, the most in the nation, according to government figures. Donald Parish, the pastor of True Lee Missionary Baptist Church in Dallas, uses the pulpit to encourage people to enroll through the marketplace. Many of his parishioners are wary. "It's economic. That you can get affordable health insurance still does not resonate," Parish said.

If five southern states — Texas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, and North Carolina — were to expand Medicaid, that could potentially add another 2 million people to the coverage rolls.

It would amount to a seismic shift, one unlikely in a political year when partisan divisions will be accentuated.

"It seems like most of the Deep South is saying, 'We are not doing it,'" said Tom Scully, a lobbyist who served as Medicare chief for former President George W. Bush.

Reading the signs, the Obama administration has set a modest sign-up target of about 10 million private insurance customers enrolled and paying their premiums by the end of 2016. Most would be consumers renewing from this year, but one-third or more are expected to be new customers previously uninsured.

Part of the challenge for the administration is that the market for individual health insurance policies is volatile. People drop coverage as their circumstances change, for example landing a job that comes with health insurance.

Partly because it can be so hard to hang on to customers, the administration and the states have focused on making their websites more consumer friendly this year. Consumers have until Jan. 31 to sign up for coverage. If they want their coverage to start at the first of the year, they need to apply by Dec. 15.

Consumers can expect to see such changes as:

—automatic reminders to enter Social Security numbers and immigration information, critical details that help the government verify eligibility and prevent cancellations months later.

—call-center help for customers bedeviled by a maddening glitch that can get them locked out of their accounts. This can happen to people who no longer have access to the email accounts originally used to set up their coverage.

—an out-of-pocket expense calculator tailored to different levels of medical use. The feature can help people estimate how their deductibles and copayments will add up to total yearly costs under different health plans.

At the same time, there's plenty of unfinished business. Doctor and prescription look-up tools that were supposed to be showcase improvements this year are still in final testing and could turn out to be less than reliable.

"We do think that enrollment gains are going to be significantly lower," said Elizabeth Lukanen of the State Health Access Data Assistance Center at the University of Minnesota. "The ramp-up period for (the law's) full effect might extend a couple of more years."

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Johnson reported from Chicago. Associated Press writer Emily Schmall in Dallas contributed to this report.

Man walking in middle of I-75 struck, killed by police vehicle

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A man was struck and killed by a police car while he was walking in the middle of Interstate 75 in western Broward County early Saturday morning.

According to the Florida Highway Patrol, a man was walking in the middle of the westbound lanes of the interstate. He had been with a group of four people who were headed to Florida's West Coast after going to a Fort Lauderdale nightclub.

After an altercation in the vehicle, the victim was let out of the vehicle and abandoned.

A Seminole Police Department vehicle hit and killed the unidentified man.

The car the victim had been traveling in returned to the area of the accident, where they were interviewed by authorities.

The investigation continues.

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Funeral held Saturday for Corey Jones

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Family, friends and loved ones gathered for a funeral of a man shot dead by a police officer in Palm Beach County. Corey Jones, 31, was laid to rest Saturday.

Jones worked for a public housing agency, but music was his passion.

"He would talk to you with his instrument. He really understood people. He really understood humanity," band member Boris Simeonov said.

There was a long line of people at Payne Chapel AME Church wanting to see Jones.

"Let's continue to celebrate his great life by focusing on some changes," said Jones' friend Clarence Ellington.

Jones, 31, was shot several times by a Palm Beach Gardens police officer. Early Sunday, Oct. 18, Jones' car broke down on Interstate 95 near PGA Boulevard. He was waiting for a tow truck.

The officer who shot him, Nouman Raja, was working an undercover operation. Raja wasn't wearing a uniform or his badge when he stopped Jones.

What happened next is still unclear. Local 10 News learned Jones had a gun, but never fired it.

"We're going to Washington. Not until a bill is passed that's going to stop this brutality," said Jones' uncle Steven Banks.

That's what Rev. Al Sharpton, national political activist, wants as well.

"We're standing at a funeral that should not have happened," Sharpton said. "If we do not stop this policing problem, it doesn't matter if it's a rich area, a poor area, a white area or a black area, this has got to stop because it's going on everywhere."

Follow Hatzel Vela on Twitter @hatzelvela

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Autopsy scheduled to determine cause of death of Polk County inmate found unresponsive in cell

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An autopsy has been scheduled to determine the cause of death for a Polk County jail inmate found unresponsive in his cell.

Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Carrie Horstman says deputies noticed that 37-year-old Bruce Ives did not wake up when his breakfast tray was slid into his cell early Saturday. Deputies entered the cell, where Ives lived alone, and found him lying face down on his mattress.

Horstman says the deputies determined Ives was breathing and a nurse found he had a weak pulse, but he did not wake up.

Ives was taken to a Sebring hospital, where he died.

Horstman says Ives, a Jamaican national who had been living in Lakeland, had been arrested in February for violating probation. Ives had previous arrests for retail theft and robbery.

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ACC suspends officials from Miami-Duke Game

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The ACC has suspended the game officials, replay officials, and communicator involved in the UM-Duke game.

According to the ACC, the 2-game punishment stems from errors on the last play of the game.

The ACC ruled that the replay official made a mistake in not overturning that a Miami player had his knee down, which would have ended the game.

The ACC claims the officials should have called a block in the back at Miami's 16-yardline.

The ACC said officials were wrong to pick up a flag on the block in the back call at the 26-yard line.

John Swofford, the ACC commissioner said, "The quality of our offficating program is of the highest importance to the league and its schools, and the last play of the game was not handled appropriately... Officiating is an extraordinarily difficult job but our players, coaches, programs and fans deserve the best that can be offered.  We will continue to strive to meet that standard.

Chipotle shuts 43 restaurants in E. coli scare

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Chipotle has temporarily closed dozens of its restaurants in Washington and Oregon out of what a company spokesman calls "an abundance of caution" after an E. coli scare.

No one has died in the reported cases of infection, the Washington State Department of Health said. Seven of the Washington patients and one Oregon patient were hospitalized.

The source of contamination has yet to be exactly determined, the department said, but 19 cases in Washington and three cases in Oregon have been linked to a handful of locations of the Mexican-themed restaurant chain.

Although cases are being investigated in connection with six locations in the Seattle and Portland areas, Chipotle has temporarily closed 43 stores.

"We immediately closed all of our restaurants in the area out of an abundance of caution, even though the vast majority of these restaurants have no reported problems," said Chipotle spokesman Chris Arnold in a statement. Chipotle is working with health departments to help determine the cause of the cases.

CDC on E. coli

Infections with Escherichia coli can cause severe stomach cramps, vomiting and diarrhea which is often bloody. Fever is usually low, if at all present, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Infections can range from mild to life-threatening.

E. coli bacteria are commonly found in human and animal intestines and are a key component of healthy digestion. Most strains are harmless but some are not, according to the CDC. "Infections start ... when you get tiny (usually invisible) amounts of human or animal feces in your mouth," it says.

This happens surprisingly often, the CDC says, and many times no infection results.

Common sources of infection are human and animal contact in the farming industry. In April, at least 25 people took ill with E. coli infections after visiting a dairy fair in Washington state.

But harmful E. coli can also make its way into food ingredients. Food handlers carrying harmful E. coli can also pass it on by not thoroughly washing their hands before performing their work.

The CDC has investigated more than 20 major E. coli outbreaks since 2007. Other common food-borne ailments are caused by Listeria and Salmonella bacteria.

Feds: Wreckage believed to be El Faro cargo ship located

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Searchers using high-tech sonars have discovered the deep-water wreckage of a vessel believed to be the cargo ship El Faro, which went missing Oct. 1 with 33 crewmembers during Hurricane Joaquin, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said late Saturday.

The federal agency said the wreckage is some 15,000 feet below the water's surface and its identity still must be confirmed by sending down a remotely operated deep ocean vehicle.

The federal agency's statement added that experts aboard a specially equipped Navy vessel reported they located the wreckage at 1:36 p.m. EDT Saturday deep underwater in the area of the ship's last known position. The wreckage was detected on the fifth of 13 surveying passes by that ship, USNS Apache.

The 790-foot El Faro was reported missing east of the Bahamas, according to the Coast Guard.

The NTSB said investigators will now seek to survey the debris and confirm the identity of the wreckage, adding that effort could begin as early as Sunday. It added that the wreckage spotted in the depths is "consistent with a 790-foot cargo ship, which from sonar images appears to be in an upright position and in one piece."

"To confirm the finding, specialists on Apache will use CURV 21, a deep ocean remotely operated vehicle to survey and confirm the identity of the wreckage. This survey could begin as early as November 1," said the statement emailed by Peter Knudson of the agency's public affairs office in Washington.

The El Faro's captain had called in before the vessel disappeared saying the ship had lost its engine power during its voyage from Jacksonville to San Juan, Puerto Rico. The captain, Michael Davidson, said the ship was listing, and taking on water.

The Coast Guard had searched for the ship for days after El Faro disappeared in the storm, finding debris and one body in a survival suit.

The El Faro was scheduled for retirement from Caribbean duty and for new retrofitting for service between the West Coast and Alaska, company officials have said. Both the El Faro and its sister ship were slated to be replaced by two new ships. Aboard when it disappeared were five engineers from Poland, who were working on the retrofitting as the ship sailed to Puerto Rico.

NTSB investigators have said Davidson intended to pass 65 miles from the center of the storm. Independent maritime experts have said that such a decision would be risky.

The NTSB, an independent federal agency, is conducting an investigation into the cargo ship's disappearance. It said it had contracted for a search vessel with the U.S. Navy to help locate the missing ship, document the wreckage and debris field, and if possible, recover the crucial voyage data recorder.

Investigators have said they hope to recover that recorder, a ship's "black box," in an effort to understand more about what had happened.

The statement said the Navy search ship departed from Virginia on Oct. 19 after being fitted with state-of-the-art underwater detection equipment, arriving at the cargo ship's last known position Oct. 23.

The statement added that search experts aboard the Apache first towed a special device called a towed pinger locator in the water, slowly sweeping around the ship's last known position in hopes of picking up sounds of the pinger from El Faro's voyage data recorder. According to the statement, three days of searching yielded no pinger signal and that piece of equipment was withdrawn and a side-scanning sonar system, called Orion, was then deployed.

The NTSB said the specialized sonar technology creates sonar images as it sweeps the waters, seeking patterns that provide clues to a missing vessel.

Knudson's statement said that if the wreckage detected is confirmed to be the missing cargo ship, attempts will be made to locate and recover the critical voyage data recorder. It added that the coming phase of operations is expected to take up to 15 days to complete in ideal conditions, longer depending on weather or other conditions encountered.

Migrants allowed to stay in U.S.

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A group of migrants made it onto U.S. soil Saturday night, their boat left behind in Key Biscayne.

2 people shot in Coral Gables on Halloween

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A man and a woman were both rushed to the hospital after being shot on Halloween night and police believe a teen may be responsible. 

Coral Gables police say the shooting happened near the 400-block of Rosario Avenue in Coral Gables. Police are looking for a black two-door 2007 Infiniti G35 similar to the one pictured above in connection with the shooting. 

The car is said to have tinted windows,  a green valet parking sticker in the rear windshield, and a Miami Heat tag with the number L53TB. 

Police are looking to speak with five teens, three men and two women, believed to have been in that car. Police think the gunman may be 19 years old. 

Anyone with any information on this crime is asked to contact police.

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Toddler disappears from Weston home

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Officials are searching for an 18-month-old boy who disappeared from his Weston home Sunday afternoon.

The Broward Sheriff's Office received a call about the toddler's disappearance just after 4 p.m. He was last seen at 417 Lakeview Drive.

Deputies said they are searching the area with bloodhounds, and aviation and marine units.

Anyone with any information on the toddler's whereabouts is asked to contact law enforcement.


Taxiway repairs begin after Dynamic Airways plane fire

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Work began Monday to repair a portion of a taxiway that was damaged in last week's fire aboard a Dynamic Airways plane at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.

Broward County Aviation Department spokesman Greg Meyer said 3 inches of asphalt were removed Monday in two areas totaling 11,700 square feet.

Meyer said the damaged areas were equivalent to about the size of four tennis courts.

Repairs are expected to be completed Tuesday and the taxiway is scheduled to reopen by Wednesday.

According to Meyer, repairs to the damaged taxiway cost about $86,000.

One person remains hospitalized at Broward Health Medical Center after Thursday's fire.

The National Transportation Safety Board is working to determine the cause of the fire, but isn't expected to release its final report for about a year.

Senior aviation accident investigator Timothy J. LeBaron said the plane's left engine and left wing caught fire, but flames never entered the cabin.

Authorities said 21 people were taken to the hospital, most of them with minor bumps and bruises.

The plane's passengers, who were headed to Caracas, Venezuela, had the option of flying out Friday, Saturday or Sunday.

According to the Aviation Safety Database, the plane involved in the incident is nearly 30 years old, and Thursday's fire was its 45th safety incident since 1983.

FLL Director Kent George said all costs associated with the incident will be paid by Dynamic Airways.

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Lawsuit filed on behalf of 5 seamen aboard El Faro

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The attorneys representing the families of five El Faro seamen from Poland filed a counter-lawsuit Monday against the owner of the vessel.

The move came shortly after the National Transportation Safety Board confirmed that federal investigators have positively identified the wreckage found 15,000 feet deep in the sea as that of the cargo ship.

Lawyers for TOTE Maritime, which owns El Faro, filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court in Florida, claiming it did everything in its power to ensure that the ship was safe and, therefore, should have no financial liability.

Attorney Michael Winkleman said the ship owners are "pouring salt on the families' wounds."

Winkleman praised the efforts by the U.S. Coast Guard and NTSB, and said they expect a long fight against TOTE Maritime.

"We expect this to be a long fight, and we will fight for as long as it takes," Winkleman said.

Winkleman told reporters Monday that the families are hopeful that their loved ones' bodies will be found now that the vessel has been located.

He also chastised the ship's owner, saying that the ship had multiple chances to turn around before getting caught up in Hurricane Joaquin. He said other sailors have referred to El Faro as a "rust bucket" and claim it had a history of leaks and other maintenance issues and was not seaworthy.

The ship sank Oct. 1 with 33 people aboard east of the Bahamas. No survivors were found.

The NTSB said sonar indicates the ship landed upright, which could help crews recover the ship's data record, or "black box."

The agency said the U.S. Navy is continuing to survey the area around the wreckage.

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Lawyer for Derek Medina says client acted in self-defense before killing wife

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There's no dispute that Derek Medina fatally shot his wife and posted a photo of her body on Facebook, but his lawyer said he acted in self-defense because he feared her.

Defense attorney Saam Zangeneh said Monday that he will seek to introduce at Medina's trial evidence that Jennifer Alfonso, 27, abused drugs, battered her husband and was involved in Satan worship. Jury selection is set to begin Tuesday.

Prosecutors said such testimony about the victim must be limited. Other evidence shows Medina was an accomplished boxer and had little to fear from his wife.

Medina faces life in prison if convicted of murder in the 2013 killing at the couple's South Miami home.

Police said after the shooting, Medina uploaded a photo of Alfonso's body on Facebook.

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Lamont Lubin accused of shooting correctional officer in face

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A 32-year-old man has been arrested in connection with a domestic-related shooting that left a correctional officer injured, Miami-Dade police said.

The shooting was reported Friday night at a home in the area of Southwest 260th Street and 137th Avenue.

Police said the victim and Lamont Lubin were involved in an argument that escalated into a physical confrontation.

Police said Lubin pulled out a gun and shot the victim in the face before leaving the home in a silver Cadillac CTS. 

The victim drove herself to a hospital and was airlifted to Kendall Regional Medical Center. She is listed in stable condition.

Lamont was arrested Sunday on charges of attempted murder and aggravated battery.

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Police step up social media presence in South Florida

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South Florida police departments are stepping up their social media presence.

Miami-Dade police, for example, has more than 12,000 followers on Twitter.

The Broward Sheriff's Office has more than 11,000 followers.

Departments have said they're using social media as a tool to fight crime and keep people safe at home.

Lynne Martzall, head of Coral Springs police social media outreach, said the push to connect with people is working.

"It is the most effective way we can communicate with our public," she said. "Within minutes, we can get out our crime prevention messages to thousands. We do have more followers on our Facebook page. On average, we reach 4 million people each month."

One example: Thousands of people saw a post several weeks ago of a missing autistic teenager. After tips came in from the public, he was located safely.

The department also pays to promote its posts, which is in its budget, and uses technology to populate their messages into the newsfeeds of certain age groups and ZIP codes.

"Just like businesses target their consumers, we're able to target our residents and business owners by age (and) location," Martzall said.

Martzall said if there are burglaries in certain neighborhoods, she wants to make sure surrounding areas are alerted in social media posts as well.

Most police departments, however, do not monitor social media around the clock. If someone has an urgent tip on a pending case, it is best to call. In the event of an emergency, dial 911.

Follow Janine Stanwood on Twitter @JanineStanwood

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