Florida
Gabriel Pellicer describes the Sing Out Loud Live Festival’s Wildly Showcase in downtown St. Augustine, Fla., as a convergence of history, passion and purpose.
“It’s a festival with a message,” explains Pellicer, who works as the CEO of SJC Portfolio Events, which manages Florida’s St. Augustine Amphitheater and Ponte Vedra Concert Hall and hosts a number of festivals in what historians say is the oldest city in the U.S., which is located about 40 miles southeast of Jacksonville and 70 miles east of Gainesville.
Over the weekend of Sept. 21 and 22, 27,000 music fans attended the annual showcase, which was headlined this year by Eric Church and Noah Kahan with appearances by marquee acts including Molly Tuttle and Norah Jones, Ryan Bingham with the Texas Gentlemen, JJ Grey & Mofro, Ole 60, The Breeders, Marcus King, Sierra Ferrell, Kevin Morby, and Nat & Alex Wolff. The showcase generated more than $160,000 from ticket sales in support of land conservation in St. Johns County and efforts to build a wildlife corridor between South and North Florida.
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“The primary intention is to try to keep as much wild Florida wild as possible,” Pellicer said.
“The idea for the [Sing Out Loud] Festival began in 2013 when Mumford & Sons brought their Gentlemen of the Road to St. Augustine,” Pellicer recalls. “It was a September event. Because we’re a historic town in Florida, the number one economy is tourism. And we have these peaks and these valleys. August and September usually tapers off, especially after Labor Day. School gets back in session, and it just slows down. And we saw that as an opportunity.”
Beyond the performances, this year’s Sing Out Loud Festival offered immersive experiences allowing fans to walk through a recreated wildlife corridor, navigate local state parks via interactive maps and interact with giant inflatable representations of Florida’s iconic panthers, manatees and alligators.
“It has been such an honor partnering with the festival and having such a big audience to be able to sing the praises of how cool wild Florida is,” says Sara Sheehy, director of storytelling and the lead adventurist for Live Wildly. “One of the things that I am super passionate about is getting people out to experience the real wild Florida and so when any of the bands here at Sing Loud express interest, I’m like, “Where do you wanna go? I’ll take you anywhere in wild Florida that you want to experience.”
That includes taking several artists to a Guano Reserve along an untouched stretch of coastline just north of St. Augustine.
“It has these pristine dunes we explored, then [we] jumped in the water and spent some time looking for shark’s teeth on the beach,” says Sheehy. “Any chance that I have to get artists or anybody, literally anybody, into the wild, that is the end goal for me. Getting them to experience the wildness and the beauty of this place. It is beautiful here.”
As the festival continues to grow, its commitment to pairing live music with meaningful community initiatives remains at the forefront. Sing Out Loud Festival organizers plan to build on their momentum in the years to come, expanding their live music footprint while building upon their conservation efforts in the Southeast of the state.
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Source: @USBPChiefMIP / Twitter
As homeowners in Florida deal with the structural and property damage inflicted by Hurricane Debby, some of its residents might want to check their re-up supply as 70 pounds of cocaine has washed up on the shores of the Florida Keys, reportedly
According to Raw Story the surprise find happened this past Monday, August 5, after the Category 1 hurricane pounded the Sunshine State with rain and high winds—and evidently broke open someone’s supply stash somewhere and let 25 tightly wrapped packages of nose candy out into the ocean, which ultimately led to it washing up on a beach.
Interestingly enough, the person who found the packages notified the authorities instead of rounding them up and becoming the new plug on the block. He obviously was not about that life whatsoever. We would’ve at least sent a wire to Rick Ross or something, allegedly. This is sarcasm.
U.S. Border Patrol acting chief patrol Agent Samuel Briggs II confirmed the wild find on X.
Raw Story reports:
The load of drugs, which Briggs reported was valued at more than $1 million, was discovered by a good Samaritan who contacted the authorities.
In July of 2023, the mayor of Tampa, Florida similarly discovered 70 pounds (31.7 kilograms) of cocaine that had been washed ashore in the Florida Keys, while enjoying a vacation day.
In addition to bringing cocaine, Debby has killed one person, knocked out power for hundreds of thousands of people, and could produce life-threatening storm surges as well as catastrophic flooding.
A million dollars worth of a cocaine. Someone could’ve moved it for half of that and been set for life. Just sayin’.
With news of this incredible find, don’t be surprised if you see a bunch of people with SUV’s parked near beaches for “no reason” next time another hurricane hits Florida. Could be a life-changing moment for someone.
What do y’all think of this? Would you have done the same or used those packages to become the new plug in town? Let us know in the comments section below.
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Julio Foolio, a Florida rapper who had issues with other artists in the state, was shot and killed outside a Florida hotel. According to chatter online, Julio Foolio reportedly shared his location, leading to the deadly ambush.
According to local outlet First Coast News, Julio Foolio, who hails from Jacksonville, Fla., was in Tampa celebrating his birthday at various locations around town. Social media chatter is suggesting Foolio, real name Charles Jones II, shared his location to a Tampa area hotel. The outlet also reports that Foolio was active on social media over the weekend and advertised a pool party in the region.
Tampa Police Department officials report that the shooting took place at a Home2 Suites hotel location early Sunday around 4:40 AM local time. Two cars parked at the hotel’s parking lot were riddled with gunfire and four people were reported injured with one deceased which was later identified to be the rapper.
Fans of Foolio and rapper Yungeen Ace are well aware that the pair are part of rival gang factions. Foolio was reportedly a member of the KTA gang while Ace is said to be a member of ATK. For years, the pair have gone back and forth with each other stemming back to the 2017 shooting death of Zion Brown, Foolio’s cousin. More details can be found in this 2021 article from First Coast News.
On X, formerly Twitter, fans and observers alike are speaking up about the shooting death of Julio Foolio while closely monitoring the socials of Yungeen Ace and others connected to that scene. We’ve got all the reactions listed below.
Julio Foolio was 26.
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Photo: Instagram
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Sean Kingston and his mother, Janice Louis, are currently facing charges of committing over $1 million in fraud after the Jamaican-American artist’s home was raided. Sean Kingston has since agreed not to fight extradition to Florida after he was arrested last week at a California Army base.
Authorities in Florida recently raided the rented Fort Lauderdale home of Sean Kingston, 34, and arrested Kingston’s mother, Janice Louis, 61, without incident as reported by outlets TMZ and The Associated Press.
According to the AP, Kingston waived the right to fight extradition on Tuesday (May 28) while in court in California and will subsequently be handed over to Florida law enforcement officials. Both Kingston and Louis were charged in the alleged fraud scheme. The report adds that while Kingston did not appear in a San Bernardino court, he was still jailed as of Tuesday afternoon, and it was confirmed that officials from the Broward County Sheriff’s Office will handle his transfer to Florida to face charges.
Last week, Kingston was performing at Fort Irwin, an Army training base in the Mojave Desert. During his arrest, Louis was taken away in handcuffs in Florida after a SWAT team raided Kingston’s Florida mansion.
The charges faced by Kingston and Louis are conducting an organized scheme to defraud, grand theft, identity theft, and related crimes. Among the items that were said to be stolen included a Cadillac Escalade, furniture, jewelry, and money.
Sean Kingston recently took to Instagram to state that he and his mother are in good spirits and that his attorneys are handling the matter.
It isn’t known when the extradition will occur but we will update this story as it happens.
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Photo: Getty
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Source: Mike Stobe / Getty
While the Hip-Hop culture was fixated and taken aback by Kendrick Lamar and Drake’s rap warfare over the weekend, Jim Jones was able to make some news himself as he found himself getting involved in a physical altercation at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
According to TMZ, the “We Fly High (Ballin’)” rapper got into a fistfight on an escalator with two older white men who obviously didn’t know that Jones was ’bout that life.
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In the video obtained by TMZ, Jones is seen arguing with one man before picking him up and throwing him down the escalator where he landed on another elderly man who ended up injured in the melee. Once Jones got to the bottom of the escalator the fight continued as another man began pounding away at the Harlem rapper while he was still fighting off the first guy who seemingly started the entire situation.
Per TMZ:
A woman rushes to turn off the escalator, but the fight continues despite protests from others hoping to get away from the violent scene.
Finally, a pair of officers break up the fight … with Jim letting go of the man he’s holding pretty quick — who appears to be gushing blood BTW. He protests, yelling, “It’s two of them against me,” but he allows the officer to lead him away and sit him in a chair.
One of the other individuals isn’t quite so calm … trying to pull out of a sheriff’s deputy’s grasp — though more officers arrive on the scene and stop him from going any further.
We reached out to Jim who tells TMZ Hip Hop … “I was minding my business and defended myself. They got what they were looking for.’
In the video Jones kept telling the officers that the men assaulted him. As he took his seat, the man who Jones was fighting was acting belligerent and giving the officers a hard time. Seems like Jim Jones was indeed standing up for himself if that man’s behavior is any indication.
Our only question is, where was Jones’ peoples? It’s not like him to roll around alone. Had he been with his crew, it would’ve been a wrap for those old men. Just sayin’.
Peep Jones speak on the situation below—he says he’s “alright.”
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Key Vhani, a rising rapper out of South Florida, was seen on video in a tussle with two men when she pulled out a firearm and opened fire, striking one of the men. Key Vhani was arrested after suffering injuries and was recently released on bond as she awaits trial for second-degree murder.
As seen on NBC Miami, Key Vhani, 27, was seen on surveillance video on October 8 having a discussion with what police say was her manager when things seemingly turned violent as the man raised his hand at her. Another man exited a parked white vehicle and the two knocked the rapper down but she managed to get herself up.
Vhani was then seen reaching into her bag for a firearm and began shooting at the men. As the man scrambled to get away, Vhani walked up to the man and fired more rounds. As this was happening, the parked car drove and struck Vhani, running her over in the process before driving off.
The artist born Kevhani Camilla Hicks was arrested and booked on second-degree murder charges and was jailed. She is now free on Bond as of Monday (November 27) and shared a message on Instagram to her nearly 23,000 fans.
From IG:
“Good morning to all of my supporters and fans! I’m finally home after experiencing something so traumatic and life changing. I have 3 broken ribs and bruises all over so I’m currently healing and getting rest,” she wrote. “I just want to personally thank everyone who supports me and knows that I’m not the horrible person some are claiming that I am. I can’t comment on the case at all, but I pray you all continue to stand by me and support me through this tragic time. I love you all to the moon and back!”
A public defender for Hicks says that their client was acting in self-defense. A trial date has yet to be announced.
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Photo: Key Vhani / @ibeenkey.vhani
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Kodak Black is the focus of a beef between two politicians in Florida, with one declaring him “out of control” recently.
Last Wednesday (Nov. 22), Kodak Black became the flashpoint for another politician’s political attack on a Florida state politician. Richard Ryles, who is running for the Palm Beach County Commission seat, took aim at his fellow Democrat and opponent in the race, state Senator Bobby Powell for honoring the rapper with a proclamation. Ryles aired out his grievances in a statement to The Palm Beach Post.
“As an African-American, our community is well known for its forgiving nature and faith in redemption,” Ryles said in the statement which was emailed to the media outlet. “As an African-American man, I do want to see a redeemed Bill Kapri [aka Kodak Black] in his future dealings. Nevertheless, his recent spate of arrests indicate that he has yet to find his moral North Star and may well be spinning out of control due to drug use.”
“Mr. Kapri’s past misdeeds are well known and very public, and to provide a proclamation by honoring him for the charitable giving of turkeys, in my opinion, was more harmful than helpful to his potential redemption as a citizen,” the candidate wrote further. Since being pardoned by Trump in one of his final acts as president in 2021, Kodak Black has been exhibiting erratic behavior, most notably in his appearance on the Drink Champs podcast in October where he looked to be highly unstable.
Ryles further criticized Powell’s move to honor Kodak Black, a celebrity who has been highly vocal in their support of former President Donald Trump. “As a leader within the Democratic Party, I would have thought that Senator Powell would have exercised greater caution than to allow photographs of he with Mr. Kapri outfitted in MAGA gear, head to toe,” Ryles statement continued. Powell would issue a rebuttal statement afterward. ”By Mr. Ryles’ elitist logic, a man is to be strictly judged by a single act, not the totality of his life,” he wrote. “There is no forgiveness, no second chances, no redemption, just ongoing punishment, the kind that brought us an overpopulation of Black men in prison with no future and no hope.”
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Source: Innocence Project of Florida / Innocence Project of Florida
A Black man exonerated after spending 16 years wrongfully convicted in prison in Florida was shot and killed by a deputy in Georgia.
According to reports, Leonard Cure was pulled over by a Camden County deputy in the state of Georgia on Monday (Oct. 16). The traffic stop took place on Interstate 95 at the Florida-Georgia state line. When asked by the deputy to step out of his vehicle, Cure was compliant but became angry when told he would be arrested. The deputy fired his taser after allegedly being assaulted by Cure.
That compelled the deputy to fire his taser again then use his baton, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. The deputy would then fire his gun, shooting Cure as he continued to resist. GBI spokesperson Stacy Carson said that the unidentified deputy is white. The GBI has also begun investigating the incident as is customary in the state and confirmed that it would forward all data to the Brunswick Judicial Circuit that governs Camden County as well as the district attorney.
Cure, 53, had previously been wrongfully convicted for an armed robbery in Dania Beach, Florida, in 2003. He had been sentenced to life in prison due to previous criminal convictions. In 2020, the Conviction Review Unit of the Broward State Attorney asked a judge to set Cure free. The unit found “troubling” information detailing Cure’s solid alibis being ignored as well as no physical evidence tying him to the crime being present.
After an independent review board of five lawyers agreed with the unit’s report, Cure was released in April 2020 after getting his sentence modified. In December 2020, his conviction was vacated. “I’m looking forward to putting this situation behind me and moving on with my life,” he told the South Florida Sun Sentinel afterward. In June 2023, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill granting Cure $817,000 in financial compensation along with education credits. Cure had reportedly received the restitution in August.
Cure had been driving home to an Atlanta suburb after visiting his ill mother when detained, according to Innocence Project Florida executive president Seth Miller. Miller was one of the lawyers who worked to get Cure freed. “Lenny was a good soul, cared about people,” he said to reporters. “He was getting his life back together.”
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YNW Melly has been given a charge of witness tampering by Florida prosecutors as he’s approaching a retrial for double murder.
According to reports, Broward County prosecutors charged YNW Melly with witness tampering on Wednesday (October 4) ahead of his retrial for double murder. They allege that the rapper, who is affiliated with the Bloods street gang, used phone calls by other jail inmates at his request as well as letters passed between them to get messages out to other Blood members on the street. Those gang members then made sure a key witness in the case didn’t testify, said prosecutors.
YNW Melly, also known as Jamell Demons, remains incarcerated without bond. He and Cortlen “YNW Bortlen” Henry are accused of shooting and killing Christopher “YNW Juvy” Thomas and Anthony “YNW Sakchaser” Williams inside of an SUV after a late-night recording session in 2018 and then staging it to look like a drive-by shooting. If convicted, YNW Melly faces a potential death sentence. The first trial ended in July with a hung jury which voted 9-3 to convict.
YNW Bortlen was arrested on Monday (October 2) in Miami-Dade County for witness tampering. A co-defendant in the double murder trial, YNW Bortlen was on house arrest when detained with documents detailing the charge as “misleading conduct toward another person with the intent to cause or induce (that person) to withhold testimony”.
The rapper’s legal team is set to appear in court on Friday and plans to present a case before Broward County Circuit Judge John J. Murphy that Broward County State Attorney Harold Pryor and lead prosecutor Kristine Bradley conspired to cover up information about the lead detective, Mark Moretti of the Miramar Police Department, in the case. They aim to call for Bradley’s dismissal.
“This is a transparent and desperate attempt by the State Attorney’s office to distract the public from the deposition of an Assistant State Attorney who accused this case’s lead detective and lead prosecutor of felonies by falsifying and covering up evidence damaging to the state’s case,” Raven Liberty, YNW Melly’s attorney, said of the additional charge.
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The shooting in Jacksonville that was enacted by a gunman who targeted Black people was revealed to be a white supremacist by authorities investigating the matter. The shooting took place over the weekend, claiming three victims and officials are still piecing together the evidence leading up to the fatal event.
The shooting took place Saturday afternoon at a Florida Dollar General store in Jacksonville, Fla. around 2 PM local time.
Jacksonville County Sheriff T.K. Waters shared in a news conference that the shooter left behind disturbing messages on his computer and that he altered his father about where to find his writings ahead of firing a rifle similar in scope to an AR-15 weapon inside the store. The gun, according to reports, was adorned with swastikas, and the shooter was also armed with a handgun.
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“This shooting was racially motivated and he hated Black people,” Sheriff Waters, who is Black, said over the weekend at the news conference. “He wanted to kill n*ggers.”
According to a report from the Associated Press, the 21-year-old white male shooter took his own life shortly after the shooting. While details of his manifestos have not been shared publicly since this is a recent matter, authorities say that his writings were motivated by racist ideology and hate speech.
Gov. Ron DeSantis attended a Sunday afternoon vigil in honor of the three Jacksonville shooting victims but was loudly booed when he took the microphone to speak to the crowd. DeSantis, who is Republican and running for his party’s presidential nomination, has made obtaining high-powered guns easier in the state due to freeing up gun laws and has been critical of issues important to Black people such as critical race theory.
Sheriff Waters identified the names of the victims during the press conference. Angela Carr, 52, was shot while sitting in her care. Dollar General employee A.J. Laguerre, 19, was shot as he tried to run away. Customer Jerrald Gallion, 29, was shot as he entered the Dollar General.
The gunman’s name has not been revealed.
[h/t NewsOne]
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Photo: Getty
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