Orlando plans renovations at 11 parks, opens new playground near Pine Hills

Local News : Orlando Sentinel 3/3 11:00P Michael Cuglietta

A class of fourth graders from Rolling Hills Elementary School set their books aside on Tuesday morning and, with their principal and gym teacher, walked the short distance to a newly renovated...

Florida poll shows Republicans lead Democrats in statewide races — but only by single digits

Local News : Orlando Sentinel 3/3 10:00P Anthony Man

The leading Democratic candidates for Florida governor, David Jolly and Jerry Demings, are within striking distance of Republican frontrunner Byron Donalds, a statewide poll released Wednesday found. In hypothetical head-to-head matchups in the...

Orlando teen pleads no contest to 2024 murder, handed 4-year prison sentence

Local News : Orlando Sentinel 3/3 10:15A Cristóbal Reyes

A teen was sentenced Tuesday to four years in prison for the 2024 murder of a 17-year-old, after changing his not guilty plea in exchange for being given a lighter sentence as a youthful offender. Marcus Anderson, 19, entered a no contest plea...

Florida bills could cripple teacher, faculty unions, labor leaders say

Local News : Orlando Sentinel 3/3 8:31A Steven Walker

Proposed legislation that some school union leaders say could be “fatal” to their existence soon will face votes in the GOP-dominated Florida Legislature, which three years ago passed another measure that made it tougher for those same unions....

Maxwell: Accused crypto-scammer boosted profile through Orlando’s charity, political scene

Local News : Orlando Sentinel 3/3 6:46A Scott Maxwell

About a year ago, a P.R. company tried to get the Orlando Sentinel to write about Christopher Delgado, saying the young and relatively unknown entrepreneur had precisely the kind of rags-to-riches philanthropist story we should share. Two things...

Theme park: Peppa Pig’s brother outfitted with hearing aid

Local News : Orlando Sentinel 3/3 4:39A Dewayne Bevil

George, the younger brother of the Peppa Pig character, will begin wearing a hearing aid at appearances at Peppa Pig Theme Park in Winter Haven.  The change is in conjunction with a storyline development in the animated Peppa Pig series. In its...

Clean bills of health: Which Central Florida restaurants had perfect inspections in February?

Orlando Sentinel (Osceola County News) 3/3 1:46A Garfield Hylton

After 1,889 restaurant inspections across Central Florida in February, only 170 had no issues for the entire month, according to data from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Brevard had the highest percentage of...

A slight chance of showers but Tuesday will be mostly sunny

Local News : Orlando Sentinel 3/3 1:29A Garfield Hylton

There is a slight chance of showers in the afternoon, but Tuesday will be mostly sunny with a high near 81. The showers are likely to happen between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m., according to NWS Melbourne. They are isolated to scattered onshore-moving...

Feds: Orlando crypto firm CEO lived a high life on others’ money

Orlando Sentinel (Osceola County News) 3/1 12:00A Stephen Hudak, Silas Morgan

Christopher A. Delgado, CEO of a Central Florida-based company at the heart of an alleged $328-million cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme, lived an eye-popping life of luxury for a few years before his...

Seminole sheriff’s deputy arrested for falsifying overtime hours, police say

Local News : Orlando Sentinel 2/27 5:41A Silas Morgan

A Seminole County Sheriff s Office deputy is accused of falsifying the number of overtime hours he worked, allowing him to collect thousands of dollars in pay he didn t earn. Nestor Nieves Jr. was arrested Thursday on a charge of organized fraud....

Maxwell: Randy Fine loses an endorsement. Florida may gain a state bird

Local News : Orlando Sentinel 2/27 4:50A Scott Maxwell

Today we have an edition of the “Follow-up Files” that looks at the University of Florida’s law school dean s defense of putting Florida’s attorney general on her school’s payroll and an attempt to settle Florida’s ridiculously long-running...

Pictures: Sentinel celebrates 150th birthday with themed beer from Ten10

Local News : Orlando Sentinel 2/27 2:55A Stephen M. Dowell

If birthdays deserve a toast, 150 of them deserve more than a few. That s why as part of the Orlando Sentinel’s celebration of bringing a century-and-a-half of news to Central Florida, we’ve partnered...

Dense fog to start, with rain chances increasing throughout the day

Local News : Orlando Sentinel 2/27 12:55A Garfield Hylton

A brief reprieve from the consistently dry conditions may be on its way. Friday begins with a dense fog advisory across the southern parts of Central Florida through 9 a.m., according to NWS Melbourne. The advisory includes Osceola, Okeechobee,...

Orlando Sentinel 150: Friday Focus on famous E.T. billboard

Local News : Orlando Sentinel 2/26 11:23P Roger Simmons

If you think Interstate 4 traffic is bad now, imagine what happened when an alien landed next to the road. That s what occurred in February 1989 when E.T.-The Extra Terrestrial arrived in Orlando in...

Former Imagineer Joe Rohde announces book about creativity, cooperation

Local News : Orlando Sentinel 2/26 10:05P Dewayne Bevil

Joe Rohde , formerly of Walt Disney Imagineering , is releasing a book about creativity. Floating Mountains: The Art of Imagining the Impossible will be available in September. I ve had a career as a...