Ongoing repairs following Naples plane crashNaples jet crash, one year later: new details on emergency response
Ongoing repairs following Naples plane crash A deadly plane crash that occurred one year ago in Naples, Florida continues to impact lives in Southwest Florida. The tragic event involved two pilots who lost their lives on Interstate 75.
Naples jet crash, one year later: new details on emergency response Sunday marks one year since a jet crashed after its pilots attempted an emergency landing on I-75 just outside of Naples. “Your mind goes back to everything that happened that day,” said Heather Mazurkiewicz, public information officer with the North Collier Fire Rescue. “I think about the fact that there weren’t more lives lost.” At […]
LCSO cutting down law enforcement response times The Lee County Sheriff’s Office is gearing up to implement “Prepared 9-1-1,” a new tool designed to enhance emergency response times.
How Harry Chapin Food Bank supports struggling families In the heart of Dunbar, a neighborhood in Fort Myers, the STARS Complex becomes a place of hope as the Harry Chapin Food Bank supports families in need.
MOORE HAVEN African American family breaking barriers in Moore Haven politics Breaking barriers is a family tradition for Rashondra Croskey and her godmother, Gloria Reese.
Charlotte County unlicensed contractor accused of fraud The Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office said that a contractor has been arrested after he was hired to build a room in a home without a license.
Studies show that menopause is linked to heart risks Menopause is a natural part of life for middle-aged women, typically occurring between ages 45 and 55. However, it can bring serious health complications, including an increased risk of heart disease.
FORT MYERS Local band Shy Blossom to open up for ’90s rockers Sister Hazel at The Ranch A Southwest Florida-based band will be opening for the legendary ’90s rock fusion group Sister Hazel.
golden gate Bear Brawl: Black bears duke it out in Golden Gate backyard Two black bears were caught on camera tussling for garbage in the backyard of a Golden Gate home.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral man accused of possessing child pornography A Cape Coral man has been arrested after allegedly possessing several files of child pornography on devices.
fort myers 7 people, 3 dogs displaced following house fire in Fort Myers The Fort Myers Fire Department responded to a house fire that has left seven people and three dogs without a home.
CAPE CORAL Island Coast High School employee accused of inappropriate behavior with 2 students We now have new details about the arrest of a Cape Coral instructional support aide at Island Coast High School accused of inappropriate relations with students.
PORT CHARLOTTE Port Charlotte woman reunites with husband’s ashes A Port Charlotte woman has been reunited with her husband’s ashes after struggling with the U.S. Postal Service to find them.
Tim Aten Knows: The Avenue set to break ground on Fifth An upscale mixed-use redevelopment project — The Avenue — will begin construction this quarter on a nearly two-block area of Fifth Avenue South from the former longtime property of St. George & the Dragon restaurant.
Demolition begins on former Winn-Dixie grocery in Estero The walls of the former grocery store at the northwest corner of Three Oaks Parkway and Coconut Road started coming down last month after reaching an agreement with nearby residents who filed suit to stop the project.
Ongoing repairs following Naples plane crash A deadly plane crash that occurred one year ago in Naples, Florida continues to impact lives in Southwest Florida. The tragic event involved two pilots who lost their lives on Interstate 75.
Naples jet crash, one year later: new details on emergency response Sunday marks one year since a jet crashed after its pilots attempted an emergency landing on I-75 just outside of Naples. “Your mind goes back to everything that happened that day,” said Heather Mazurkiewicz, public information officer with the North Collier Fire Rescue. “I think about the fact that there weren’t more lives lost.” At […]
LCSO cutting down law enforcement response times The Lee County Sheriff’s Office is gearing up to implement “Prepared 9-1-1,” a new tool designed to enhance emergency response times.
How Harry Chapin Food Bank supports struggling families In the heart of Dunbar, a neighborhood in Fort Myers, the STARS Complex becomes a place of hope as the Harry Chapin Food Bank supports families in need.
MOORE HAVEN African American family breaking barriers in Moore Haven politics Breaking barriers is a family tradition for Rashondra Croskey and her godmother, Gloria Reese.
Charlotte County unlicensed contractor accused of fraud The Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office said that a contractor has been arrested after he was hired to build a room in a home without a license.
Studies show that menopause is linked to heart risks Menopause is a natural part of life for middle-aged women, typically occurring between ages 45 and 55. However, it can bring serious health complications, including an increased risk of heart disease.
FORT MYERS Local band Shy Blossom to open up for ’90s rockers Sister Hazel at The Ranch A Southwest Florida-based band will be opening for the legendary ’90s rock fusion group Sister Hazel.
golden gate Bear Brawl: Black bears duke it out in Golden Gate backyard Two black bears were caught on camera tussling for garbage in the backyard of a Golden Gate home.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral man accused of possessing child pornography A Cape Coral man has been arrested after allegedly possessing several files of child pornography on devices.
fort myers 7 people, 3 dogs displaced following house fire in Fort Myers The Fort Myers Fire Department responded to a house fire that has left seven people and three dogs without a home.
CAPE CORAL Island Coast High School employee accused of inappropriate behavior with 2 students We now have new details about the arrest of a Cape Coral instructional support aide at Island Coast High School accused of inappropriate relations with students.
PORT CHARLOTTE Port Charlotte woman reunites with husband’s ashes A Port Charlotte woman has been reunited with her husband’s ashes after struggling with the U.S. Postal Service to find them.
Tim Aten Knows: The Avenue set to break ground on Fifth An upscale mixed-use redevelopment project — The Avenue — will begin construction this quarter on a nearly two-block area of Fifth Avenue South from the former longtime property of St. George & the Dragon restaurant.
Demolition begins on former Winn-Dixie grocery in Estero The walls of the former grocery store at the northwest corner of Three Oaks Parkway and Coconut Road started coming down last month after reaching an agreement with nearby residents who filed suit to stop the project.
MGN Online CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) – More than 3,100 students – nearly half of them athletes – enrolled in classes they didn’t have to show up for and received artificially inflated grades in what an investigator called a “shadow curriculum” that lasted nearly two decades at the University of North Carolina. The report released Wednesday by former high-ranking U.S. Justice Department official Kenneth Wainstein found more far-reaching academic fraud than previous investigations by the school and the NCAA. Many at the university hoped Wainstein’s investigation would bring some closure to the long-running scandal, which is rooted in an NCAA investigation focused on improper benefits within the football program in 2010. Instead, findings of a systemic problem in the former African and Afro-American Studies department could lead to NCAA sanctions. At least nine university employees were fired or have had disciplinary procedures started against them in light of the report, chancellor Carol Folt said. She wouldn’t identify them. “I think it’s very clear that this is an academic, an athletic and a university problem,” Folt said. The report outlined courses in the former African and Afro-American Studies department that required only a research paper that was often scanned quickly and given an A or B regardless of the quality of work. The NCAA hit the football program in 2012 with scholarship reductions and a postseason ban, though the academic violations focused mainly on a tutor providing improper help to players on papers. The NCAA said it reopened its investigation in June because new information was available. Wainstein’s staff has briefed NCAA investigators at least three times, and plans another meeting on the final report. The report outlined how the fraud ran unchecked for so long, as well as how faculty and administration officials missed or looked past red flags, such as unusually high numbers of independent study course enrollments. It said athletics staffers steered athletes to classes that also became popular with fraternities and other everyday students looking for an easy grade. “By the mid-2000s, these classes had become a primary – if not the primary – way that struggling athletes kept themselves from having eligibility problems,” the report said. The school hired Wainstein in February. Unlike previous inquiries by former Gov. Jim Martin and the school, Wainstein had the cooperation of former department chairman Julius Nyang’oro and retired office administrator Deborah Crowder – the two people at the center of the scandal. Nyang’oro was indicted in December on a felony fraud charge, though it was dropped after he agreed to cooperate with Wainstein’s probe. Crowder was never charged. It was Crowder who started the paper classes as a way to help struggling students with “watered-down requirements” not long after Nyang’oro became chairman of the curriculum in 1992, according to the report. Though not a faculty member, she managed the courses by registering students, assigning them topics and then handing out high grades regardless of the work. By 1999, in an apparent effort to work around the number of independent studies students could take, Crowder began offering lecture classes that didn’t meet and were instead paper classes. After her retirement in 2009, Nyang’oro graded papers “with an eye to boosting” a student’s grade-point average, even asking Crowder’s successor to look up GPAs before he’d issue a grade for a course, according to the report. Nyang’oro stepped down in 2011 as chairman after accusations of undetected plagiarism surfaced against a former football player. In all, athletes made up about 47 percent of the enrollments in the 188 lecture-classified paper classes. Of that group, 51 percent were football players. Wainstein’s staff reviewed records dating to the 1980s and interviewed 126 people, including men’s basketball coach Roy Williams, who said he trusted the school “to put on legitimate classes,” according to the report. Former basketball player Rashad McCants, who told ESPN in June that tutors wrote research papers for him and that Williams was aware that of no-show classes, didn’t respond to numerous requests for interviews, according to the report. ___ Follow Aaron Beard on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/aaronbeardap (Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)