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Police in London are continuing their investigation into the stabbing death of the wife of an FSU professor teaching in the UK. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, the murder took place on the couples final night in London.

Police in London believe the rampage, which took the life of 64 year old Darlene Horton and injured five others, was the work of a 19 madman and not terror related. Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley says the investigation, though, is continuing.

“I emphasize that so far we have found no evidence of radicalization that would suggest  that the man we have in custody is in any way motivated by terrorism” says the Asst. Commissioner.

This picture Horton was taken with her daughter Shannon this summer in London. In a texted statement, Shannon told us in part, “I will never forget her heart of service, her love of traveling, and her smile that warmed the hearts of all who knew her.

Horton was in London, as she has been for the last four summers, while husband Richard Wagner taught  psychology to about 30 visiting students. Dr. Jim Pitts is in charge of FSU’s International Program.

“We normally send about two thousand students abroad each year. On his program, it’s

We’re being told that the couple was together, out for for a final walk just before dusk, on the night before they were due to come home.

The murder took place outside a block square park know as Russel Square.

“Russel Square is a very beautiful park, not far from our study center and it’s very tranquil” says Pitts.

There were 214 fatal stabbings in all of England and Scotland last year. Here in Florida alone, there were 106.

The couple had been in London for 8 weeks.

Horton was stabbed from behind with no chance of defending herself. FSU has spoken to Husband Richard and says he is calm. Arrangements to bring the remains home are incomplete.

Florida Governor Rick Scott was among the first to indorse Donald Trump and this week recommitted his support for the Donald, saying he is the jobs candidate, but as Mike Vasilinda tells us, Scott dodged a question about Trumps efforts to hire foreign nationals to work in Florida.

Donald Trumps Make America Great Again message is one of the reasons he’s the GOP nominee.

On Wednesday in Jacksonville he told reporters his campaign is all about American jobs.

“It’s about bringing our jobs back. Our jobs are being decimated. we are losing our companies” says Trump.

”I’m Hillary Clinton.” But a new ad from the Clinton Campaign takes Trump to task for manufacturing many of his products overseas.

“Where are the shirts made? Bangladesh” That’s good. we employ people in Bangladesh. Ties..where are the ties made? Beautiful ties.They are great ties. They’re made where, in China. China” says the ad, which shows Trump talking to David Letterman.

Last month Trump filed paperwork with the Department of Labor, saying that  he couldn’t find enough Americans willing to work as Housekeeps, cooks, and servers at two properties in Palm Beach.

Those jobs reportedly pay between 10.17 and 12.74 an hour.

“I have a choice” Rick Scott said this week, contrasting the two main Presidential candidates.

Scott has repeatedly said his support of Trump is because they share the same concerns about jobs, but Scott this week sidestepped a question about trump seeking to hire foreigners.

Q:”He says he can’t find enough people in Florida to do those jobs.”

A:”Well, you can talk to Donald Trump about what he’s doing with his business. But here’s what I can tell you. I want…I’m proud the private sector in our state has added 1,127,000 jobs” says Scott.

Scott is also serving as the Chairman the Rebuild America Now which produced a spot criticizing Clinton for saying no law could stop outsourcing.

The back to school sales tax holiday weekend begins tonight at midnight and runs through midnight Sunday night. School itms under 15 dollars are free from the sales tax as are clothing that sells for less than sixty dollars. This years event is shorter than the one days last year, and because of that James Miller with the Florida Retail Federation expects stores to be especially busy.

“Behind Black Friday (this is) the second most popular shopping weekend in Florida. It’s going to be very crowded. We suggest people do a little research ahead of time. Identify the items you want to buy. More importantly, identify the stores you want to buy them at because there will be crowds, there will be lots of people, so try to make this as easy and painless shopping experience as possible” says Miller.

Miller expects the average family will spend $673 dollars, up from 640 last year. The set will forgo just under 29 million in revenue that is being passed on to consumers.

Retailers, restaurants, and environmentalists are all part of a coalition joking referred to as “Baptists and Bootleggers” backing Amendment 4,. The amendment is on the August 30th primary ballot. It allows state lawmakers to remove the tax on solar arrays installed on businesses. State Senator Jeff Brandes says removing the tax will create jobs and save energy.

“This constitutional amendment is very straight forward. It simply allows for us to exempt    from taxation, an onerous tax for solar panels. When people try to do the right thing, by installing solar panels on top of their roofs, they should be taxed for doing the right thing” says Brandes.

Voters approved a similar exemption for home solar arrays in 2008.

The Dozier School for Boys, a state run reform school where nearly 100 people died and countless others told horrible tales of abuse – could be getting a memorial soon. Matt Galka reports from the Panhandle’s Jackson County, the site of the now shuttered school, and shows us that there are no easy answers about what to do with the site.

Jerry Cooper was sent to the Florida school for boys in 1961.

“I walked into hell,” he said.

Cooper endured notorious beatings at Dozier. He is part of the “White House Boys;” a group of men that tell stories of the abuse that happened at the state run reform school.

Stephen Britt’s uncle was one of the bodies recovered at the site.

“He was stabbed the day before he was supposed to be released,” said Britt.

Both men are part of the task force charged with creating a memorial for the victims of the school, and figuring out where unclaimed remains should go.

The task force has the option of keeping the remains on site or moving them elsewhere and creating a memorial. The difficult decision put the two men on opposite sides of the issue. It even caused a heated flare up during discussion.

“Burying them together in death will send a signal out that Jackson County and Marianna has evolved into the next level of humanity,” said Britt.

Cooper disagrees, and says victims want to move on.

“They should not be re-interned on that property. It’s just that they were found in very ungodly situations in that cemetery,” he said.

Historian David Jackson says the town and county cant just gloss over the schools history.

“It would be a slap in the face to some people if you take the bodies and you bury them somewhere else and you make it appear that Dozier didn’t exist,” he said.

The task force has until October 1st to submit recommendations. Another meeting featuring public comment will be held on August 19th.

Voters requesting mail in ballots, and those who vote in person may be surprised to see that there is a constitutional amendment on this months  primary ballot. Amendment Four limits tax increases for businesses installing renewable energy devices, and as Mike Vasilinda tells us, lawmakers put it on the August ballot to remove confusion.

It is called Amendment four, but it ’s the only amendment on the August ballot. It limits tax increases for businesses that install solar or other renewable energy devices. Lee Country State Rep. Ray Rodrigues says the current system has actually kept companies from moving to renewables.

“So some businesses that have engaged in solar has seen their property values go up, which increases their property taxes, and received a tangible personal property tax, and they end up paying more in taxes than they are saving in their energy” says Rodrigues.

This week, a political action committee called stop playing favorites was launched.

“Amendment four gives big tax breaks to the big solar companies and corporations. Its not for you” is the message of an ad on the groups website.

Conservative Radio host Jason Hoyt is behind the PAC.

“This is not a free market principle. This is the Legislature carving out an exemption for one industry” says Hoyt.

The reason amend four is on this month’s primary ballot is because the utilities successfully put an industry friendly amendment on the November ballot, and sponsors were worried  that voters would get confused, thinking they would have to choose one over the other.

Sponsor Rodrigues says that if voters approve of four, the state might have start living up to its moniker of the sunshine state.

“Florida would lead, would move from one of the the bottom ten states in solar to one of a top ten states” says the Sponsor.

Sixty percent, or six out of every ten voters are needed for the amendment to pass.

Voters approved the same break for homeowners by a narrow margin in 2008.

A top Florida GOP strategist has quit the Republican Party and registered as an independent because she is troubled with Donald Trump’s rhetoric.

But as Mike Vasilinda tells us, Both Governor Rick Scott and Attorney General Pam Bondi remain strong Trump supporters.
Sally Bradshaw was Jeb Bush’s chief of staff and strongest loyalist. In 2012 she was one of five people in the entire nation  tasked with rebuilding the Republican party.

“I’m hoping it will be a roadmap for the future that the party will actually ct on, but we are leaving no stone unturned” Bradshaw told us back in 2013.

But Donald trump has caused Bradshaw to reregister as an independent.  She told CNN she will vote for Hillary Clinton if the race is close in Florida. And in a text message dealing an on camera interview, she told us that she wanted to low key the statement going forward.

While Sally Bradshaw may be leaving the GOP, Trumps biggest boosters in Florida politics are not.

Attorney General Pam Bondi was one of the first to endorse Trump.

“Are you rethinking your support of Donald Trump in anyway” we asked.

“I’m Not. And let me say, I’m not going to talk politics here today” responded Bondi.

Governor Rick Scott was quick to point out:

“I’m never going to agree with every candidate on everything they are going to say. I know who I am. care about the military, I care about law enforcement. Look, I was blessed to have the opportunity to serve this country.”

But Scott, who is chairman of a super Pac supporting Trump, says trump is still his choice.

“I have Donald Trump over here who knows how to create jobs. Over here, I have Hillary Clinton, a career politician who has never created a job in her life. So to me, its an easy choice.”

But in the Capitol city Jeb Bush ruled for eight years, signs of discontent continue to pop up.

Both Scott and Bondi said they would not have criticized the parents of Iraqi war veteran and deceased hero Captain Humayun Kahn.

For the first time, the Centers for Disease Control is warning people not to travel to an American neighborhood. The reason – Zika is being spread in south Florida. As Matt Galka tells us, with 14 people infected that we know of, the Governor is confident Florida can handle it.

Florida’s top elected officials led off the only cabinet meeting of the summer with perhaps the most pressing issue facing the state; Zika.

“We have 14 cases of what we believe is locally transmitted Zika in the state of Florida,” said Gov. Rick Scott (R-Florida).

Florida became the first state where mosquitoes are infecting people domestically – all within a small area north of downtown miami – but health officials have yet to find a mosquito carrying the virus.

“This is a situation where, while it is scary, it is well within our ability to control and eradicate,” said Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam.

Local transmission of the virus has prompted England health officials to warn pregnant women not to travel to Florida.

“If you’re concerned, wear long sleeves, long pants, things like that. We’re doing everything we can to make everyone comfortable. I think we’ll continue to see tourists, will 115 million tourists. Just remember – it’s one square mile, and we’re doing everything we can to prevent that from spreading,” said Gov. Scott.

He also called on Washington to help stop the spread.

“Whatever they do they have to start working together to the extent of if the President can allocate more dollars, he should allocate more dollars down here. If Congress needs to come back and do their job, yea they ought to do their job,” he said.

A more than one billion dollar prevention plan was left in limbo when Congress took a seven week break for the summer.

Florida is also receiving more than $700,000 dollars from the CDC to monitor potential birth defects stemming from the Zika virus.  The Governor has already pledged more than $26 million dollars in state funds.

More than a million registered voters in Florida are being denied the right to decide who represents them in the legislature. And as Mike Vasilinda tells us, another 3 hundred fifty thousand voters won’t have a say on who prosecutes crime in their area.

Registered Democrats and Independents in Jacksonville are out of luck when it comes to electing their state attorney. Four people are running for the job, three Republicans and a write in. And it is that write in’s presence that closed the election to more than 350 thousand Democrats and Independents who can no longer vote.

Elections veteran Ion Sancho calls the exclusion a sham.

“What’s the likelihood of a write-in winning” we asked.

“Near Nil” says Sancho.

The red districts on this map show that virtually every major media market has a legislative race that has been closed by a write in candidate.

It doesn’t cost a dime to become a write-in candidate, and both parties are equally guilty of of recruiting someone to close the process.

The constitution requires open primaries if all candidates are from the same party, but Sancho blames poor drafting that allowed the state to close primaries with a write in.

“The candidate, even a sham candidate is opposition in the fall and thus in fact, we have to really rewrite this provision if you want to get the intended process of an open, universal primary” says the veteran elections official.

Bill Pender was updating his registration when we met him.

“Should they be allowed to keep you from voting for someone?”

I don’t think so. No I think we should be able to vote” says Pender.

But lawmakers have refused again and agains to make a change to the write in process, because as the map shows, they use it to their advantage.

The Florida Supreme has agreed to listen to arguments over the write in exclusion in the Jacksonville State Attorney’s race, but no decision is expected before the August 30th primary.

Indicted Congresswoman Corrine Brown was in the state Capital this weekend, campaigning for her newly drawn congressional seat five. We caught up with her at the elections Supervisor’s office. Her trail was recently postponed until October. We asked if shoe would seek another delay, until after November, if she is the primary winner.

“Why do you think they filed right up to my primary. The prosecutor said that Corrine Brown would not win her election. Now, why would a prosecutor be involved  in telling one of my attorneys I would not win my election. In the past they have not got involved in elections, so the point is, I’m going to let my team attorneys handle that and I’m going to work on getting the message out on the work that I’ve done that speaks for itself.”

“That’s a yes, then. You will seek a delay in the trial?”

That is…I’m not speaking for my attorneys, I’m speaking for Corrine Brown”.

Brown’s trial was originally scheduled for September 6th. It is now scheduled for October.

Midnight Monday is the deadline for registering to vote in the August 30th primary, but if you are already registered, you can still makes changes to your registration, such as a new address, says veteran elections supervisor Ion Sancho.

“When an individual goes from one county to another, when they move, they no longer have to re-register to vote. So if you are already registered to vote, today is not a deadline. You have up to and including election day to change your address so you can vote normally.”

More than two million mail in ballots have already been sent out, with thousands already returned.

Four people in South Florida likely have the first local and non-travel related Zika cases in the country.  As Matt Galka tells us, containment is now the state’s top priority.

Governor Rick Scott broke the news Friday morning, one woman and three men from South Floridaare the first people in the country to get Zika in the states.  The infections occurred in a one square mile area north of downtown Miami.  State officials are confident they can manage the virus based on past results.

“We’ve seen many types of mosquito born viruses such as chikingunya imported to our state, and we’ve been successful in limiting local transmission to small numbers,” said Surgeon General Dr. Celeste Philip.

State funds are being allocated to the areas main bloodbank to start screening for Zika.  The virus poses the greatest risk to pregnant women so the state is coordinating with women’s healthcare providers to give out Zika prevention kits.

The state has yet to find a mosquito that has tested positive for the virus.

Florida State University public health expert Dr. Chris Uejio says we will probably see more cases pop up.

“The most likely case is that we’ll continue to see these localized pockets of transmission of the Zika virus, transmitted locally during the sort of peak summer, early fall season in certain parts of Florida. That seems to be the most likely scenario,” he said.

But Floridians don’t need to panic. They just need to be prepared.

“This is not a let’s start freaking out moment, it’s definitely something that all together, all pitching in, looking out for each other and employing best practices we should be fine,” said Dr. Uejio.

The four people infected locally did not show any symptoms of the virus.

The Democratic convention in Philadelphia has seen a number of speakers, including Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn, take on the NRA and gun rights. But as Mike Vasilinda tells us, such comments may not play well back home where the state is often called the gunshine state.

Calls to limit guns are getting plenty of applause from Democrats in Philadelphia.

Sabrina Fulton, the mother of slain teen Trayvon Martin spoke Tuesday night.

“This isn’t about being politically correct. This is about saving our children” said Fulton, who called herself an unwilling activist.

She was followed Wednesday by the mother of one of the Pulse Night Club victims, Christine Leinonen.

“Cristopher was my only child” said Leinonen, who appeared near tears.

Even Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn jumped on the bandwagon, telling delegates:
“I’m just concerned the Florida legislature pays more attention to the NRA leadership, Marion Hammer, and they should be paying attention to Mother Theresa. I’m a mayor. I see that carnage on the streets everyday.” Buckhorn is weighing a run for governor in 2018.

Ironically, Marion Hammer,  who’s  lobbied state lawmakers since the late 1970’s is a Democrat.

“I remain a Democrat” says Hammer “ so that’s its okay for other Democrats to know that it’s alright to love your country, to love freedom, to respect your flag.”

Hammer doesn’t always get what she wants. Two of her top priorities got bottled up in legislative committees this year. But she does get revenge. She helped keep one of those chairmen from becoming a judge.

Unified Sportsmen of Florida (NRA)

Hammer believes the anti gun talk won’t resonate with voters this fall. Especially in North Florida, where one candidate has even raffled off an AR-15.
On Thursday, the NRA posted it’s endorsements for the August primary, along with grades for everyone running for the legislature.

Democrats have generally voted no on expanding gun access in Florida. If you’d like to check how the NRA ranks your state lawmakers, you can find it here:  https://www.nrapvf.org/grades/florida/

It can be a helpless, frustrating feeling.  You get a call from the bank or look at your account and see weird charges or that all your money is gone…but you didn’t spend it. As Matt Galka tells us, fraud and scams just seem to be increasing in the state.

Greg Tish knows what it’s like to see charges on his credit card…that he didn’t make.

“I guess they just wanted a nice little vacation so they charged a hotel room up in Philadelphia,” he said.

Unfortunately, it’s a common thing in Florida. The state leads the nation in credit card fraud complaints, with the number of complaints more than doubling since 2011.

“It’s very nerve racking to think that, at any moment, there’s someone looking to scam you, somebody looking to take what you’ve worked so hard for and to make it their own,” said Tish.

But credit card schemes aren’t the only headaches the state has to deal with. Whitney Ray with the Attorney General’s office says Florida lawyers are now being targeted by an impostor scam.

“They were claiming that the Attorney General’s office had a complaint against their business, and they had a link that we believe to be malware,” said Ray.

The best advice; if an email seems suspicious, don’t click anything.

“If your information, if you’ve given  your information to a company, if you’ve done business online, then you are at risk of becoming a victim of identify theft or credit card theft, so it’s important to always check your statements, put an alert on your card, check your credit score,” said Ray.

The attorney general’s office has already received more than 50 complaints from Florida lawyers since Wednesday night.

The phone rings, you pick it up, only to be solicited by a business or telemarketer. As Matt Galka tells us, the state is celebrating a milestone for the list that’s supposed to be helping end those pesky phone calls, but many Floridians are saying there’s a disconnect.

Amy Reznik signed up for the Do Not Call list hoping to stop the telemarketers from making the phone ring.  But they’re still calling.

“It’s very annoying,” she said.

Reznik is unfortunately one of many Floridians that pick up the phone only to be pestered by a real person…or a robot.

‘The robo calls almost sound like a human, but you know that it isn’t a human because you give them a response and it’s not appropriate,” said Reznik.

We even got one at the office while working on the story. The Department of Agriculture says more than one million Floridians have their names on the Do Not Call list, with more than 900,000 signing up since fees went away in 2012.

“Florida’s Do Not Call list is the most effective way to get rid of some of those calls, but some people still might receive calls. There are exemptions to the law, if you’ve recently done business with somebody, or charitable organizations are allowed to reach out,” said Department of Agriculture Press Secretary Aaron Keller.

Do Not Call list violations routinely top the list of consumer complaints into the Department, but they say they’re doing they’re part. They gave us a list of the companies they’ve fined in the past year, some multiple times, totaling more than one million dollars. But, so far, they’ve been able to collect just under $97,000 dollars.