Page 4 - Patrick Rose News Today

TAMPA, Fla. — Two Florida manatees whose living conditions at a Miami aquarium sparked online outrage have been escorted across the state by a caravan of wildlife officials to their

The new contract comes after 18 months of negotiations and makes it harder for officers involved in certain crimes to stay on the force.

Three manatees were moved — two to ZooTampa, one to SeaWorld in Orlando

Wildlife experts say there’s enough seagrass in the northern Indian River Lagoon to sustain manatees for the winter.

Contract provisions include discipline reforms that feature a list of serious offenses that would not be eligible for arbitration, a process that some fired police officers use to claw their jobs back or overturn discipline.

Eighteen months of “intense” negotiations led to a new five-year deal between the city and its largest police union, a “groundbreaking” agreement that includes a 9%  raise in salary and significant reforms around officer discipline and overtime.

Cynthia Stringfield had barely slept by the time she reached the Miami Seaquarium parking lot early Tuesday morning. She had been awake since 4 a.m. and was restless the night before. The day she’d anticipated for weeks was finally here: It was manatee moving day, and Stringfield was going along for the five-hour ride to Tampa. This was not just any manatee. This was Romeo, a 2,100-pound hunk ...

The animals have swam on this earth for more than six decades. A new care facility may extend their long life.

The new contract means that officers will no longer be able to dispute termination in the cases of some violations, and that civilian contractors may be able to take over police details.

For the past two winters, Florida wildlife biologists have experimented hand-feeding lettuce to hungry manatees in the Indian River Lagoon as the animals’ natural food source, seagrass, was in short supply from pollution problems. This winter, though, there won’t be another feeding trial. Wildlife experts say there are two main reasons for that decision: There’s enough seagrass in the Mosquito ...