Florida Sentinel Bulletin

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.  — An ongoing criminal case against a former top aide to Florida Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll is transforming into a swirl of allegations about improper relationships, widespread illegal taping and other incidents inside Carroll’s office.

The allegations, which Carroll denies, were included in a court filing made late last week by the attorney representing Carletha Cole, who was arrested last October on charges that she gave an illegally taped conversation with another Carroll aide to a newspaper reporter.

Cole’s attorneys made the filing in response to prosecutors’ attempts to seal some evidence in the case.

In the filing, Cole contends that she witnessed Carroll and a top aide, Beatriz Ramos, in a “compromising position” inside Carroll’s office, that Carroll’s chief of staff secretly recorded conversations routinely at the direction of those working for Gov. Rick Scott, and that the trash can at Cole’s desk might have been deliberately set ablaze following an argument between her and Ramos.

Cole also said Ramos was living at Carroll’s home and at one point she was ordered by Ramos to find adjoining hotel rooms for Carroll and Ramos when they traveled. Cole said that she was “scolded” by an agent with Carroll’s security team when she placed Ramos next door to Carroll when the lieutenant governor and her husband traveled last summer to Puerto Rico. The agent told her to not do it again, Cole says, although he did not explain why.

Carroll, a former Navy officer who is also a mother of three, says the allegations are all lies.

BROOKLYN, NY — Cindy Gaston, a 25-year-old Brooklyn woman who works as a nanny, plucked the four-year-old boy she was caring for from the path of a stolen jeep that almost killed them both.

The near-death accident took place on Thursday when Gaston and the boy, Jonathan Meltzer, were waiting on a corner for a bus that was bringing his sister home from a camping trip. Gaston saw a green vehicle coming at them and instinctively yelled “Run!” The vehicle careened across traffic, jumped the sidewalk and crashed through a traffic pole. It clipped Gaston in the back of the leg, injuring her.

Witnesses quickly came to her aid until an ambulance arrived. Once inside of the emergency vehicle, Gaston had the wherewithal to call the boy’s mother to assure her that the boy was OK.

DALLAS, TX — Arthur Walker is accused of crashing a truck through a Dallas mall’s glass doors, ramming through several kiosks inside and dressing himself in a Champs Sports store on Friday.

Walker allegedly got out of his vehicle and began dressing himself in the store’s clothing. He even slipped on a pair of Air Jordan sneakers. Cops eventually arrived at the scene and arrested Walker. Sgt. Elliott Forge of the Dallas Police Department returned the shoes to the store. Forge said that he kept Walker in the clothes he allegedly stole because it would not have been proper for him to leave the scene nude.

HOUSTON— Unflinching before a skeptical NAACP crowd, Mitt Romney declared Wednesday he’d do more for African-Americans than Pres. Barack Obama, the nation’s first black president. He drew jeers when he lambasted the Democrat’s policies.

“If you want a president who will make things better in the African-American community, you are looking at him,” Romney told the group’s annual convention. Pausing as some in the crowd heckled, he added, “You take a look!”

“For real?” yelled someone in the crowd.

The reception was occasionally rocky though generally polite as the Republican presidential candidate sought to woo a Democratic bloc that voted heavily for Pres. Obama four years ago and is certain to do so again.

Romney was booed when he vowed to repeal “Obamacare” – the Democrat’s signature health care measure – and the crowd interrupted him when he accused Pres. Obama of failing to spark a more robust economic recovery.

HOUSTON, TX — The head of the NAACP says the group’s fight against conservative-backed voter ID laws that have been passed in several states is akin to the great civil rights battles of the 1960s.

Benjamin Todd Jealous, the CEO and president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, told delegates at the group’s annual convention on Monday in Houston that these are Selma and Montgomery times. He was referring to historic civil rights confrontations in Alabama.

Many conservatives say voter identification laws are needed to stem voter fraud. Critics say voter fraud is rare and such laws are meant to suppress turnout among groups that tend to vote Democratic, including minorities.

Jealous says the rising tide of vote suppression must be overwhelmed by registration and mobilization.

DETROIT, MI  — A woman celebrating the weekend before her 25th birthday was fatally shot Sunday when she hugged an off-duty police officer while dancing at a party, causing the officer’s service weapon to fire, according to police and her mother.

Adaisha Miller would have turned 25 on Monday, according to her mother, Yolanda McNair.

According to Stephens, the woman “embraced the officer from behind, causing the holstered weapon to accidently discharge.” The bullet punctured Miller’s lung and hit her heart, and she died at a hospital.

Stephens said the Detroit officer will remain on administrative duties while authorities investigate the shooting and report their findings to the Wayne County prosecutor. The officer’s name was not released.

INGLEWOOD, CA – Gordon Solomon, pastor of  Christ’s Community Church in Inglewood, California has been charged with nine felony counts of allegedly committing lewd acts on a child.

Solomon, who is married, allegedly met the girl two years ago at his church. Cops say that the pastor “developed an affinity for the girl.” The alleged relationship involved email exchanges and texts of a “sexual nature” and meetings at various locations. The girl is now 14-years-old.

When the child’s mother saw a text message from the pastor, she immediately called authorities. He was arrested on last Wednesday.

TEMPLE, TX – Lashia White is wanted by the Temple, Texas, police for allegedly setting her sister on fire during an argument Saturday afternoon. Police investigators say that the suspect fled from the scene after the domestic disturbance and now they are looking for her across two states.

During an altercation with her unidentified sister, White, 31, left life-threatening burns all over her torso. When the authorities received a call and arrived on to the scene, they were told that White became so angry with her sister that she actually poured gasoline all over her and then lit a match to set her aflame.  The sister was rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment.

ORLANDO, Fla.  — George Zimmerman has raised $20,000 from donations in the 24 hours since a judge set his bond at $1 million.

Zimmerman’s attorney said Friday he is working toward Zimmerman’s release from a Florida jail by securing funds that can be used for bail.

A judge granted Zimmerman bond Thursday for a second time. That means Zimmerman can leave jail while he awaits his second-degree murder trial for fatally shooting Trayvon Martin.

The judge revoked Zimmerman’s previous $150,000 bond after prosecutors presented evidence that he had misled the court.

Once released, Zimmerman is required to stay in Seminole County, Fla.

His attorney says a temporary safe house has been set up. Zimmerman will be moved to a more secure location at a later time.

Zimmerman Hiding In Central Florida Safe House
The neighborhood watch leader charged with fatally shooting Trayvon Martin is in a safe house that is being protected by his security team.