Your daily look at news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today.
SOURCES: JUSTIN BIEBER REACHES PLEA DEAL
Pop singer Justin Bieber will plead guilty to lesser charges over his arrest in South Florida in what police initially described as an illegal street race, two people involved in the case told The Associated Press. The two people said Tuesday that the 20-year-old star would plead guilty to misdemeanor careless driving and resisting arrest without violence charges, rather than the original driving under the influence charge. Bieber also will agree to take an anger management course and make a $50,000 charitable donation, in addition to paying court-ordered fines. The plea agreement does not call for any jail time.
MAN CHARGED WITH DEATH OF WOMAN NEAR BIKE PATH
Police have arrested a Clearwater man in the death of a 41-year-old woman whose body was found in a ditch near a popular bike path in Pinellas County. On Tuesday, police said they arrested Dewayne Jones and booked him into the county jail on a first-degree murder charge. Officials allege Jones killed Lydia Ann Tross of Clearwater. Tross was reported missing Aug. 5 after having an argument with her boyfriend.
JUDGE: STATE ATTORNEY VIOLATED RECORDS LAW
A judge has ruled that State Attorney Angela Corey’s office violated Florida public records law by sending investigators to tell a citizen who had requested records to stop doing so. Judge Karen Cole ruled in favor of Curtis Lee, a former attorney, awarding him legal fees estimated at about $20,000. Cole said Corey’s office never demonstrated why a visit by her investigators to Lee’s house was “necessary and appropriate,” as the law requires.
WOMAN SEEKS RETURN OF CHERISHED AMERICAN FLAG
Nearly two months after her American flag was stolen, a central Florida woman is still hoping for the return of the cherished banner that belonged to her deceased granddaughter. Arvine Walker had proudly flown the flag outside her Winter Haven home since January 2011, when Sgt. Amanda Older-Downing died from a rare form of cancer. The flag was stolen on June 18 while Walker was midway through a 40-minute phone call with her daughter.
MOTHER, COUSIN OF ‘THE ROCK’ INJURED IN DUI CRASH
Authorities in central Florida are investigating a traffic crash that injured the mother and cousin of professional wrestler and actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. According to Clermont police, officers stopped a vehicle believed to be driven by an impaired driver on Aug. 2. Police say the driver fled the stop, ran two nearby red lights, and struck a vehicle driven by a woman identified as Johnson’s mother. She and a passenger, Johnson’s cousin, were taken to the hospital with minor injuries.
