3 To Know: Hurricane outlook trimmed, more

Marco Eagle

1. Hurricane outlook trimmed: Weather agency predicts 14 to 20 named storms

This hurricane season may be a tad quieter than forecasters initially thought, but it is still likely to be busier than normal, government forecasters and others say.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has trimmed its hurricane season outlook from a 65% chance for above normal activity to 60% and increased the odds of a normal season from 25% to 30% because of uneven sea surface temperature, including a patch of cooler water off Portugal.

Parts of the Atlantic are warmer than normal, but the variability had forecasters “backing off on the higher end” of their predictions, said lead hurricane outlook forecaster Matthew Rosencrans.

The weather agency now predicts 14 to 20 named storms instead of its May forecast which was 14 to 21. The predicted number of hurricanes remains the same at six to 10 while those storms that hit major category of at least 111 mph are now forecast to be three to five instead of three to six. – Seth Borenstein/Associated Press

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Charley Woodsby, outside the first Red Lobster restaurant on Lake Parker in Lakeland in the late 1960s.

2. Charley Woodsby, who opened 1st Red Lobster in Lakeland, dies at 91

The restaurateur who opened the first Red Lobster in Lakeland and satisfied middle America's appetite for seafood has died. Charles Edward Woodsby of Lakeland died last Sunday at age 91.

Charley Woodsby opened first Red Lobster in Lakeland

In the 1960s, cafeterias and high-end restaurants were the mainstays across the United States, with few eateries catering to middle-class America in the seafood category. Big Boys, Howard Johnson and few others were filling the palates of Americans at the time.

Red Lobster changed that by appealing to middleclass American families with affordably priced seafood made from scratch in an informal setting, his son, Ronald Woodsby, said.

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According to his son, Woodsby and William Darden ran the Lakeland restaurant out of a property leased from Lawton Chiles and his law partner, Bill Ellsworth Jr.

In a Sun-Sentinel report about Chiles, who died in 1998, it said the eventual governor of Florida had borrowed about $10,000 from an uncle, his maid and friends to build the restaurant.

“At that time, interest rates were about 4 percent, and I was able to pay her back at 10 percent,” Chiles told the Sentinel. The 1994 report also said Chiles was still leasing his properties to Red Lobster, which were valued at $1.3 million at the time. – Paul Nutcher/Staff

Timber the giraffe has died at the Naples Zoo, officials said. He was found deceased Aug. 5, 2022. Timber, 13, arrived in Naples in 2010 from the Denver Zoo, where he was born in 2008.

3. Giraffe dies at Naples Zoo with no known cause of death

The Naples Zoo has lost one of its family members.

Zoo officials announced late Friday that Timber the giraffe had died unexpectedly. The reticulated giraffe was found deceased Friday morning and veterinary staff will perform a necropsy to determine the cause of death.

At age 13, Timber was the oldest giraffe in the zoo’s herd. The reticulated giraffe, also known as the Somali giraffe, is a subspecies or species of giraffe that is native to the Horn of Africa and lives in Somalia, southern Ethiopia, and northern Kenya.

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"Timber will be remembered for his strong and silent type personality," the Naples Zoo said Friday in a news release.

"Timber was an amazing ambassador for his species, and he will be deeply missed at Naples Zoo." While the life expectancy of a giraffe is 20 to 25 years old, the cause of death is unknown, the news release said.

The 44-acre zoo is home to more than 100 animals, including lions, Florida panthers, tigers, zebras, bears, giraffes and more. – Dave Osborn/Staff