Florida Today from Cocoa, Florida • A1

I was but two days after Christmas when the Fenno family lost their new Christmas gift: a drone. The Melbourne residents were visiting family in Georgia when they took the drone for its spin. It was dark, said Kaitlee Fenno, but the drone had lights, so the family assumed it was in the clear. were out in a long drive with an open near the bottom, so we thought for sure we lose the thing even with the surrounding woods, and espe- cially with the bright said Fenno. But it only took 10 minutes for Christ- mas drone 2017 to go missing in action.

my husband took the drone too high, or something happened where it lost connection with the control- ler perhaps the battery died, but I sup- pose we will never really she said, noting they tried to chase it down, to no avail. The story is like many along the Space Coast who with bright eyes took shiny new drones out for a test run only to come home empty-handed. The popularity of drones has more than doubled year over year, according to NPD, a group that analyzes consumer and retail data. Drone revenues were expected to soar past the $1 billion mark in 2017, ac- cording to the Consumer Technology As- sociation, with about 3.4 million sold just in the United States. During the holidays, retailers capitalized on the trend as lower- priced drones in the $50 to $100 range lined shelves from technology distribu- tors to grocery stores.

The drone was purchased at an Aldi. But for many, the fun was short-lived. Dozens chimed in after FLORIDA TODAY asked for missing drone stories on a pop- ular Facebook parenting group. tried to control it with the remote, but nothing I was doing seemed to control the Chris Charron, of Titusville, was waiting to see if his wife was buying him a drone for Christmas. When she he bought himself a DJI Mavic Pro that he flies from an app on his phone.

Jessica Saggio FLORIDA TODAY USA TODAY NETWORK FLORIDA GONE SO SOON? It taken long for Christmas drones to go missing across the Space Coast PHOTOS BY MALCOLM TODAY tried to run after it, but you run after a drone. like running after an airplane. like putting a bunch of propellers on your wallet and watching it fly David Waters Melbourne videographer who flies drones professionally See DRONES, Page 10A sunday PART OF THE USA TODAY NETWORK SUNDAY, JANUARY 14, 2018 FLORIDATODAY.COM Best-reviewed restaurants of 2017 FLORIDA restaurant critic wrote about 52 last year; see which 18 stood out. STYLE, 17A Montecito, California, residents are reeling after numerous disasters. 1B Paddle out 2018 Hundreds of surfers ride waves to remember one of their own.

Inside, 13A Weather High Low Cloudy. Forecast, 32A Volume 52 No. 304 Home delivery pricing inside Subscribe 877-424-0156 Sunday $3.00 IN COUPON SAVINGS SAVE UP TO $255 Despite a stingy handout from state lawmakers, the Brevard County public school district is taking on a long list of new projects 16, to be exact. Reopening an elementary school, re- viving the corridor busing system, de- veloping a suicide-prevention program and hiring more social workers, literacy coaches and security are all on the list. All together, the projects will cost the school district about $14 million a small chunk of the total $942 million budget.

of our budget priorities were based on the feedback we got from the said board member Misty Belford. of our job is to take in all of that feedback and meet as many of those needs as Board members developed the list last March, but did not it until after the 2017 legislative session, which gave more funding to privately run char- ter schools and forced districts to lower tax rates despite growing property val- ues. The long list of projects has drawn scrutiny from the teachers union, which argues that the money should have gone to teacher raises. A lot of the money was scrounged up by cutting district depart- ment budgets. In some cases, the mon- ey will be used for the project over sev- eral years.

think all good programs, good ideas, but they can wait. waited for a long said union Vice President Anthony Colucci, referring to the years during which salaries were School projects are due this year Brevard district settles on $14 million to-do list, but union would rather see raises instead Caroline Glenn FLORIDA TODAY USA TODAY NETWORK FLORIDA See SCHOOLS, Page 11A.