Detectives assigned to the Lake County sheriff's Cyber Crimes Unit recently concluded a 10-day, two-phase operation targeting subjects online attempting to meet children for sexual activity, as well as those committing acts related to prostitution. The investigation, dubbed Operation Catfish, recovered a 17-year-old victim of human trafficking and resulted in 40 arrests for various sex-related crimes. 

Detectives conducted the operation from a vacant home in South Lake County, during which time they posed online as a 14-year-old child. The subjects traveled to the home with the intent to have sex with whom they thought was the child and were taken into custody upon arrival. One subject fled the area but was later identified and charged accordingly. 

Detectives also seized two vehicles and recovered a stolen firearm. 

This operation was in cooperation with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and other member agencies of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. 

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Mount Dora Police are investigating a crash that happened at Wolf Branch and Britt Roads this morning.
 
The accident happened around 9 a.m. after a school bus dropped off kids at an area middle school.  The driver of a Nissan Sentra entered the intersection off Britt Road to Wolf Branch Road and was struck by the school bus.
 
The driver of the Nissan was airlifted with serious injuries to Orlando Regional Medical Center.  The driver of the bus suffered a non-life threatening injury and was taken to Florida Hospital Waterman by ground.  
 
There were no children on the bus at the time of the accident.  No names are being released. This crash remains under investigation. ​

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After an initial prediction in May for a near-average season, experts recently downgraded their expectations to a "below-average" Atlantic hurricane season in 2018.  The change was based on unusually cold temperatures in portions of the Atlantic Ocean which provides less fuel for developing storms.

The July outlook includes a total of 11 named storms which is down from the original prediction of 14.   Of those 11 storms, four are expected to become hurricanes, including one major hurricane which is classified as Category 3 or higher.  The first of the 11 storms was Subtropical Storm Albert that occurred in May. The early prediction in May by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) was for 10 to 16 named storms, five to nine hurricanes, and one to four major hurricanes.

The updated prediction was released by Colorado State University's Department of Atmospheric Science and researchers for its Tropical Meteorology Project.   According to their report, the probability of a major hurricane making landfall on the U.S. coastline this year is 39 percent. The annual average is 52 percent probability.

Despite the new "below average" storm predictions, the report warns that residents should still prepare for storm season because even one hurricane making landfall could be a disaster.

In addition to having a good hurricane kit, residents should keep their insurance policy up-to-date and stored in a safe place.

"2017 was a year filled with record-setting disasters,” said Lynette Barba of Allstate Insurance in Mount Dora.  “Now is a good time for an annual insurance review with your agent to better understand your coverages specific to hurricanes and floods."

When storms form in the Atlantic, residents can also follow these helpful websites and social media accounts:
Ready.gov - This site provides natural disaster tips.
Getagameplan.org - This site offers four different plans for enduring a natural disaster: family preparation, business preparation, mitigation and a kid-friendly checklist.
• National Hurricane Center (also Twitter & Facebook) - Stay plugged into the NHC whenever you are in the ‘cone of uncertainty’ for storm updates.
• National Weather Service (also on Twitter & Facebook) -  This is a good source to keep up to date on all weather news and monitoring.

For more news and events in Mount Dora, Tavares & Eustis, click here. To get area's news in your inbox once a month, subscribe to the free month issue of Mount Dora Buzz here. ​​​​​

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