Comment on More than half of Manatee students score below state averages on new state tests

The Mai-Kai is once again ready to rum, baby, rum. Four years after a burst sprinkler pipe tore a hole in the ceiling in October 2020 — and three weeks after its original reopening date — Oakland Park’s tiki icon has marked its long-awaited rebirth with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday and started taking reservations for service to begin on Friday. “The Mai-Kai’s legacy is iconic,” new managing partner Bill Fuller said in a company statement.

MIAMI GARDENS — Miami Dolphins second-year running back De’Von Achane continues to be one of the NFL’s most electric, exciting players to watch. And better yet, he is seen with the ball in his hands more and more as he handles his increased workload in Year 2 without issue. Achane has stormed past last year’s total touches, 168 in 10 games this year after having 130 in 11 games in 2023.

By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER WASHINGTON (AP) — A high-ranking leader of a Mexican drug cartel who lived in the U. S. under a phony identity after faking his own death has been arrested on federal charges, the Justice Department said Thursday. Cristian Fernando Gutierrez Ochoa — the son-in-law of the fugitive Jalisco New Generation cartel boss known as “El Mencho” — was arrested this week on drug trafficking and money laundering offenses in Riverside, California, where he had been living using a fake name after fleeing Mexico, prosecutors said. Prosecutors say Gutierrez Ochoa, 37, faked his own death and fled to the U.

By MARY CLARE JALONICK, STEPHEN GROVES and KEVIN FREKING WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump’s allies on Capitol Hill rallied around Pete Hegseth, Trump’s Pentagon pick, on Thursday even as new details surfaced about allegations that he had sexually assaulted a woman in 2017. The GOP embrace of Hegseth came as another controversial Trump nominee, Matt Gaetz, withdrew from consideration for attorney general.

U. S. intelligence officials warned American defense companies on Thursday to increase security precautions following several acts of sabotage in Europe that officials have blamed on Russia. The public bulletin issued by the National Counterintelligence and Security Center advised companies involved in defense work — particularly those providing support to Ukraine in its war against Russia — to step up their defenses in the face of Russia’s escalating aggression toward Ukraine’s allies. “Russia’s sabotage activities in Europe increase the risk to U.

A week ago, Matt Gaetz was on his way to becoming Donald Trump’s avenging angel as U. S. Attorney General, the nation’s top law enforcement official. But now that the former Florida congressman has withdrawn his nomination amid persistent questions about his involvement in a sex scandal involving a 17-year-old girl, his political prospects are not so clear. “His future is not as bright as it once was,” said Aubrey Jewett, a political science professor at the University of Central Florida.