Orlando New Year's Eve 2020 - The Masquerade

The cold weather we've felt over the past few days has manatees searching for warmer waters. Hundreds of sea cows are floating around the constant 72 degree spring water at Blue Spring State Park. Non-profit Save the Manatee operates two live cameras at the park, one above-water and one below-water. Manatees are at risk of suffering from cold stress if the water they're in drops below 68 degrees. You can see more live webcams at various Florida state parks here. Heads up for all manatee enthusiasts: Save the Manatee is holding a manatee festival this weekend at Blue Spring State Park!

Jim Lehrer, the debate moderator and journalist who co-founded “PBS NewsHour” and spent the next 36 years anchoring the show has died, PBS announced Thursday. He was 85. PBS officials said Lehrer died “peacefully in his sleep at his home” Thursday in Washington, according to the network and The New York Times. “With heavy hearts we report the death of PBS NewsHour co-founder Jim Lehrer at age 85,” employees of news show wrote Thursday afternoon in a tweet. “A giant in journalism, his tenacity and dedication to simply delivering the news remain the core of our work.” Lehrer retired in 2011, 36 years after he and his friend Robert MacNeil co-founded “PBS NewsHour,' according to CNN. The show, then called “The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour,” was the only hour-long national news broadcast to air nightly in the country at the time of its debut. “I’m heartbroken at the loss of someone who was central to my professional life, a mentor to me and someone whose friendship I’ve cherished for decades,” Judy Woodruff, who in 2013 succeeded Lehrer on the anchor desk at PBS NewsHour,” said in a statement. “I’ve looked up to him as the standard for fair, probing and thoughtful journalism and I know countless others who feel the same way.” Tributes poured in from colleagues and watchers alike, including from Fox News’ Bret Baier, who called Lehrer “an inspiration to a whole generation of political journalists— including this one.' Dan Rather said “few approached their work with more equanimity and integrity than Jim Lehrer.” And Jake Tapper of CNN called Lehrer “a wonderful man and a superb journalist.” Lehrer was best known for his anchoring work, but he also moderated a dozen presidential debates and wrote several novels four plays and three memoirs, according to The New York Times. Prior to joining PBS, Lehrer worked as a reporter for Dallas public television station KERO, the Dallas Morning News, the Dallas Times-Herald and the National Public Affairs Center for Television. Lehrer was born May 19, 1934. He attended Victoria College in Texas before studying journalism at the University of Missouri. He served for three years as an infantry officer in the U.S. Marine Corps, according to PBS. He is survived by his wife of nearly 60 years, Kate Staples; his daughters Jamie, Lucy and Amanda and six grandchildren. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

A Pennsylvania woman has been charged with the extreme neglect of her son, who was hospitalized in October weighing 26 pounds. The boy is 16 years old. Elisabet Estrada, 41, of Chambersburg, is charged with aggravated assault and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, Franklin County court records show. She remained in the county jail Thursday, unable to post her $25,000 bond. Editor’s note: This story contains graphic details that may be disturbing for some readers.  The Chambersburg Public Opinion reported that Chambersburg police officers were called to the family’s home early on the morning of Oct. 24 to help caseworkers with Franklin County Children and Youth Services. Estrada’s 16-year-old son had been admitted to Penn State Hershey Medical Center in a state of extreme malnourishment the night before. He was hospitalized after Estrada took him there for genetic testing, CBS21 in Harrisburg reported. An endocrinologist told police the boy was suffering from “psychosocial dwarfism,” meaning his condition was due to a lack of proper nutrition. Estrada’s three other children “appeared to be in good general health,” an affidavit in the case states, according to the Public Opinion. CBS21 reported that one of the boy’s siblings is a 16-year-old girl, though the station did not say if the pair are twins. The document alleges that the teen was “very frail, gaunt, ribs extremely evident and ravenously hungry.” He “laid in bed in the fetal position in a way that appeared as though he didn't have the ability to stretch out in his bed.” Investigators wrote in the affidavit that the boy “ruminated his food” at the hospital -- he ate the food, threw it up and then ate it again. Police described the boy’s actions as eating as though he couldn’t get enough food at home, the newspaper reported. According to the Mayo Clinic, the precise cause of rumination syndrome is unclear, but it can be related to a number of issues, including developmental disabilities in children or an increase in abdominal pressure. “Rumination syndrome is more likely to occur in people with anxiety, depression or other psychiatric disorders,” the Mayo Clinic website says. The disorder can lead to weight loss, malnutrition, esophageal damage and other problems. The court records allege that Estrada had not used any therapy or early intervention for her son since 2005, when he was 3 years old. Police officials said the boy is developmentally delayed and nonverbal. Fox43 in York reported that Estrada told police her son, who was born in December 2002, weighed 6 pounds at birth. At the time of his last medical visit, in January 2005, he weighed 22 pounds. When he was next seen by a doctor 14 years later, he weighed only 3 pounds more, the court records show. The affidavit indicates the teen was seen at a walk-in clinic in February 2019, at which point he weighed 34 pounds, Fox43 said. His weight had dropped by about 5 pounds in April, when he was seen at Penn State Hershey. It was unclear if Children and Youth Services became involved in the boy’s case during his April visit to the hospital. The Public Opinion reported that Estrada railed in October at the genetics specialist treating her son, insisting that he “has no medical issues that require hospitalization,” the court records show. She “voiced anger” at the specialist and, saying she “did everything” for her son, said she did not understand why she could not treat him at home. She also could not comprehend why she had no say when he was admitted immediately into acute care at the hospital, the newspaper reported. The boy gained 2.2 pounds during his first two days of treatment, the court records show. Upon his discharge after about two months of treatment, he weighed 45 pounds. He had also grown taller while under the hospital’s care. The police investigation showed that Estrada did not have a primary care provider for the boy. She claimed the boy received medical care through Early Intervention Services, March of Dimes, Keystone Peds and Penn State Hershey, the Public Opinion reported. She home-schooled her children, and it appeared the teen “had limited interaction outside of the mother and three other children,” the affidavit says. A specialist with Penn State Hershey was consulted by police on Jan. 13, CBS21 reported. The doctor offered the opinion that the boy’s emaciated condition was caused by malnutrition and medical neglect -- and that his mother was to blame. Estrada “failed to seek appropriate medical care from an early age until he was 16 years of age and failed to appropriately feed him,” the affidavit says. Estrada was jailed on the charges Friday. Her preliminary hearing is scheduled for next week. The whereabouts of her other three children were not publicly disclosed.

Michelle Carter walked out of the Bristol County House of Correction just before 9:30 a.m. Thursday after she was released more than three months early from her 15-month sentence. Her case drew international attention and became the subject of a popular documentary after she was convicted for urging her boyfriend to kill himself. But behind the walls of this prison, Carter’s life has been relatively routine since she arrived in February of last year. Carter was sentenced to 15 months in prison for involuntary manslaughter in 2017 for sending text messages urging her boyfriend, Conrad Roy, to kill himself. He died by suicide in 2014. “She really actually was a model inmate. She got involved in various programs: hospitality, culinary, the service aid program. She was involved in the kitchen working as kitchen help, got involved in the recovery program, so she was very busy,” said Bristol County Sheriff Tom Hodgsen. Hodgsen said Carter’s ability to stay busy means she’s getting out early. “She’s earned her good time through those programs, and she’ll be released tomorrow sometime after 9 o’clock,” Hodgsen said Wednesday. Carter, now 23 years old, will remain on probation for five years after she’s released. Often, inmates with high-profile cases can be a challenge in correctional facilities. But Hodgsen said they did not have issues with Carter. “We didn’t really have many concerns in regard to her other than making sure her mental health state was good coming in and that it maintained its health condition until she was released and that seemed to go well,” Hodgsen said. Roy’s family says they are trying not to focus on Carter but on a passing a bill called Conrad’s Law, which would make it illegal to coerce someone who you know is vulnerable into suicide. The bill calls for a punishment of up to five years in prison.

A once-Internet-famous Oklahoma zookeeper will spend decades in jail for trying to murder a Florida animal sanctuary founder. Known for his blonde mullet and expletive-laden rants on YouTube, Maldonado-Passage, also known as 'Joe Exotic,' appeared on John Oliver’s “Last Week Tonight” when he was a 2016 write-in candidate for president. The next year, he announced his candidacy as a Libertarian candidate for Oklahoma governor, ultimately finishing third in a three-way primary. This year, he's looking at 22 years in prison for a murder-for-hire plot which targeted a Florida animal sanctuary founder, Carole Baskin, who outspokenly criticized his treatment of animals. He also is accused of killing five tigers, selling tiger cubs and falsifying wildlife records. On his Facebook page, Maldonado-Passage writes, “I still maintain my innocence and looking forward in the upcoming days to my attorneys filing my appeal and moving onto the next step in this nightmare.” Mobile users see video here. Last April, he was convicted after a jury heard he paid a man $3,000 to travel to Florida and kill Baskin. He promised more money upon her death. The argument said Maldonado-Passage was upset that Baskin had won a million-dollar civil judgment against him. After that failed, he offer $10,000 to another man to do the job. But THAT man was an undercover FBI agent who recorded their conversation and played it back during the trial. The whole court room heard Maldonado-Passage tell the agent, “Just like follow her into a mall parking lot and just cap her and drive off.” Even though Maldonado-Passage’s attorneys had fought for lenience on the grounds of their client’s poor health and clean criminal record, the prosecutors ended up being satisfied with the sentencing.

Going through evidence built up from impeachment hearings on Ukraine, U.S. House prosecutors used their first full day of Senate trial arguments to make the case that President Donald Trump should be convicted of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress charges, but so far their efforts have not caused any GOP Senators to publicly call for new witnesses or documents in the Senate trial. 'I welcome Speaker Pelosi to compel (John) Bolton or anyone else to come into the House and testify,' said Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), who joined other Republican Senators in saying it was the job of the House to hold evidentiary hearings - not the Senate. 'Most Senators will be pretty well informed on which way they are going to vote and won't need any additional information,' said Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY), who echoed other Republicans on the evidence presented by House Democrats. 'I stayed awake, but I didn't hear anything new,' Barrasso told reporters just off the Senate floor. 'What we ought to be presented is evidence by witnesses that have personal knowledge,' said Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX). 'That should have been done in the House, and not here in the Senate.' Beginning up to 24 hours of opening arguments, House impeachment managers used over seven hours of time as they started Wednesday to lay out the basics of their case against President Donald Trump, arguing the evidence is overwhelming. 'President Trump has acted in a manner grossly incompatible with self-governance,' said Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), the lead House impeachment manager. 'His conduct has violated his oath of office and his constitutional duty to faithfully execute the law,' Schiff added from the Senate floor. 'Everybody was in the loop,' Schiff said Wednesday night, pressing the case that from President Trump on down, top officials knew what was happening with respect to Ukraine and efforts to force the government to announce investigations which would benefit the President's 2020 re-election bid. While Senators are required to be in their seats for the impeachment proceedings, some Democrats complained that a number of GOP Senators had left the chamber during the House manager arguments. 'We do have a series of our colleagues, particularly on the other side of the aisle, who seem to get up quite a bit, and often leave the chamber for extended periods of time,' Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) told CNN. 'I guess they just don't want to listen to the rest of the House testimony,' Menendez added. The trial will resume at 1 pm ET on Thursday.