Ketchup on cheesesteak request causes ruckus ORLANDO — A customer’s request to put ketchup on a Philly cheesesteak caused a ruckus in an Orlando Subway shop. Sandwich maker Lawrence Ordone told customer Luis Martinez that Subway doesn’t have ketchup when the order was placed on New Year’s night. Orlando television station WFTV reports Ordone lost his job. Ordone says he told the customer he’s “never put ketchup on anybody’s sandwich.” He says Martinez got “mouthy.” Martinez denies that, but Ordone admits he flew off the handle at that point. Martinez called 911. Ordone left the building. No one was arrested. But now Ordone is looking for a new job.
Bill to help foster youths with school records MIAMI — Federal lawmakers have passed a bill that will give social workers better access to school records in an effort to improve education for foster children. Social workers had been required to get a court order to access a foster child’s school records. But advocates say red tape has made it extremely difficult because foster youths change schools frequently as they move between different homes. Some students end up taking the same classes over because credits are lost or don’t transfer.
Man faces 15 years for stepson’s fatal beating BARTOW — A central Florida man faces up to 15 years in prison for beating his toddler stepson to death. As part of a deal with Polk County prosecutors, 31-year-old Marcus Brown pleaded no contest to manslaughter Thursday. The Ledger reports he was previously tried for first-degree murder, but jurors couldn’t reach a verdict. A new trial had been scheduled to begin this month. Authorities say Brown repeatedly beat 2-year-old Deondray Ashe with a belt during potty training. Rescue workers responded to the Lakeland home in June 2010 and found the boy dead. The boy’s mother, Ina Brown, was sentenced to 10 years in prison last spring for failing to protect the boy. She acknowledged that she had hit the boy in the past but not the day he died.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: State Briefs – Jan. 5, 2013