By Associated Press

Boca Raton stockbroker suing Delta Airlines over marijuana
(Fort Lauderdale) -- A Boca Raton stockbroker who can legally smoke marijuana is suing Delta Air Lines for refusing to let him on a flight out of Fort Lauderdale last March. Irvin Rosenfeld is suing in federal court, saying Delta violated the Air Carriers Access Act of 1986. He is one of just seven people nationwide supplied marijuana by the federal government. He smokes up to 12 marijuana cigarettes a day to fight tumors. Rosenfeld says withOUT the drug, he eventually becomes too wracked with pain to walk and can hemorrhage. He was flying from Fort Lauderdale to Washington on March 26th to support defendants in a case before the U-S Supreme Court. Rosenfeld keeps the marijuana in a large tin in a carry-on bag. He says after Delta agents turned him away, he had to retrieve his checked bags and find a flight on AirTran.

Endeavour approaching space station
(Space Center, Houston) -- The shuttle Endeavour is edging closer toward the international space station to deliver a new crew. After nearly a week of delays, Endeavour lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center yesterday evening, just before sunset. It's an 11-day mission. The launch was scheduled for last Thursday, but a jammed docking mechanism on space station Alpha forced two delays. After that was fixed, bad weather scrubbed Tuesday's attempt. Weather was also a concern Wednesday, but it cleared up in time. Liftoff and its preparations took place under the guard of fighter jets, helicopters and military personnel in camouflage.

Toddler killed in freak car accident
(Land O' Lakes) -- A Land O' Lakes toddler is dead after a man accidentally backed over him in a motel parking lot. It happened last night, after Acie Levi Scott stopped by the Drexel Court Motel to do a good deed. He took his son's girlfriend, Cassie Robinstein, to the grocery store. She lives in an efficiency at the aging roadside motel and doesn't own a car. As the family returned and unloaded groceries, Robinstein's toddler son slipped into the parking lot. When Scott backed his pickup truck out of the lot, the vehicle ran over and killed toddler Michael Blackwell. No one is sure how Michael got outside. so far, the death is listed as an accident.

Agents investigating Tampa Technical Institute over grades and attendance
(Tampa) -- Federal agents have taken documents from Tampa Technical Institute, investigating whether the school lied about grades and attendance to keep federal money. Two search warrants say the U-S Department of Education suspects the vocational school was involved in fraud. Agents spent 17 hours searching the school and a storage facility earlier this week. They carried out boxes of documents, file cabinets, drawers and attendance rosters, among other items. Tampa Tech gets 90 percent of its money from federal sources. Former teachers say they were forced to change attendance records to make it appear absent students were coming to class. They also say a department chairperson ordered them to change grades so every student passed and to allow students to take tests repeatedly.

Magistrate ordering Cuban-American held without bond for smuggling refugee
(Miami) -- A federal magistrate is ordering a Cuban-American jailed withOUT bond on charges that he caused the death of a woman he was allegedly smuggling from Cuba to Florida. Gaspar Coll Gonzalez is being ordered held until his trial, which has NOT yet been scheduled. He and Jorge "Bombino" Aleman face possible life sentences if convicted of causing Cira Rodriguez's death last January. Aleman's bail hearing is scheduled today. Prosecutors say the ring picked up 22 Cubans last January on a 26-foot power boat near Villa Clara, Cuba. Aleman is accused of forcing seven passengers off the overloaded boat to gain speed and flee Cuban border guards, who rescued those left behind. The 15 who remained aboard were dropped off on the Bahamas' barren, uninhabited Anguilla Cay and left there for five days. Rodriguez died there.

Legislators to vote on budget cuts
(Tallahassee) -- State legislators are today scheduled to vote on about one (b) billion dollars in state budget cuts. The plan has already been agreed to by House and Senate leaders, in a deal made possible by Governor Jeb Bush's insistence that a tax break given earlier this year to people with investments be taken back for now. Once the Senate and House vote on the budget-cutting plan, it will be sent to Bush for final approval. On Wednesday, the House passed the measure delaying a cut to the intangibles tax, sealing the deal. Many Democrats, especially in the House, plan to vote against the bill. They've argued the Legislature didn't consider other ideas for generating money, including ending some tax exemptions and dipping further into state reserves.

Tampa judge says man on death row for 17 years deserves new trial
(Tampa) -- A Tampa judge says a man on death row since 1984 deserves a new trial, despite having his previous sentence upheld on appeal. Juan Melendez had been condemned for the murder of Delbert Baker in Polk County. The latest appeal was filed last fall and a hearing was this summer. In Wednesday's ruling, Circuit Judge Barbara Fleischer notes that there was NO physical evidence against Melendez. She also says jurors did NOT get to hear important facts about the state's two witnesses, which might have discredited their testimony. The jury also did NOT hear testimony from several other witnesses that a man by the name of Vernon James told them he had killed Baker. The defense says James was killed a couple of years after Melendez was sent to death row.

Judge delaying murder trial in "Jerry Springer Show" case
(Sarasota) -- A judge is delaying the Sarasota murder trial of a former guest of "The Jerry Springer Show" and has dismissed all potential jurors, saying they spoke among themselves and were tainted. Circuit Judge Nancy Donnellan will hold a hearing today to consider a change of venue. The earliest the trial could be held is in three weeks. Jury selection in the first-degree murder trial of Ralf Panitz began Monday and opening statements were scheduled for today. Panitz is accused of beating ex-wife Nancy Campbell-Panitz to death in July 2000, just hours after an episode of the Springer show featuring them aired. Panitz faces life in prison if convicted.