New restaurants, gym approval & more top stories: Your Coral Springs week in review

Coral Springs saw a busy news week with a high-profile execution, major development approvals and several criminal cases drawing attention.

Missed the headlines? Here’s a roundup of the top stories from this week in your city:

• Execution carried out: Florida executed 47-year-old Richard Knight on Thursday for the June 2000 stabbing deaths of Odessia Stephens and her 4-year-old daughter Hanessia Mullings in Coral Springs, making him the seventh person executed in the state this year.
• Museum farewell exhibit: The Coral Springs Museum of Art will host a double-feature exhibition June 5 through Aug. 1 featuring 45 large-format Everglades prints by Clyde Butcher and contemporary works honoring America’s 250th birthday, marking its final show before relocating to the Cornerstone complex.
• Luxury gym advances: The City Commission unanimously approved final designs for an 86,750-square-foot Life Time Fitness “athletic country club” on the former Heron Bay Golf Club property, with a second hearing scheduled for June 17.
• Drone program expands: Coral Springs commissioners approved a $465,436 contract with Axon to expand the Police Department’s Drone First Responder Program, with new drones at police headquarters and two fire stations allowing first responders to reach any location in the city within 30 to 40 seconds.
• Cardiac survival leader: The Coral Springs-Parkland Fire Department achieved a 23.6% cardiac arrest survival-to-discharge rate in 2025, more than double the national average of 10.5%, with bystanders performing CPR in nearly 46% of cases.
• Medicare fraud sentencing: A 34-year-old Coral Springs resident was sentenced to six and a half years in prison alongside two Tamarac co-conspirators for a nearly $7 million Medicare fraud scheme involving fraudulent medical equipment companies and laundering more than $2.2 million through shell companies.
• Housing market shift: While Broward County single-family home sales rose 7.6% year-over-year in April, Coral Springs sales dropped 3% and active inventory plummeted 48%, leaving the city with only two months of single-family home supply.
• New restaurant coming: Ember and Vine, a globally inspired all-day restaurant from the couple behind Dear Olivia and Eddie and Vinny’s, plans to open in July at the former Angelo Elia Pizza location, featuring dishes free of refined sugar and seed oils.
• Airline fills the gap: Allegiant Air announced four new nonstop routes from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport starting this fall to Boston, Omaha, Kansas City and Pittsburgh, expanding service after Spirit Airlines ceased all operations on May 2.
• Self-defense claim: T’vano Rolle, 22, told Coral Springs police he fatally shot 18-year-old Khameran Jackson in self-defense during an alleged attempted theft of his gold Cuban-link chain at the Coral Springs Tower Club pool.
• Pizzeria opening soon: Pummarola Pizzeria Napoletana, a South Florida chain inspired by the Rumo family’s Nonna Rosa and rooted in Naples, Italy, recipes, confirmed a new location at 6240 Coral Ridge Drive that will feature wood-fired ovens handcrafted in Italy.
• Elderly scam chase: A 34-year-old Coral Springs man turned himself in after allegedly tricking a 77-year-old woman into handing $4,000 to Uber drivers she believed were FBI couriers, then ramming patrol vehicles and leading deputies on a high-speed I-95 chase.
• Teen misconduct arrest: An 18-year-old from Coral Springs was arrested on felony charges of soliciting a child for unlawful sexual conduct and transmitting harmful material after allegedly exchanging nude photos with a 13-year-old and encouraging the victim to harm himself.

This report was produced with the assistance of a proprietary tool powered by artificial intelligence and using our own originally reported, written and published content. It was reviewed and edited by our journalists.