“My radio station used to carry your show, but this is a great replacement,” wrote Nancy in Miami, Florida. Now, friends, my free newsletter isn’t a replacement for my national award-winning radio show. The show is loaded with things you won’t find here, along with the best callers ever. Find my show on a radio station near you or as a podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Tesla traps toddler inside after battery dies
A girl was saved from a Tesla Model Y in 100-degree weather in Arizona. Plus, two Florida seniors were scammed out of $400,000 in gold, and there’s a nationwide coffee recall. Plus, we talk to Brian Morrison, creator of Free Blockbuster — it’s like those little free libraries, but for movies.
Another scammer is now rich: A retired Florida therapist thought she was helping the FBI take down a Mexican cartel. Really, scammers convinced her to wire $600,000 from her retirement account to a protected “government locker.” Her banks tried to warn her, but she was fed a script to get them off her back. How awful.
$295,000,000
List price for a mansion on the market in Naples, Florida. The most expensive property for sale in the U.S. has six bedrooms, 24 bathrooms, two guest houses, a yacht berth … and a 95% chance of flooding within the next 30 years. The nine-acre compound has Gulf waters on three sides, and the city’s been hit by five hurricanes over the last two years.
Winging it: Forget those small prop planes carrying advertising banners over beaches. Drones are replacing planes in places like Miami Beach. They’re quieter and — get this — they track ad views in real time and fly about 400 feet lower than planes. There’s no avoiding ‘em.
💔 Another romance scam victim: A 77-year-old Florida widower lost over $100,000 after falling for “Julia” on Facebook. The two chatted for eight months, and she promised to relocate from the U.K. to the U.S. after paying off a debt to a man in Minnesota. Hoping to speed things up, he sent cash to a home and a bank in Minneapolis. The twist? “Julia” wasn’t real — it was a 26-year-old man in Minnesota the whole time.
💔 Tragic AI bot: While using the roleplaying app Character AI, a 14-year-old boy in Florida had a romantic “relationship” with a bot and confessed his suicidal thoughts. One day, the bot responded, “Please come home to me.” The boy ultimately took his own life. His mother filed a lawsuit against the makers of the chatbot for his death. I know this sounds way out there, but talk to your kids about AI, love and their lives.
Size matters: Jeff Bezos took a break sailing around in his $435 million yacht to show off New Glenn, one of the largest rockets ever built. At 320 feet tall, it’s bigger than the Statue of Liberty! Watch this vid at Bezos’ Blue Origin factory in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
🎮 Next-level rage: A 20-year-old gamer flew from New Jersey to Florida to try to kill another player. He showed up with a hammer after they fought in a game called ArcheAge. He’s been charged with attempted second-degree murder and armed burglary. Remember, someone who really wants to find you generally can because your private info is for sale online.
☄️ That was close: A Florida family is suing NASA after a chunk of metallic space debris crashed through their roof. No one was hurt, but the family’s 19-year-old son was just rooms away from the impact zone. They want a payout for the stress and impact (no pun intended).
✈️ This is so sad: A 79-year-old Florida woman missed her husband’s funeral after falling for an airline ticket scam. She dialed 411, asked for Allegiant Air and was directed to a scammer. When she got to the airport, she was told the “ticket” she bought didn’t exist. Always book direct, folks. Use the airline’s official site or number.
89% accuracy
For a shark-detection app that uses AI and data forecasting to predict an attack. The risk of shark attack is about one in every 3.7 million swimmers, and 60% of all recorded shark attacks in the U.S. have occurred in Florida. I went scuba diving with sharks in Maui and Bora Bora. They’re meaner-looking up close!
Tanks a lot: A Florida man is spending six-and-a-half years in prison after making $100 million selling phony Cisco gear for classified systems used by the U.S. Air Force, Army and Navy. Most of these devices were sold on Amazon and eBay. Yup, our military bought fake gear on eBay.
A Florida retiree discovered his 1989 Microsoft Word tutorial has millions of views on YouTube. The main audience? Insomniacs. The “most boring video of all time” promises to lull you to sleep with two hours of Randy Smith explaining the ins and outs of Word docs. To be fair, his voice is pretty soothing.
Fake ads are taking over Facebook: A Broward County, Florida, family found strangers at their front door, claiming they paid a $250 deposit to rent a car parked in the driveway. It turns out crooks had secretly snapped pics and posted them on Facebook Marketplace. After they turned the renters away, someone came back and vandalized the car. Ridiculous.
Check before you travel: A Florida man was hit with a whopping $143,442.74 phone bill from T-Mobile for roaming costs when traveling in Switzerland. He thought he was covered. Nope. They reversed the charges. Pro tip: There’s a $50-per-month T-Mobile travel plan to prevent stuff like this. Most providers have something similar.
Project Venom: Three F-16 fighter jets are getting loaded up with self-flying tech at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. The $50 million “Project Venom” exists to develop self-flying drone fleets that could team up with manned Air Force planes in battle.
The truth is out there: A two-pound cylinder that crashed through a Naples, Florida, man’s roof is likely a piece of a space station. The impact lines up with the trajectory of a 2.9-ton pallet of old batteries the ISS launched back in 2021.