News Briefs: Florida Man Pays Utility Bills for 36 Families in Need

A generous man in Florida recently made sure 36 families in the city of Gulf Breeze could enjoy Christmas without fear of gas or water shutoffs. He paid nearly $4,600 in utility bills for families who were at risk of shutoffs to service during the holidays. The man, Mike Esmond, says he and his three daughters went without heat during an abnormally cold Christmas in 1983 due to a past-due utility bill. He didn’t want other families to have to go through that. He got the idea after he noticed the cutoff date on his utility bill was Dec. 26.