Around the Region
Published: Tuesday, September 2, 2008 at 6:01 a.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, September 3, 2008 at 12:46 a.m.
Police searching for suspect in rape case
A search is under way for a man known by the street name Turk who is a suspect in the rape of a 14-year-old girl in southwest Gainesville.
According to the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office, the incident happened sometime just after midnight Monday behind a building at 615 SW 67th Terrace.
The victim told detectives that she had been walking on a path between the Linton Oaks and Holly Heights neighborhoods when she walked past a man she knew as Turk.
The girl said she had previously spoken to the man casually but did not know him well. According to the girl, the man began talking to her on the path, grabbed her and then sexually assaulted her.
Anyone with information on the case is asked to contact Detective Brett Rhodenhizer at 367-4173.
— Karen Voyles
Man arrested in child, domestic abuse case
A 14-year-old cancer patient who stepped between his mother and her live-in boyfriend escaped injury despite being shoved in the area of his chest where a port had been inserted for chemotherapy.
The man who shoved the teen was charged with child abuse and other crimes related to the Sunday afternoon incident.
The problems apparently began at about 1:40 p.m. Sunday inside the bedroom of an apartment in the 1700 block of NE 8th Avenue. Gainesville Police said Kenyona Joe Henderson, 23, had been living there with the woman and her three children — ages 14, 10 and 4 — for about a year.
Investigators said Henderson and the woman had argued, then he used his fist to hit her on the right side of her head. When she tried to leave, the woman told investigators the man put his arm around her neck in an apparent attempt to choke her. As the 14-year-old tried to separate the adults, Henderson allegedly pushed him in the chest.
Witnesses said Henderson next hit the 10-year-old girl on the side of her face with the back of his hand and then slapped her with an open hand. While the woman was calling 911, Henderson reportedly hit her hard enough on the left side of her head to cause the phone to fly out of her hand.
When police arrived, the woman refused treatment for herself or her children.
Henderson was arrested on charges of domestic battery by strangulation, two counts of child abuse and battery. He was being held at the Alachua County jail on a $46,000 bond late Tuesday.
—Karen Voyles
Recount upholds Third Judicial Circuit results
A weekend recount in the Third Judicial Circuit upheld the results of a judicial court race.
During the Aug. 26 non-partisan primary election for circuit court judge, candidate Greg Parker was the apparent winner, receiving 50.1 percent of all votes cast in the race. There were three candidates in the race. Under Florida law, a candidate must receive more than 50 percent of all votes cast to avoid a run-off election in November with the second place candidate.
The Third Circuit includes Columbia, Dixie, Hamilton, Lafayette, Madison, Suwannee and Taylor counties. On Aug. 26, it appeared that voters in those counties cast 20,209 ballots for Parker, or 50.1 percent, while Thomas Stone received 11,278 votes or 27.9 percent, and Chris Craun received 8,871 or 22 percent of the votes cast.
The Florida Division of Elections notified the Supervisor of Elections in each of the Third Circuit counties on Thursday that a recount was possible and then directed the recount to take place over the weekend.
State officials said the recount showed Parker was still the winner and so there will not be a run-off in November. Parker will be the circuit’s new judge.
— Karen Voyles
Fla. High Court to hear amendment arguments
Florida’s Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments this morning beginning at 9 on constitutional amendments scheduled to be voted on during the general election.
The state’s top court is being asked to decide whether the Taxation and Budget Reform Commission was within its authority to place the two amendments on the ballot.
One amendment would repeal a constitutional ban on using public money for any church, sect, religious denomination or sectarian institution.
The other amendment requires that at least 65 percent of each public school district’s budget be spent on classroom instruction.
To listen to the arguments on the Internet, go to www.floridasupremecourt.org and select the Oral Argument section, which will direct you to the Web page with information on how to listen.
— Karen Voyles
Johns Hopkins brain surgeon to speak today
The brain surgeon who was featured in the recent TV series “Hopkins” on ABC stations will speak at the University of Florida today.
Dr. Alfredo Quinones-Hinojosa directs the brain tumor surgery program at Johns Hopkins. He’ll speak on the role of human neural stem cells in brain cancer at 10 a.m. in the auditorium of the McKnight Brain Institute on campus.
Quinones-Hinojosa came to the United States 21 years ago from Mexico as a migrant fruit picker and has gone on to become a nationally-known surgeon and researcher.
“It’s really the American dream,” said Dennis Steindler, executive director of the McKnight Brain Institute.
Quinones-Hinojosa’s talk in the DeWeese Auditorium is open to the public as well as researchers, doctors and UF students, Steindler said.
— Diane Chun
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