Florida missing child alert issued for 15-year-old Pasco County boy
PASCO COUNTY, Fla. โ A Florida missing child alert has been issued for a 15-year-old Pasco County boy who went missing Friday. Cody Almengor-Gatica was last seen in the area of Bridgewater Court in New Port Richey wearing a white hoodie and gray jean shorts. New Port Richey police said he is considered missing and endangered. Further details about the circumstances surrounding his disappearance havenโt been released. Anyone with information concerning his whereabouts is asked to call 911 or the New Port Richey Police Department at 727-841-4550.
50-foot sinkhole reopens outside Florida sports bar
PASCO COUNTY, Fla. โ Residents in Pasco County are watching a bad situation get worse as a sinkhole continues to grow. The hole first opened up on Jan. 7 outside a popular sports bar in New Port Richey. A company filled the hole to prevent further growth, but it didnโt work and the hole is now about 50 feet wide. Because the hole is on private land, the property owner is now working with a contractor to fill and repair the hole again.
Parents, teachers cry foul over Florida sheriffโs student database
NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. โ Some parents and teachers in the Tampa Bay area are asking for changes in a program used by a Florida sheriff to profile students as potential criminals. In addition, a group of teachers is circulating a petition calling for the sheriff's database of โat-risk" children to be deleted, the newspaper reported. โI know our PTA has some concerns, but I also look forward to filling them in on the wonderful relationship we have with our sheriffโs office,โ she said. Alicia Willis, president of the Pasco County Council PTA, called the details of the sheriff's data-driven program โunacceptable and scary." The Sheriffโs Office told the newspaper that about five parents had asked for the records, which were provided after the parents provided their identities.
Florida town fines protesters who use noisy megaphones
NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. โ A Florida town has fined people involved in recent racial justice protests thousands of dollars for using megaphones police say violate a local noise ordinance. The Tampa Bay Times reports that officials in New Port Richey have issued 14 citations that total about $4,700 to at least five protesters. The protesters have stopped using megaphones, but they still gather once or twice a week to spread a message of racial justice and protest police killings of Black people. New Port Richey is about 24 miles north of Clearwater. Click here to subscribe to ClickOrlando.comโs Strange Florida newsletter, delivered every Friday.