Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum unveiled a new ‘Cybercrime Outreach Initiative’ today. Friday.

He says the Initiative is mostly public outreach through a series of Public Service Announcements and a new website MySafeFlorida.net where kids and parents can learn about safely using the Internet.

He also thanked the Florida Legislature for passing the Cybercrimes Against Children Act of 2007 which provides funding to expand the current Cybercrimes Unit from 6 to 56 agents. And he described one of the 40 cases brought by the unit since its inception less than 2 years ago.

“One of those was a 40 year old attorney in the Panhandle who posed as a 15 year old girl, went on the Internet and induced 11 teenage boys to expose themselves and do all kinds of sexual acts on the webcam and then downloaded it. Those are the kinds of dangers when you’re a teenager…you’ve got to be thinking about who are you really talking to? Who are you really communicating with?”

About 77-million kids use the Internet every day in the United States. According to Attorney General McCollum 1 in 7 between the ages of 10 and 17 has been solicited for sex while surfing the ‘Net.

Firefighters and forestry officials are still working to contain the large fire in Picayune Strand in Collier County. It’s burned about 17-thousand 5-hundred acres and destroyed three homes. It’s now mostly contained, but wind and a lack of rain continue to work against firefighters.

And severe drought conditions across south Florida give firefighters an extra challenge while fighting wildfires. Wildfire mitigation specialist with the Florida Division of Forestry – Gerry LaCavera - says low water levels can be a logistic problem…

“Access to water can be a problem especially when we’re using air support or ground tankers to fill up brush trucks as we are here. Some canals in the area just don’t have enough water to draft out of, or if we had the helicopter here there would only be certain water sources the helicopter could dip out of to get a supply of water. So the lower levels of water make the turnaround time increased in some cases. Slower we get water to either the brush trucks or to our helicopter onto the fire, the longer it’s going to take to contain it. So it’s just one of those logistic problems that adds to our problems out here.“

The Picayune Fire has closed I-75…that’s Alligator Alley…from CR 951 south all the way to SR 29 several times over the past few days. It’s currently open…and is expected to stay so, at least for the time being.

LaCavera says the fire was likely sparked by lightning.

Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum unveiled what he’s calling his ‘Cybercrime Outreach Initiative’ Friday in Tampa. WGCU’s Mike Kiniry has more.

Next week is National Police Week. And along with numerous ceremonies scheduled in the nation’s capitol, officials will remember the hundreds of officers killed on duty nationwide in 2006.


Last year 145 law enforcement officers across the country died while on duty. Sixteen of those were from Florida which was the third highest number in the nation. Those killed along with another 237 officers from past years will have their names added to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial. Chairman and CEO of the national law enforcement officers memorial fund Craig Floyd says walking into the memorial is a special experience.

"The memorial is a beautiful three acre park in place appropriately named judiciary square. As you walk into this three acre park you will be embraced by two marble walls, on either side that have the names of nearly 18-thousand federal, state, and local law enforcement officers that have been killed in the line of duty."

One name added to the memorial will be a Lee County sheriff’s deputy who was killed in the line of duty while making a traffic stop. Deputy Margena Nunez died last October when she was hit by a drunk driver. National Police Week runs from May 13th through the 19th.

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The name of Lee County Sheriff’s Deputy Margena Nunez will be one of sixteen law enforcement officers from Florida memorialized next week in Washington D-C. May 13th through the 19th is National Police Week. And thousands of law enforcement officials along with family are expected to show up in the nation’s capitol for the week long ceremony. The events are hosted by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. CEO of the Fund, Craig Floyd, describes some of the events scheduled for Sunday.

“It’s a time where 20-thousand or more police officers and survivors of the fallen and supporters of law enforcement from the general public…attend and stand at the memorial, listen to speeches, listen to beautiful songs, we light candles in honor of the fallen…we shine a blue laser light skyward in honor of the thin blue line of protection that law enforcement provides our country.”

Officials will add 145 names to the memorial this year which is the number of law enforcement officers that died in 2006 while on duty. There are nearly 18-thousand names on the memorial that date back to 1792.

Firefighters continue working a large wildfire in Picayune Strand State Forest in Collier County. It could be next week sometime before it’s completely contained. There have been more than a dozen wildfires in Southwest Florida, and more than 200 across the Sunshine State, in the past few days. And forecasters and water managers seem to agree that dry conditions are just getting worse. The fire in Picayune Strand is one of the largest burning right now in Florida.

WGCU's Mike Kiniry caught up with the Florida Division of Forestry's Gerry LaCavera who says they’re working closely with local fire departments, using a 2-pronged approach to containment…

Another group who is enjoying a good year thanks to legislative decisions is educators. The session ended last Friday with a budget of 24-billion dollars for education across the state.

Officials at the Florida Department of Education say that money will go to reducing class size, increasing spending per student, and workforce education funding. Press secretary for the FDOE Thomas Butler says there was nothing bad about this year’s legislative session when it came to education.

“First off we are extremely pleased with this budget…it’s just a phenomenal effort on the part of the governor and the legislator. Right off the bat, it’s an increase over last year’s educational budget and we saw some key increases in certain programs that we’re really excited about.”

Butler says there will be increases for reading programs and things like virtual tutoring. Butler says one of the major victories for education is the fact that there were no cuts in this year’s education budget.

Lake Okeechobee and the Kissimmee Basin could soon begin to see a change in water quality.

Lawmakers set aside 200-million dollars in this year’s session in order to help with the clean up efforts of Lake Okeechobee. This goes along with the 200-million already devoted to restoration efforts. Carol Wehle is the executive director of South Florida Water Management District. She says this was a big deal for lawmakers especially Governor Charlie Crist.

“And this was the number one environmental issue for the governor. I know that he came to Lee County and he came to Martin County and personally witnessed what has happened and so I have every indication that he will sign this legislation when it gets to his desk.”

Wehle says in the next couple of years the district will do a number of water quality projects. They also plan to create additional storage for extra water. – in an effort to keep any dirty water out of the estuaries.

A smoky haze continues to blanket southwest Florida from the more than dozen wildfires that have broken out in Charlotte, Lee and Hendry Counties since Monday.

Health officials are reminding residents that with this much smoke in the air even people who don’t normally have respiratory issues might have symptoms like sore throats, or itchy eyes. And that you don’t even need to be that close to fires to have symptoms.

Spokeswoman for the Collier County Health Department - Deb Millsap – says people with pre-existing respiratory issues should try and stay inside until smoke diminishes…and use their A/C at home and in car.

“If they do already have things like asthma, or respiratory problems or even chronic heart disease, then monitor their symptoms. If they’re having unusual amounts of wheezing and shortness of breath then they definitely should call their physician if they feel at all uncomfortable.”

Millsap says symptoms might appear as long as 48 hours after smoke exposure – and that smoke can last for days after a fire’s been extinguished.

For more information check out the American Lung Association’s website at LungUsa.Org.

It was a little less than a week ago when Florida lawmakers decided to set aside money to protect the Florida Everglades. And according to the South Florida Water Management District, the future looks bright.

The legislature voted to give an extra 200-million dollars to clean up Lake Okeechobee as well as the Kissimmee Basin. The districts director, Carol Wehle says she is confident that the Lake and Kissimmee can be returned to their former glory.

“I can understand people being skeptical because there has been so much negative…but our scientists assure us that the health of the estuaries can definitely come back, that the water quality in Lake Okeechobee can definitely improve, and I just firmly believe we have the wherewithal to do this but I believe we have to start now.”

Water management officials are already working with a 200-million dollar restoration budget. Wehle says some of the first projects lined up will include a number of water quality projects.

Florida education was a big winner in this year’s legislative session.

Even with some money constraints on legislators, there were no cuts made to the education budget. And in some cases there were increases. This is a great thing according to Florida Department of Education press secretary Thomas Butler. Of all the things that money will do, one big one is how much can be spent per student.

“It’s a 6-point 8 percent increase over the spending last year. So what that does that brings up the spending per student to 7-thousand 305 dollars and 79 cents. And what that means is that’s more money that can be spent on your son or daughter as far as their education goes and that’s always a good thing.”

The budget this year will also mean there will be an increase of almost 28 percent in operating funds for smaller class sizes. And there is now more money according to Butler for reading and virtual tutoring programs.