Latest news with #SpecialOlympicsFlorida
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
2025 Florida Special Olympics Summer Games open at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex
The 2025 Special Olympics Florida Summer Games commenced on Friday evening at Walt Disney World's ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex with an exciting opening ceremony. Thousands of athletes, volunteers, and supporters gathered for an evening featuring a parade of over 100 first responder vehicles, fireworks, and appearances by Disney characters. Advertisement The Law Enforcement Torch Run, a highlight of the event, escorted athletes and the Flame of Hope into the Stadium. Zachary Stambaugh, representing Special Olympics Florida's Central Region, carried the torch for the final moments, igniting the cauldron to officially launch the two-day competition. Approximately 1,000 Disney cast members took part in the ceremony and offered their support to athletes and their families throughout the Games. Since 1986, Disney World has collaborated with Special Olympics Florida and has hosted the Summer Games at ESPN Wide World of Sports for over 15 years. The 2025 Games will feature a range of weekend competitions, showcasing the determination, skill, and spirit of Special Olympics athletes while promoting inclusion and community. Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Law enforcement officers run Special Olympics Florida torch through St. Lucie County
ST. LUCIE COUNTY − Law enforcement officers from over 300 Florida agencies — police departments, sheriff's offices, Florida Department of Corrections, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Agency, U.S. Customs, Air Force Police and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission — all participate in the statewide torch run to benefit the athletes of Special Olympics Florida. Each year, over 5,000 officers carry the torch on a 1,500-mile relay through 67 counties. Money is raised through contributions from individuals and businesses along the way and through sales of Torch Run T-shirts and caps. The torch made its way through St. Lucie County May 10 from Central High School in Fort Pierce to Publix on Northwest St. James Drive in Port Saint Lucie. The torch run passed through Indian River County April 9 in Sebastian, with a stop in Riverview Park and in Stuart May 2, traveling north along US 1 from its intersection on Cove Road. Relaxation: Staff pick: Visuals Journalist Eric Hasert likes to unwind in Jetty Park in Fort Pierce Helping a Hero: Severely injured U.S. Army veteran provided new home in Port St. Lucie through Helping a Hero, other organizations Eric Hasert is a visuals journalist for TCPalm/Treasure Coast Newspapers. To view some of his recent work, click here. He can be reached at 772-216-2342 or This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Video, Photos: Special Olympics torch passes through Treasure Coast
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Randy Fine's controversial bills stall as he leaves Legislature fighting
TALLAHASSEE — Sen. Randy Fine, the bellicose Republican from Melbourne Beach, is wrapping up his last days in the Legislature this week in his own indomitable fashion, trading barbs with the public, clashing with fellow lawmakers and watching several of his more controversial bills stall or die. The former gaming executive told one speaker who was wearing a keffiyeh, a traditional Middle Eastern headdress, around his shoulders, to 'enjoy your terrorist rag' as the man stepped away from the podium. Fine, who was running the committee meeting, threatened to clear the room when people in the audience complained about his comment. 'I'm the chairman. I can say what I want. If you don't like it you can leave,' Fine told the crowd. The moment was classic Fine, a politician who may be the Florida legislature's brashest and most combative. He has regularly insulted opponents and threatened spending cuts — once against Special Olympics Florida — during the eight years he served in the House and the four he spent in the Senate. In anger, Fine also memorably suggested shutting down the University of Central Florida, the state's largest university. This is Fine's last week in the Legislature as he is running for Congress and must resign Monday. He is seeking the U.S. House District 6 seat vacated by Michael Waltz, who was appointed as President Donald Trump's head of national security. The special election is Tuesday, with Fine facing Democrat Josh Weil, a public school teacher. This session he filed bills to ban governments from flying rainbow Pride flags, to allow college students to carry concealed weapons on campus and to let people under 21 buy long guns again. The flag bill passed its second hearing by a 5- 3 vote, but with a warning from Sen. Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, who chairs the powerful Rules Committee that will next take up the bill. Passidomo opposed language allowing retired military veterans to use 'reasonable force' to stop people from desecrating, destroying or removing the U.S. Flag. 'I don't want a retired military person to feel they have to enforce this bill,' Passidomo said. 'I definitely don't want to see a 90-year-old veteran get into an altercation.' She said she would work with the new sponsor of Fine's bill to amend that, 'otherwise I don't see it going forward.' Opponents, most of them from the LGBTQ community, testified that the bill was unconstitutional because it included flags associated with race, gender and sexual orientation, as well as political parties, candidates, and ideologies. 'This is an unnecessary, dangerous, made-up solution to a culture war issue,' said Jon Harris Maurer, public policy director for Equality Florida, an LGBTQ rights organization. Others said the Pride flag is not political, but a symbol that makes people feel welcome and safe. 'Pride flags are a powerful symbol of love and support especially in areas where queer people may otherwise feel unsafe.' said Mandy Langworthy with Voices of Florida. Fine, a member of the Community Affairs Committee that heard the bill, said their arguments sounded political to him and they just 'need it in the classroom to feel good' about themselves. He also said he 'won't miss' people who have a 'bumper sticker definition of the First Amendment,' and who complain that culture war bills are taking up so much of the Legislature's time but then sign up by the dozens to speak out against them. A few hours later, the Senate Criminal Justice Committee voted down Fine's bill to allow college students to carry firearms on campus with one of the four no votes coming from a fellow Republican. Fine noted it was the last bill he'd be presenting to the Legislature. He was inspired to file the bill, he said, after the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7 sparked college campus protests. He said the protests led, in some cases, to Jewish students blockaded inside buildings or unable to walk across campus. 'A child going to a university at 18, 19 and 20 deserves to be able to walk across campus, deserves to be able to fight their way out of a building if people hold them there, deserves that if a mob surrounds them and attacks them they can do something about it,' Fine said. Muahbohn Dahn, a political science major at UCF and an organizer with Florida Students for Power, listed several troubling campus incidents in the last year, including students setting cars on fire and being run over during a hazing event. 'I cannot name a single one of these events that I think would have been made better by our students being able to have firearms on our campuses,' Dahn said. 'My generation already is the most shot at group of children. Don't make matters worse.' Two other Fine bills scheduled for hearings – one that would place restrictions on public unions and another that would prohibit awarding government contracts based on race or ethnicity – were not taken up, increasing the chances they will be not be heard again this session. Also, Fine's bill to lower the age a person can buy a long gun from 21 to 18 — and two others like it — has not even been assigned to a committee for hearing in Senate. A similar House measure on the gun-buying age is moving along, but the Senate is unlikely to pick it up.
