Daily News Update with Rich Jones of WOKV : 7/26/2012

[Tamara-B]

Heat and humidity will be the big story today and into the weekend. Temps are in the mid-90's with the heat index into the triple digits.  Southeast Georgia is under a heat advisory this afternoon.  We have a chance of an isolated storm in the afternoon, with the best chance across SE Georgia.  Heat will continue through the weekend with temps in the mid-to-upper-90's.

Today's interview lineup:
At 6:53 hear Washington bureau chief Jamie Dupree on the $800 million in grant money that has gone unused. http://www.wokv.com/Player/101464761/

At 7:53 hear Florida Senate candidate Aaron Bean reject the allegations being made in new ads being funded by outside political groups. http://www.wokv.com/Player/101464871/

At 8:23 hear Jamie Dupree on a Senate hearing today over eggs.  http://www.wokv.com/Player/101464981/

Our Top Local Story:  Big ideas without a way to pay for them.  The Jacksonville Transportation Authority is hosting an public forum today on its vision for future projects.  But paying for those projects will be a tall task.  Earlier this month we learned JTA had been denied a federal grant for $17+ million to help pay for the improvements at the I-95/Butler Blvd. interchange.  Earlier this week we heard city councilman Steve Joost say money could be put back into public safety if the city stopped subsidizing JTA.   Find out where and when the forum will be today.

The reigning teacher of the year at Windy Hill Elementary on Jacksonville's southside was investigated in 2009 for an inappropriate relationship with a young boy.  Christopher Bacca was arrested Tuesday on multiple felony charges of sexual battery and lewd and lascivious conduct after cops say he repeatedly victimized a boy younger than 12.  In 2009 DCF alerted the Duval School District about the allegations.

Mayor Alvin Brown is staying out of the White House race.  The Tampa Bay Times reports Brown declined to say if he would vote for President Obama.  He said he is not going to get involved in presidential politics or any campaigns.  The Mayor added that he made a promise to focus on governing, not politics.

Caught in a cook.  Two people are facing several drug charges as St. Johns County cops bust an active meth lab in a home. Christopher La Londe and Jennifer Nix were arrested at the home in the Samara Lakes subdivision off State Road 16. Cops also found a marijuana grow operation inside the home, which they had been watching for two weeks. 

A pizza delivery man has to drive back to work to tell his boss he couldn't make his delivery because he was robbed and he has to do it while wearing no pants.  Around 9:30 Tuesday night a 38-year-old Papa John's delivery man was about to drop off a pie and some wings at the Canterbury Gardens apartments on Lane Avenue when two men approached him from behind, ripped the bag off his shoulder, told him to take his pants off, and then punched him in the face.  The Times Union reports the delivery man was not hurt. The robbers made off with the pizza and wings.

A young man on a motorcycle is killed in a crash in St. Augustine.  Police say 17 year-old Scott Milton ran a red light on State Road 16 and International Golf Parkway around 9:45 last night.  His bike was hit by a vehicle turning at the intersection and Milton died at the scene.  The driver and passengers in the vehicle were not hurt.

The parents of a Fleming Island High School student killed by a CSX freight train is awarded nearly three-million dollars.  The parents of Wesley Whiddon Junior filing a wrongful death lawsuit after the 17-year-old was hit by the train as he stood on a railroad trestle over Black Creek.  He and two other teens were fishing prior to the accident.

Our Top National Story: The politics of gun control, now on the Presidential campaign trail.  Mitt Romney tells NBC News he supports the Second Amendment and that new laws are not the answer to preventing tragedies like the one that unfolded in Aurora, Colorado.  In a speech to the National Urban League in New Orleans, President Obama says more needs to be done to ensure that guns don't end up in the wrong hands. Obama is pledging to work with members of both parties on common sense gun controls. 

It's the House's turn next week to vote on extending income tax cuts.  The Speaker says the President's plan to let the cuts expire for the wealthiest Americans is unacceptable.  The Senate yesterday passed the Democratic plan to extend the tax cuts only for couples making less than $250,000 a year.

The mother of baseball great Cal Ripken Jr. is OK after being kidnapped for almost 24 hours near Baltimore. Police say Vi  Ripken was forced at gunpoint to get into her car Tuesday morning, and her hands were tied up and she was blindfolded. Police say the kidnapper told her he wouldn't hurt her. The 74-year-old was found tied up, but unharmed the next morning. She describes her abductor as a tall, thin white man with glasses wearing camouflage clothing.

http://www.wokv.com/videos/online/advertising/morning-news-video-blog/ldQ/

[Tamara-B]

Well, Mitty, if new laws aren't the answer then what is?