Florida’s Fourth Estate

Russ Rollins has been the voice behind ‘Monsters in the Morning’ for decades, but he says the radio show was almost snuffed out before it ever became a true staple in Central Florida. He told Matt Austin and Ginger Gadsden on Florida’s Fourth Estate he didn’t understand the weight of his words when he first began his career. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Victoria Triece is suing Orange County Public Schools because, she claims, the district banned her from volunteering in her child’s classroom due to her participation on adult websites. Triece and her attorney Mark Nejame joined Matt Austin and Ginger Gadsden on Florida's Fourth Estate to talk more about the case. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Feed a cheetah, take a selfie with an ostrich, and see native African animals without leaving Central Florida. The Safari Wilderness Ranch lets guests feel like they are in the motherland while skipping the expensive price tag. “We have a lot of endangered species here, animals that are extinct in the wild, animals that need a place,” said owner Lex Salisbury. “And this is, I think the next evolution for zoos.” Matt Austin and Ginger Gadsden took their podcast Florida’s Fourth Estate on the road to check out the one-of-a-kind experience in Lakeland. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

So many transitions are happening for kids as they go from elementary to middle and high school. It’s not just changing schools, there is also a lot of brain development involved. The experiences during that time can have a lasting impact. Neurologist and mental health expert Dr. Romie Mushtaq joined Matt Austin and Ginger Gadsden on Florida’s Fourth Estate to talk more about kids and their mental health. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Instead of looking at a screen and answering questions via chat, Shannon Hayes is attending class at Lake Nona High School with a little help from a robot called Vgo. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Get ready to dive down the warp pipe at Universal Studios Hollywood all-new land, Super Nintendo World. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you have lived in Florida long enough, you have likely seen them flying around or stuck to your car. Lovebugs often fly in tandem and can make for some uncomfortable conversations. “It caused me to have a very awkward conversation with my daughter, who when she was very tiny, she caught the little lovebug and she goes, ‘Dad, why does this bug have two heads?’ And I stumbled around and bumbled and said, ‘We’ll talk about it when you’re older,’” Florida’s Fourth Estate co-host, Matt Austin said. Austin and Ginger Gadsden are getting to the bottom of what lovebugs are doing, where they came from and how to clean them off of your car. The duo spoke with Dr. Norman C. Leppla with the University of Florida on Florida’s Fourth Estate. He has dedicated his life to studying insects and he knows a lot about lovebugs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It takes center stage at the Super Bowl. It graces the 50-yard line and determines who will get the kick-off in the championship game. But, before it ever travels to Arizona the Super Bowl coin is expertly crafted in Central Florida. The Highland Mint in Melbourne etches the heads and tails into the decision-making coin. It’s a job Vince Bohbot said the company has been doing for nearly three decades. The Executive Vice President of The Highland Mint joined Matt Austin and Ginger Gadsden on Florida’s Fourth Estate to talk more about it. Bohbot said it all started in 1993 when he took over what he calls “a failing business” and turned it around. “(The Highland Mint is) kind of like the U.S. mint except we are minting investment grade rounds and not currency and we are privately owned,” he said. Everything is done at their Melbourne location including melting silver, framing and packaging. “Every component that we use is made in the USA. So whether it’s the wood; it’s sourced in the U.S., whether it’s paper; it’s sourced in the U.S., whether it’s metal; it’s sourced in the U.S. — and so we were very proud of that side of our business,” Bohbot said. He said his company doesn’t just make the Super Bowl coin. “We also sell replicas of the coin.” He said those generate royalties and sales for the NFL. The company isn’t just responsible for the big game. “We make the flip coin for every NFL game and the postseason — there are special coins made for each week,” Bohbot said. If you plan on heading to the game Bohbot said the Melbourne-based company also frames tickets and coins. “That’s a really big seller,” he said. You can learn more about The Highland Mint on Florida’s Fourth Estate. You can download the podcast from wherever you listen to podcasts or watch anytime on News 6+, Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If going out for dinner and a movie for Valentine’s Day doesn’t get you excited, don’t lose hope. There are a lot of great places to enjoy a unique date with your loved one this Valentine’s Day. Dani Meyering, the Managing Editor for the Orlando Date Night Guide teamed up with Matt Austin and Ginger Gadsden on Florida’s Fourth Estate to talk about some out-of-the-box ideas. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Florida gets a bad rap for being a crazy state, but it turns out the sunshine state has a lot to offer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There is a new option for getting your dog off the couch and outside for some exercise this summer. Linden Hollow Sheep Farm in St. Cloud lets dogs tap into their wild side. Natalie Cole said her grandma started the unique business with shelties. “We used to show Shetland sheepdogs in confirmation and we wanted to compete with them in herding as well. So, my grandma got a few sheep for herself to work her dog and we started from there when I was very little and have been going since then,” Cole said. Cole gave News 6 anchors Matt Austin and Ginger Gadsden a behind-the-scenes look at the training on Florida’s Fourth Estate. She said when people bring their domesticated dogs out to the property, some of them act like “they are born and bred on a farm.” “It’s just hard-wired (in their) DNA. So, when they say that they have their pup that lives in an apartment and they want to bring it out for herding lessons and it comes out and does what it is supposed to do, it doesn’t surprise me at all,” she added. Ginger takes her dog Finn to the farm and says when he goes, he gets a great workout and comes home tired. Other than tapping into their natural instincts, Cole said dogs also get a boost in their confidence after visiting the farm. “I will have some people come out that say, ‘You know, my dog is a little timid, my dog is a little afraid of people’ and stuff like that, so a lot of times, we’ll bring the dogs out here if they are bred for this and we get them on sheep and a totally different dog just comes alive. They are not afraid of things. They come out of their shell, they learn how to do this and it’s something that they love and it keeps their brain busy and it’s a good stimulation for them,” Cole said. Learn more by checking out Florida’s Fourth Estate. You can download it from wherever you listen to podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is it fast, filled with epic twists and turns, sport an epic storyline, all while still taking you on a smooth ride that doesn’t make you want to puke? If so, it likely made Florida’s Fourth Estate’s top roller coaster list. Hosts Matt Austin and Ginger Gadsden invited In the Loop: Theme Park Scoops producer Landon McReynolds on the show to break down the best of the best. “If he’s off for two seconds he’s at the theme parks,” Austin said of McReynolds. Of course, he has ridden each of the top 5. Counting down to one, the top five are: 5. Mako (Seaworld Orlando) McReynolds said Mako at SeaWorld claims to be “Orlando’s tallest and fastest.” It goes up to 73 miles per hour but because it has a metal track. “It’s very smooth,” McReynolds said. He also calls it “a must-do,” even though when he took his parents his mom sat this one out and his Dad agreed she was safer on the ground. 4. Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind (Epcot) McReynolds said this ride is “one of the longest enclosed coasters in the world” and that “it’s so big it could actually take up an entire football field.” He added it’s mostly in the dark. “So you can’t see where you’re going,” McReynolds said. Pair that up with your chair moving you towards displays on the wall and he said this could increase the “vomit factor” for some people. 3. Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure (Orlando’s Islands of Adventure) Gadsden said this is the only one of the top five coasters she has ridden. She said she was “so terrified to get on this thing.” She quickly realized it was “fast as all get out,” but also “smooth.” Despite waiting for two hours to get on she says “we had so much fun.” Austin said the good thing about Hagrid’s is that the height requirement is 48 inches, so parents looking for a thrill can take their kids on too. 2. Iron Gwazi (Busch Gardens Tampa Bay) “This one reaches up to 76 miles per hour and it flips you around like nobody’s business,” McReynolds said. He said he was screaming on this ride and describes it as “very intense” 1. Jurassic World VelociCoaster (Universal’s Islands of Adventure) Austin said this is his “favorite roller coaster on Earth.” “It does things to your body that you’re just like ‘what are you doing to me,’” Austin said. “You feel like you are floating around. you are going upside down, it has 12 points in this ride that you just feel like, ’Yep, I’m going to die’ and you don’t, you manage to survive it. And my favorite part about this is just how incredibly smooth it is, so I get off the thing and I don’t feel violently ill, I feel like I just cheated death.” Austin said his family is gifting Gadsden with admission to Universal so she can experience the ride for herself. If you don’t agree with Florida’s Fourth Estate’s top roller coaster list, or think Austin and Gadsden missed one, let them know at ffe@wkmg.com. During this episode of Florida’s Fourth Estate Austin and Gadsden also talk to the co-owner of Tank America. He said kids as young as 16 can get behind the wheel of a tank and don’t even need a license to do so. Watch the full episode to learn more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kissimmee Police K9 Officer Georgie Torres is passionate about helping some of the most vulnerable members of our community. So, when he heard about the opportunity to get a specially trained dog that can track down the devices that hide child porn, he jumped at the opportunity. He alerted his superiors of the opportunity and once it was approved, he purchased “Baxter.” “(Baxter is) trained to detect the presence of a chemical that is actually used in the manufacturing process of electronic storage devices,” Torres said. Torres said the chemical is present in “cell phones, thumb drives, SD cards, external hard drives.” He added there are only seven or eight of these types of dogs in the state and about 100 across the country, but he hopes eventually every agency will get one. During a conversation on Florida’s Fourth Estate Baxter successfully searched three rooms and found hidden electronics. In one case he knocked a thumb drive out of a planter. “He is so geared up to work, his nose is already working without me really giving the command,” Torres said. “So, from the doorway he can already tell that there is a device here, he can already tell the area where it was, so he ran right here and shoved his nose at the plant and then like a savage he knocked it over.” What Baxter accomplished in seconds, Torres said, “even in the best scenario this could take two detectives easily two hours.” “(A dog like Baxter is) very valuable because what we do is so important, a lot of the children we deal with, the child victims are going through horrors that we can’t even comprehend,” the officer said. Learn more about Baxter and Kissimmee Police K9 Officer Georgie Torres on Florida’s Fourth Estate. You can watch Florida’s Fourth Estate every Monday & Friday on News 6 at 5:30 p.m. or anytime on News 6+. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Anchors Matt Austin and Ginger Gadsden invited Erich Schuttauf with the American Association for Nude Recreation to talk about what is quite a lucrative business in the Sunshine State. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you look up in the sky from time to time you may get lucky and see an owl, hawk or eagle. If you go to the Audobon Center for Birds of Prey you are guaranteed to see one and it will only cost you $8. You will likely learn a lot too. Daisy Fiore, the Senior Coordinator for Education joined Ginger Gadsden and Matt Austin on Florida’s Fourth Estate to talk more about the location and how it has become a haven for injured raptors. Fiore started with Trouble, a 36-year-old bald eagle. She confidently held the bird out on her arm, but agreed eagles can be vicious and intimidating. “Bald eagles are extremely territorial,” she said. “They form pair bonds and they are very nice in those pair bonds, but to stranger eagles, they are very territorial. They are trying to protect the best nesting space that they are laying claim to. Keep other eagles out of there. Protect their hunting territory.” Austin said once thought two eagles blocking traffic on the side of the road were in love, but quickly realized they were actually fighting. “Every year here at Audobon Center for Birds of Prey we do get in a couple eagles that have got into territory fights with one another and have been injured in those territory fights,” Fiore said. “It’s very true that if you see two eagles together, it could be a bonded pair... but they could also be getting in a territory fight.” If you haven’t seen one yet, you likely will. “We are usually second or third as far as largest populations (for eagles),” Fiore said. She added great horned owls are also prevalent in our state and if you haven’t seen them, you have likely heard them. “They make that whoo whoo call that everyone thinks of,” she said. “They are called the tigers of the sky.... eagles may have a strong grip, but great horned owls can grip about twice as strong as an eagle,” Fiore said. “(Great horned owls can) actually crush bone with those tallons.” Fiore also said there is a red-shouldered hawk at the center and that they are the most common bird of prey in Florida. Most of the birds at the Audobon Center live there because they have been injured and are not able to be re-introduced to the wild. If you would like to learn more or help out, Fiore said they are in need of volunteers and for every visitor that comes, the ticket price goes back into supporting the birds. Florida’s Fourth Estate is on News 6 at 5:30 p.m. every Monday and Friday. You can also watch it anytime on News 6+. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices