Florida’s Fourth Estate

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From man’s best friend to child’s biggest protector Jan 20, 2023

Show notes

Kissimmee Police K9 Officer Georgie Torres is passionate about helping some of the most vulnerable members of our community.

So, when he heard about the opportunity to get a specially trained dog that can track down the devices that hide child porn, he jumped at the opportunity. He alerted his superiors of the opportunity and once it was approved, he purchased “Baxter.”

“(Baxter is) trained to detect the presence of a chemical that is actually used in the manufacturing process of electronic storage devices,” Torres said.

Torres said the chemical is present in “cell phones, thumb drives, SD cards, external hard drives.”

He added there are only seven or eight of these types of dogs in the state and about 100 across the country, but he hopes eventually every agency will get one.

During a conversation on Florida’s Fourth Estate Baxter successfully searched three rooms and found hidden electronics. In one case he knocked a thumb drive out of a planter.

“He is so geared up to work, his nose is already working without me really giving the command,” Torres said. “So, from the doorway he can already tell that there is a device here, he can already tell the area where it was, so he ran right here and shoved his nose at the plant and then like a savage he knocked it over.”

What Baxter accomplished in seconds, Torres said, “even in the best scenario this could take two detectives easily two hours.”

“(A dog like Baxter is) very valuable because what we do is so important, a lot of the children we deal with, the child victims are going through horrors that we can’t even comprehend,” the officer said.

Learn more about Baxter and Kissimmee Police K9 Officer Georgie Torres on Florida’s Fourth Estate. You can watch Florida’s Fourth Estate every Monday & Friday on News 6 at 5:30 p.m. or anytime on News 6+.

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‘It’s like being barefoot all over:’ Nude recreation is a $4 billion-per-year industry in Florida Jan 17, 2023

Show notes

Anchors Matt Austin and Ginger Gadsden invited Erich Schuttauf with the American Association for Nude Recreation to talk about what is quite a lucrative business in the Sunshine State.

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Injured owls, hawks, eagles find safe haven in Central Florida Jan 13, 2023

Show notes

If you look up in the sky from time to time you may get lucky and see an owl, hawk or eagle.

If you go to the Audobon Center for Birds of Prey you are guaranteed to see one and it will only cost you $8. You will likely learn a lot too.

Daisy Fiore, the Senior Coordinator for Education joined Ginger Gadsden and Matt Austin on Florida’s Fourth Estate to talk more about the location and how it has become a haven for injured raptors.

Fiore started with Trouble, a 36-year-old bald eagle. She confidently held the bird out on her arm, but agreed eagles can be vicious and intimidating.

“Bald eagles are extremely territorial,” she said. “They form pair bonds and they are very nice in those pair bonds, but to stranger eagles, they are very territorial. They are trying to protect the best nesting space that they are laying claim to. Keep other eagles out of there. Protect their hunting territory.”

Austin said once thought two eagles blocking traffic on the side of the road were in love, but quickly realized they were actually fighting.

“Every year here at Audobon Center for Birds of Prey we do get in a couple eagles that have got into territory fights with one another and have been injured in those territory fights,” Fiore said. “It’s very true that if you see two eagles together, it could be a bonded pair... but they could also be getting in a territory fight.”

If you haven’t seen one yet, you likely will.

“We are usually second or third as far as largest populations (for eagles),” Fiore said.

She added great horned owls are also prevalent in our state and if you haven’t seen them, you have likely heard them.

“They make that whoo whoo call that everyone thinks of,” she said.

“They are called the tigers of the sky.... eagles may have a strong grip, but great horned owls can grip about twice as strong as an eagle,” Fiore said. “(Great horned owls can) actually crush bone with those tallons.”

Fiore also said there is a red-shouldered hawk at the center and that they are the most common bird of prey in Florida.

Most of the birds at the Audobon Center live there because they have been injured and are not able to be re-introduced to the wild.

If you would like to learn more or help out, Fiore said they are in need of volunteers and for every visitor that comes, the ticket price goes back into supporting the birds.

Florida’s Fourth Estate is on News 6 at 5:30 p.m. every Monday and Friday. You can also watch it anytime on News 6+.

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Less ‘buzz’ in Florida after beehives wiped out by hurricanes Jan 09, 2023

Show notes

Hurricanes Ian and Nicole didn’t just destroy homes and businesses — a local beekeeper also says Florida’s bee population took a hard hit.

Oxx Simeina runs Oxx Beekeeping in Kissimmee. He said he keeps bees on multiple properties across North and Central Florida.

One of the properties he keeps his hives on was flooded with “about 3 feet of water,” and some of the hives “floated about 100 yards to the other side of the yard.”

“A bunch of them flipped over, and I pretty much lost all of the hives,” Simeina said.

One of the hives managed to survive.

“I’m just trying to baby her to make sure she makes it through the winter,” the beekeeper said.

He told Ginger Gadsden and Matt Austin on Florida’s Fourth Estate that the struggle extends beyond his hives.

Simeina said a lot of trees were destroyed in the storms.

“So the bees aren’t getting as much food as they would get during this time of year, and the bees that do have food are being robbed by the bees that don’t have food,” he said.

Simeina said this is the first year in 9 years he is considering giving his bees a sugar-water mix through the whole winter to make sure they don’t starve.

He said he doesn’t like it because it’s not natural, but he has to do what needs to be done to save his bees following the busy hurricane season.

You can learn more about the impact Hurricane Ian and Nicole have had on our local bee population on Florida’s Fourth Estate.

You can download the podcast from wherever you listen to podcasts or watch anytime on News 6+.

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Meet the model, scientist behind viral video of a snake that ate a gator whole Jan 06, 2023

Show notes

A video of an alligator that had been eaten whole by a python went viral in late 2022.

Now the woman behind it is speaking with Florida’s Fourth Estate.

“We stretched out the python which literally took up the entire room, you could really like see the outline of the alligator,” said scientist Rosie Moore.

Once they opened it up they could see the 5-foot alligator was inside, still intact.

People online were shocked by the video. Hundreds of thousands reacted to the wild sight.

And for those who stuck around on Moore’s Instagram page, they saw she wasn’t only a scientist but also a model.

Moore said people are surprised by her dual interests, but she is using her platform to inspire the next generation.

“I think it’s kinda cool to show both sides... or show girls that it’s cool to be a scientist,” Moore said.

Learn more about Moore, her wild discovery and how she wants to help other girls tap into the world of science on Florida’s Fourth Estate.

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Florida’s Fourth Estate hosts reveal worst gifts they’ve given, received Dec 19, 2022

Show notes

On the latest episode of Florida’s Fourth Estate hosts Ginger Gadsden and Matt Austin said they have been involved in some pretty bad gifts.

Ginger said her worst present ever just so happens to be from Matt.

“I call it the wheel of awfulness,” she said “I gave Matt the business about some shoes he wore to work one day and several days after that and he wasn’t having it or whatever.”

In return, she says she got a wheel of pictures of him “making out with the shoe.”

Others show him blowing kisses, telling someone to ‘shh’ and another of him smiling into the camera.

“That was your sexiest man alive attempt,” Gadsden said.

Gadsden said she keeps the silly gift on her mantel at home.

While that one was intentionally bad, Austin admits he has a history of giving bad gifts.

“Many years ago when my wife and I were dating, I was walking through the mall and I spotted this dress,” he said.”I was like, ‘Man. my girlfriend Tricia is going to look so good in this dress.”

Austin held up the soft green, multi-tiered, flowery dress, to show it off.

“If she were a flapper girl that would be perfect,” Gadsden said.

It turns out it was not a hit.

“The tags are still on it,” Austin said. “If you ask her to this day she would say, ‘Oh no it was nice.’ She won’t ever say how bad it is.”

In this episode, Austin and Gadsden also break down what they think the top gifts are this season.

If there is a gift you think should be on the list or if you have ever gotten a terrible gift, we want to hear from you.

Leave your comments below or email ffe@wkmg.com.

You can download Florida’s Fourth Estate from wherever you listen to podcasts or watch it anytime on News 6+.

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‘This is crazy:’ 13 strangers take road trip after flight is canceled in Orlando Dec 16, 2022

Show notes

What was supposed to be a quick flight from Orlando to Knoxville, Tennessee turned into an hours-long road trip for 13 strangers.

Alanah Story said Frontier Airlines delayed her flight earlier this month.

“People were literally lining up about to get on the plane... we find out our flight is canceled,” she said. “Everyone was like oh my gosh what are we going to do now?”

That’s when, Story said one of the women on the flight, “yelled out to everyone to let us know, like they’re not doing anything for us, we can get a van if you want.”

“My mom and Carlos and his wife had kind of been talking about doing it so they all just kind of merged together,” she said. “It was kind of like a joint effort.”

Story said she was surprised at the direction everything was going.

“I actually met up with Mikayla in the bathroom, the one who’s going to UT, and I was like ‘Girl, this is crazy, this is nuts, like we don’t know each other.’”

And before they could get in the van a total of 13 people had agreed to take the road trip, all for their own reasons.

One girl said she was going to miss her finals, another woman said she was about to miss her kid’s custody battle, and one guy said he was just trying to get home after visiting a friend in Orlando.

Story recorded their stories on her cell phone and posted the video to TikTok.

Story said the TikTok video, which has now been viewed more than 3 million times, “helped break the ice” for everyone in the van.

“When I say like the comments were being read out loud the entire van ride, it’s Iike I’m listening to stats running — like that’s how often they are talking about this,” Story said.

She said a lot of the passengers also talked to each other and shared their life stories.

Overall Story called it a good experience but said one person did take more bathroom breaks than her mom would have preferred and one passenger did talk quite loudly, but for the most part, people were very considerate of each other.

Lots of people who saw the TikTok video online are suggesting the experience be turned into a movie.

Story said that would be OK with her.

So, would she ever fly Frontier again?

“I say, like, uh, I would never fly with them again, I’m 23 years old, they have cheap flights, I like to go places... so I might try it one more time,” she said.

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Top 5 Most Famous Floridians Dec 12, 2022

Show notes

Usually, when people think about celebrities they think of Hollywood.

But California isn’t the only state churning out celebs.

Florida has had its fair share, some you may have forgotten and others you never knew about.

Florida’s Fourth Estate hosts Matt Austin and Ginger Gadsden break down their top five.

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Top movies filmed in Florida Dec 09, 2022

Show notes

Matt Austin and Ginger Gadsden look at the top movies filmed in Florida and sit down with actor Carlos Navarro.

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Crazy Names: Florida’s Top 5 Towns Dec 07, 2022

Show notes

When people think of Florida cities, they usually think of Orlando, Miami or Tampa.

But, if you have lived here for more than a couple weeks or have visited more than once, you have likely been exposed to some more unique city names, too.

Matt Austin and Ginger Gadsden break down their Top 5 list of strange town names in Florida on their podcast Florida’s Fourth Estate.

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