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HEALTH OVERHAUL-MANAGING DIABETES
MIAMI — Diabetics beware. Your insurance company is looking for you. As hundreds of thousands of diabetics get health coverage under the federal law, insurance companies are aggressively targeting this glut of new patients, who are expensive to treat and often lax in taking medications and following their diet. Insurers are calling diabetics when they don't pick up prescriptions or miss appointments. They are arranging transportation to get them to the doctor's office and some are even sending nurses on house calls in an effort to avoid costly complications that will have big impact on their bottom lines. Before the Affordable Care Act, some diabetics struggled to find insurance because of their pre-existing condition. But the new law no longer allows companies to refuse them or charge more, making early intervention even more critical. By Kelli Kennedy. SENT: 800 words, photos.
SPACE STATION
CAPE CANAVERAL — A space station supply shipment is on for Monday. NASA decided Sunday to stick with the planned launch of the SpaceX cargo ship, despite a critical computer outage at the space station. The computer, located on the outside of the orbiting lab, stopped working Friday. NASA debated whether to delay the SpaceX mission, but on Sunday determined the station can accept the visiting craft. By Marcia Dunn. SENT: 362 words.
UNDERWATER COMBAT TRAINING
KEY WEST — An underwater combat training school in Key West is marking its 50th anniversary. The Army Special Forces Underwater Operations School boasts a $10 million complex with a modern training pool and 50-foot dive tower, as well as boats especially designed for special operations forces. The school is taught by Green Berets and sometimes hosts students from the Air Force, the Navy and the Marines, as well as military academy cadets and troops from other countries. Residents know students are in town by spotting the circling C-130 airplane dropping finned-divers by parachute into the Fleming Key Basin. Less visible are the night operations, the torturous pool training, the hours of classroom work and other tasks that make the school one of the toughest gut-checks in the military, instructors and command staff said. Combat divers are very aggressive and efficient and I've been very impressed," Army Special Forces Col. Alan Shumate tells The Key West Citizen (http://bit.ly/OYHczu). "They stand out. Our dive school breeds a more intense commando." SENT: 480 words.
UNDERWATER ARCHAEOLOGICAL PRESERVE
ST. PETERSBURG — A 19th century shipwreck in the waters off St. Petersburg is slated to become the state's 12th underwater archaeological preserve. The USS Narcissus sank near Egmont Key in 1866 during a winter storm. The dedication of the preserve in 15 feet of water is expected to boost tourism and dive shops in Pinellas County. More than two dozen crew members aboard the ship died. Nicole Morris, the researcher who has led the push for establishing the preserve, tells The Tampa Tribune (http://bit.ly/1emzGua ) that while the wreck was a disaster, it also has been a rebirth. "This shipwreck site, yes it was a tragedy and we lost these men, but we now have this beautiful ecological environment that is home to juvenile fish of all kinds, corals and sponges and even goliath grouper," Morris said. SENT: 396 words.
BOY-FIVE ORGAN TRANSPLANT
TAMPA — Adonis Ortiz is like any other 3-year-old boy. He wears light-up sneakers with "Cars" characters on them. He loves playing with his mom's smartphone and rolling around outside with the family dog. When he turns 4, his parents will put him on a T-ball team; he already plays the game in the family's living room with an inflatable bat and a tennis ball. The only visible differences between Adonis and any other little boy is his feeding tube — connected to a "Toy Story" backpack that he carries at all times — and the twisting, purplish scar on his stomach from his surgery last year. Adonis made international news in October when he received a five-organ transplant in Miami. Now that he is recovering, he has been able to return to his Tampa home and begin living the life his parents, Aracelis and Exmir Ortiz, always envisioned. By Elizabeth Behrman, The Tampa Tribune. SENT: 800 words, photo.
ALSO:
RAND PAUL-IMMIGRATION — Sen. Rand Paul says potential White House rival Jeb Bush was inarticulate when he described immigrants who come to the United States illegally as committing an "act of love."
BEAR ACTIVITY — Wildlife officials are warning residents to watch out for bears on the move, particularly after a central Florida woman was attacked by a bear outside her home.
MISSING PLANE — Authorities have suspended their ground search for pilot whose small plane went missing at it flew from north Florida to the Tampa Bay area.
DAYCARE CRASH — State troopers say they've located a missing rental car connected to the suspect in a fatal crash at an Orlando-area daycare center.
ST. PETERSBURG SHOOTING — St. Petersburg Police say a man with post-traumatic stress disorder opened fire on a car, killing one man and injuring two others.
KEYS-VANDENBERG CORAL — Five years after being sunk in the waters off Key West, a former military ship is exceeding expectations for promoting coral growth.
PUBLIX-LONG CAREER — A Publix employee in central Florida is celebrating his 50th year working for the grocery store chain.
LAKE OKEECHOBEE-TRAIL CLOSURES — Officials are closing an additional 20 miles of scenic trails around Lake Okeechobee for rehabilitation of the lake's aging earthen dike.
FLORIDA ENTREPRENEURS — The global nonprofit Endeavor is adding the founders of the Miami tech company Leapfactor to its list of high-impact entrepreneurs.
PUERTO RICAN SNAKE — Florida's hotline for reporting sightings of invasive species led to the recovery of an endangered snake native to Puerto Rico.
SPORTS:
HKN--LIGHTNING-CAPITALS
WASHINGTON — The Tampa Bay Lightning know they're heading to the playoffs, and Alex Ovechkin's Washington Capitals know they're not. The teams wrap up the regular season by facing each other Sunday. UPCOMING: 650 words, photos. By Howard Fendrich. Starts at 3 p.m.
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The AP, Miami
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