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PALM BAY, Florida (CNN) — Florida Gov. Charlie Crist said Tuesday it was "unconscionable" that someone would set the wildfires that have scorched the central portion of the state but promised harsh consequences if an arsonist is caught.
"That’s why we have jail," he said at a news conference Tuesday afternoon. "To lock people like that up for a very long time."
Investigators say the fact that fires flared up within hours of each other in various locations points to a deliberate act of arson, Palm Bay Police Chief Bill Berger said.
"People do this for fascination, for thrills … the word is sick," he said, when asked why someone would deliberately set the fires.
Nearly 100 homes have been damaged or destroyed by wildfires that scorched 3,500 acres, but most of the flames are now contained, a fire marshal said Tuesday.
A total of 108 wildfires have burned 17,000 acres, Crist said, with nine of those fires being very serious.
Nearly 1,200 tips about suspicious people and activity have flooded the police hotline, Berger said. Although six detectives are tracking down the tips, Berger said they have no solid leads on a suspect.
Palm Bay Mayor John Mazziotti said a $10,000 reward was in place for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone responsible for starting the fire.

cnn.com

Sections of Interstate 95 have now reopened after being closed overnight from Malabar Road south to Fellsmere and Vero Beach on Sunday because of heavy smoke from a brush fire that threatened homes and livestock in south Brevard County.
The road closures created congestion on alternate routes and delayed traffic in several areas of Indian River County.
I-95 was closed Sunday at County Road 512, though the smoke caused officials to extend the southern boundary to State Road 60, said Deputy Jeff Luther, Indian River County sheriff’s spokesman.
Northbound motorists were advised to take alternate routes, such as U.S. 1, State Road A1A, Babcock Street or Florida’s Turnpike.
Deputies, community service volunteers and Florida Highway Patrol troopers worked together Sunday to help keep traffic moving.
Indian River County Fire Rescue Assistant Chief Brian Nolan Sunday said his agency sent a brush truck and tanker to help firefighters in Brevard County.
The fire was reported near Rebel Lane and Weber Road in Malabar, which is just east of I-95, south of Palm Bay.
The Malabar Fire Department had been preparing for this kind of fire for the past few weeks. The 50-member volunteer department recently had a Florida Division of Forestry mitigation team cut fire lines in park areas off Malabar Road.
Firefighters took water from nearby ponds and lakes to dump on the fire lines and homes in an effort to protect them from the blaze.
Officials ordered residents to evacuate their homes Sunday, but several would not leave.
People cried and hugged one another as they watched what they believed was their homes burning. Others hustled to evacuate horses and recreational vehicles from their properties. Emus wandered freely on property threatened by the fire after owners released them from pens.
Brush fires also were reported Sunday across Indian River and St. Lucie counties, with high, gusty winds a major concern.

tcpalm.com

Lindsay, a student at Mulberry High School in Lakeland, Florida, was attacked by the girls in retaliation for comments Lindsay made on MySpace. The girls then said they would videotape the beating of Victoria Lindsay and post it on YouTube.
Victoria Lindsay, 16 years old teen cheerleader, was having problems at home after having a fight with her mother and was staying with a friend, Mercades Nichols, in Lakeland.
On March 30 about 8:30 p.m., the victim arrived at Nichols’ house and was greeted by Nichols and another girl. Lindsay went into the bedroom where she was staying, and a third girl, April Cooper, 14, began to insult and threaten her, then hit her in the face several times and slammed her head into a wall, which knocked her unconscious.
When Lindsay awoke, she was on the living room couch surrounded by six girls who took turns punching and kicking her while the beating was video taped. Lindsay told investigators that the six blocked the door, held her down and beat her for a half-hour. Her left ear and eye were injured during the ambush, authorities said.
After the attack, three girls forced Lindsay into a car and drove her to another location, where they threatened that if she told, the next fight would be worse.
Nichols’ mother Christina Garcia went onto NBC’s Today Show and said she was in disgust after how her daughter handled the situation. Garcia said Nichols should have called the police immediately.
Eight teenagers were arrested Wednesday on charges of felony battery and false imprisonment.
They are Nichols, Cooper, Brittni Hardcastle, 17, Kayla Hassell, 15, Brittany Mayes, 17, Cara Murphy, 16, Zachary Ashley, 17, and Stephen Schumaker, 18.
Mayes, Hardcastle and Nichols also were arrested on charges of felony kidnapping for forcing the victim into the car and driving her to another location.

huliq.com

Q: Our group bought our favorite Florida Keys bar when the former owner decided to retire. We used to ask whether the bar would be liable for lawsuit damages if a drunken customer drove away and injured someone. Now the answer to that question directly affects us. We formed an LLC to operate the business and we bought liquor liability insurance. What else can we do to be legally protected from injury lawsuits?
Afraid of lawsuits
A: We applaud your efforts to limit liability with insurance and shield personal assets by operating as a limited liability company. But there are still liability risks. Liquor liability insurance is expensive, it has dollar limits of protection, and sometimes there are exclusions that deny coverage. An LLC or corporation must follow strict legal formalities. Creditors who can’t satisfy their claims from business assets often try to reach personal assets by litigation to pierce the limited liability shield.
What else you can do to be legally protected is to understand the legal issues of business host alcohol liability. The most common types of commercial alcohol sellers are bars, package stores and restaurants. They are commonly known as ”dram shops,” the term coming from 18th century English businesses that sold gin by the spoonful, called a dram. Dram shop laws originally held retail establishments legally accountable for all damages caused by an intoxicated patron.
But times have changed. You may be pleased to learn that most state laws now protect dram shops from injured party lawsuits by limiting liability to the intoxicated patron causing the injury, so long as stated exceptions don’t apply.
Florida Statute 768.125, titled ”Liability for injury or damage resulting from intoxication,” is typical of most states’ dram shop laws. It shields a business that sells or furnishes alcoholic beverages to a person of lawful drinking age from civil liability for damages suffered by the intoxicated person and anyone he injures.

miamiherald.com