A Florida homeowner’s fight to recover money following a contractor dispute ultimately paid off—to the tune of more than $26,000. Roberta Murphy was among dozens of people who filed complaints involving contractor Paul Stephen Beattie. Her case was ultimately included in a 2024 settlement between the contractor and the Florida Department of Business and Professional…
Florida is battling what appears to be the largest dengue outbreak seen in the continental United States in decades, and much of it is concentrated around Tampa. The state had recorded 252 locally acquired dengue infections through Sept. 26, according to the latest Florida Department of Health surveillance data. Of those, 223 were reported in…
A homeowner walked outside to discover several new guy wires had appeared on their property. One was an eyesore in the front garden. Another presented a much bigger problem: It blocked an existing gate at the back of the property. “Recently I noticed a few guy wires that wernt there before,” u/DerfQT wrote in a…
A first-time homebuyer thought they had found a great house in a great neighborhood. There was just one problem waiting downstairs. “My husband and I are currently under contract with a ranch with a basement,” u/jerseypeach37 wrote on Reddit. “Great neighborhood, great home… except for what seems to be fairly extensive mold in the basement.”…
A homeowner blamed his neighbor’s tree for making a mess around his swimming pool. The homeowner ultimately sought to have his neighbor’s tree removed outright. Instead, a tribunal found the pool itself had contributed to the problem. The affected parties were Allen Edward Blundell and Jason Nissen of Brisbane, Australia. Blundell sought an order requiring…
One homeowner thought they had already settled a neighbor’s complaint about their trees. Then another letter arrived. In a Sept. 28 Reddit post, u/Mysterious-Board9079 explained that their uphill neighbors had previously complained about a tree growing over the property line. U/Mysterious-Board9079 accompanied the post with three photos, including two marked with different-colored circles to identify…
Five fruit trees might not sound like enough to start a neighborhood dispute. One homeowner has discovered otherwise after officially declaring their suburban garden an orchard. On Sept. 27, the homeowner with a green thumb shared the unusual disagreement on Mumsnet under the username MissAppleInSuburbia. MissAppleInSuburbia explained that they have a fairly large garden that…
When one resident returned home from work, their property looked a little different from before they left. This individual experienced a shock after discovering that a large portion of nearly 30 years of tree growth had been hacked away. On Sept. 29, the homeowner shared photos on Reddit‘s r/treelaw, under the username u/Automatic-Ad8754, after finding…
Nearly a century passed before a tortoise named Mommy became her namesake. When it finally happened, the Galápagos tortoise did not stop at one baby. Mommy, a Western Santa Cruz Galápagos tortoise at the Philadelphia Zoo, produced her first surviving hatchlings in 2025. According to the Philadelphia Zoo, she and fellow tortoise Abrazzo—also nearly 100…