Uber Launches Women-Only Ride Option Nationwide
AP/Newser— Uber is rolling out a nationwide feature letting women riders request female drivers and letting women drivers accept only women passengers. The move aims to boost safety—but it’s already facing legal challenges from some male drivers.
Read full story →Arsonist Sets Fires In Houston For Fun
ABC13— A 43-year-old man, Jody Curvey, admitted to starting between 20 and 30 fires around businesses in west Houston, telling authorities he did it because he was bored and wanted to keep warm. Investigators say the fires began in December at several locations near West Oaks Mall, where Curvey was eventually caught after allegedly using a lighter to ignite tree branches at the partly vacant mall and placing the burning limbs on a staircase that blocked an emergency exit. When a security guard confronted him, police say he even tried to intensify the fire by fanning the flames with a sweater. Prosecutors also accuse him of setting multiple fires at a nearby strip mall on Westheimer, including one where cardboard boxes outside an Academy store were burned. Curvey was arrested and given a $75,000 bond, and a judge ordered that if he is released, he must stay away from anything combustible.
Read full story →Pigs Take Over Chattanooga Neighborhood
UPI— Residents in a Chattanooga, Tennessee neighborhood say at least six pigs have been wandering through local streets and yards for more than two weeks, rooting through lawns, knocking over trash cans, and creating a mess while showing no signs of leaving. Neighbors have reported the loose animals to local authorities, but the pigs remain on the loose, turning the normally quiet area into what some residents jokingly call a “pig posse.” For now, the roaming hogs continue to cause problems as homeowners deal with the damage and try to figure out who the pigs belong to and how to get them removed.
Read full story →Municipal Elections Today In Several South Okaloosa Cities
Vote Okaloosa— Today, March 10, is election day in Fort Walton Beach,Valparaiso, and Mary Esther. Click the link for the sample ballot for today's elections.
Read full story →Mom Goes Batty In Niceville Home
WEAR TV3— A woman was arrested after allegedly firing a gun inside her estranged ex-husband’s home in Niceville, Florida, and leaving with their 9-month-old child, according to police. Authorities say Shaniyah Monah Carmichael forced her way into a bedroom at the residence around 4 a.m. Saturday while armed with a firearm, leading to a struggle during which the gun discharged once, with the round striking the ceiling in the direction of the room where the infant was located. Police later found Carmichael and her vehicle at a home in Shalimar, where she was taken into custody. Investigators also executed a search warrant at the residence, recovered the firearm believed to have been used, and located the child, who was returned to the father. Carmichael faces charges including aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, child neglect, battery, and firing a weapon on residential property.
Read full story →FWB PD Arrest Drug Trafficker On Sunday
City of Fort Walton Beach— A man was arrested Sunday in Fort Walton Beach after allegedly fleeing from police and being found with several types of narcotics. Police say an officer tried to stop a black pickup truck driven by Lekendrick Ingram on Holmes Boulevard NW, but the driver briefly pulled into a driveway before speeding through a yard, continuing onto Robinwood Drive SW, and damaging a cement mailbox while driving across another property. The vehicle was later found parked on Leila Place NW, where Ingram allegedly ran on foot and jumped a fence before officers surrounded the area and located him hiding in a backyard. Near the spot where he fled, officers discovered a modified Raid pesticide can with a hidden compartment containing suspected drugs. Investigators say they seized about 54.1 grams of suspected cocaine, 56.9 grams of suspected methamphetamine, about 7.3 grams of suspected fentanyl, 11 oxycodone pills, and $5,983 in cash. Ingram now faces multiple charges, including trafficking in fentanyl, cocaine, and methamphetamine, possession of a controlled substance without a prescription, fleeing or attempting to elude law enforcement, and resisting arrest without violence, and he is being held in the Okaloosa County Jail without bond.
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