Pedestrian dead after crash on McGregor BoulevardSunday brings sun and clouds with chance for a stray shower
FORT MYERS Pedestrian dead after crash on McGregor Boulevard The Fort Myers Police Department is investigating a crash that left at least one person dead Saturday night.
Sunday brings sun and clouds with chance for a stray shower The Weather Authority forecasts another seasonal day across Southwest Florida, with temperatures reaching the upper 70s to low 80s this afternoon.
Family of Eagles: FGCU volleyball star graduates with Master’s Degree Saturday marked a special day for Florida Gulf Coast University as more than 1,800 students graduated. For one student-athlete, graduating from FGCU runs in the family.
lehigh acres LCSO: Man shot by car owner protecting property The Lee County Sheriff’s Office responded to a shooting in Lehigh Acres early Saturday morning.
NORTH FORT MYERS Lee County residents wait hours for D-SNAP assistance The supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP) is at the Lee Civic Center all weekend, ready to help southwest Florida.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA First eaglet hatches in famous SWFL eagle nest Welcome E24! The third eaglet from the nest of M15 and F23 has hatched according to the Southwest Florida eagle camera.
Rock for Equality: SWFL non-profit hosts benefit concert for Palestine A Southwest Florida non-profit hosted a benefit concert on Friday night to help with humanitarian aid in Palestine.
Warm, breezy Saturday with a few showers possible The Weather Authority is forecasting a breezy, warm weekend in store across Southwest Florida, with the chance of a few showers, particularly on Saturday.
CAPE CORAL Active investigation underway in South Cape Coral Cape Coral police are investigating at a home on Southwest 49th Terrace in South Cape Coral early Saturday morning.
16 transported after 2 airboats crash in Collier County According to the Collier County Sheriff’s Office, two airboats crashed south of U.S. 41 east between mile markers 74 and 75, leaving well over a dozen people injured.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA New bill filed: Auto shop and law enforcement must work together to solve hit-and-run crashes There could be new detectives on the block, located in your nearest auto shop. A new state bill aims at trying to stop hit-and-run drivers from getting away.
CAPE CORAL New leash on life; Cape Coral shelter dog beats cancer with drug being tested for humans A drug now being studied in human trials to kill cancerous tumors, is already approved and helping animals.
CAPE CORAL City of Cape Coral planning a new interchange with I-75 The city of Cape Coral is in the early stages of planning a new interchange with I-75, an idea that has been discussed for more than a decade.
Tracking invasive species after hurricanes Hurricanes Helene and Milton didn’t just bring wind and rain, they brought new threats to southwest Florida’s ecosystem.
PUNTA GORDA Woman in Punta Gorda shooting charged with 2nd degree murder A woman in a homicide investigation on Nasturtium Drive in Punta Gorda has been charged with 2nd-degree murder.
FORT MYERS Pedestrian dead after crash on McGregor Boulevard The Fort Myers Police Department is investigating a crash that left at least one person dead Saturday night.
Sunday brings sun and clouds with chance for a stray shower The Weather Authority forecasts another seasonal day across Southwest Florida, with temperatures reaching the upper 70s to low 80s this afternoon.
Family of Eagles: FGCU volleyball star graduates with Master’s Degree Saturday marked a special day for Florida Gulf Coast University as more than 1,800 students graduated. For one student-athlete, graduating from FGCU runs in the family.
lehigh acres LCSO: Man shot by car owner protecting property The Lee County Sheriff’s Office responded to a shooting in Lehigh Acres early Saturday morning.
NORTH FORT MYERS Lee County residents wait hours for D-SNAP assistance The supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP) is at the Lee Civic Center all weekend, ready to help southwest Florida.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA First eaglet hatches in famous SWFL eagle nest Welcome E24! The third eaglet from the nest of M15 and F23 has hatched according to the Southwest Florida eagle camera.
Rock for Equality: SWFL non-profit hosts benefit concert for Palestine A Southwest Florida non-profit hosted a benefit concert on Friday night to help with humanitarian aid in Palestine.
Warm, breezy Saturday with a few showers possible The Weather Authority is forecasting a breezy, warm weekend in store across Southwest Florida, with the chance of a few showers, particularly on Saturday.
CAPE CORAL Active investigation underway in South Cape Coral Cape Coral police are investigating at a home on Southwest 49th Terrace in South Cape Coral early Saturday morning.
16 transported after 2 airboats crash in Collier County According to the Collier County Sheriff’s Office, two airboats crashed south of U.S. 41 east between mile markers 74 and 75, leaving well over a dozen people injured.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA New bill filed: Auto shop and law enforcement must work together to solve hit-and-run crashes There could be new detectives on the block, located in your nearest auto shop. A new state bill aims at trying to stop hit-and-run drivers from getting away.
CAPE CORAL New leash on life; Cape Coral shelter dog beats cancer with drug being tested for humans A drug now being studied in human trials to kill cancerous tumors, is already approved and helping animals.
CAPE CORAL City of Cape Coral planning a new interchange with I-75 The city of Cape Coral is in the early stages of planning a new interchange with I-75, an idea that has been discussed for more than a decade.
Tracking invasive species after hurricanes Hurricanes Helene and Milton didn’t just bring wind and rain, they brought new threats to southwest Florida’s ecosystem.
PUNTA GORDA Woman in Punta Gorda shooting charged with 2nd degree murder A woman in a homicide investigation on Nasturtium Drive in Punta Gorda has been charged with 2nd-degree murder.
MGN Online NEW YORK (AP) – A sleep-deprived engineer nodded off at the controls of a commuter train just before taking a 30 mph curve at 82 mph, causing a derailment last year that killed four people and injured more than 70, federal regulators said Tuesday. William Rockefeller’s sleepiness was due to a combination of an undiagnosed disorder – sleep apnea – and a drastic shift in his work schedule, the National Transportation Safety Board said. It said the railroad lacked a policy to screen engineers for sleep disorders, which also contributed to the Dec. 1 crash. And it said a system that would have applied the brakes automatically would have prevented the crash. The board also issued rulings on four other Metro-North accidents that occurred in New York and Connecticut in 2013 and 2014, repeatedly finding fault with the railroad while also noting that conditions have improved. “We truly take to heart all the issues that have been stated,” Metro-North President Joseph Giulietti said. As an example, he said the railroad already has begun a test project on engineer sleep apnea that will be expanded. Asked what had happened to Metro-North in recent years, Giulietti replied: “Our focus on on-time performance versus our focus on safety.” U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York said the report revealed “a horror house of negligence resulting in injury, mayhem and death.” “The last thing that should be on the mind of a commuter on Metro-North is whether they’re going to survive the commute,” U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut said. NTSB Acting Chairman Christopher Hart, as well as Schumer and U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, criticized the Federal Railroad Administration for failing to order railroads to adopt NTSB recommendations, including a sleep-disorder screening suggestion 12 years ago. The FRA is “much too captive to the industry they are supposed to regulate,” Blumenthal said. An FRA spokesman said the agency would respond later. The NTSB had reported Rockefeller’s sleep apnea in April, saying tests revealed it interrupted his sleep dozens of times each night. Investigators said Rockefeller told them he had felt strangely “dazed” right before the crash. But until Tuesday, it had refrained from declaring his sleepiness the cause of the crash. It said that less than two weeks before the crash, Rockefeller had switched from a work day that began in late afternoon to one that began early in the morning. The board said that probably compounded his sleep problem. It also noted that the technology known as positive train control was not in use at the time of the crash. Positive train control – another NTSB recommendation on file – can automatically bring a train to a stop if it’s exceeding a speed limit. Metro-North has said it is working to install the technology. On the other accidents, the NTSB found: -A May 17, 2013, derailment and collision in Bridgeport, Connecticut, was caused by broken joint bars, which are used to join rails of different sizes. At least 65 people were injured. The board said Metro-North had deferred scheduled track maintenance and lacked “a comprehensive track maintenance program.” -A track foreman who was fatally struck by a train in West Haven, Connecticut, on May 28, 2013, was probably due to a mistake by a student rail traffic controller. The controller misunderstood some instructions and canceled the signals protecting the section of track the man was on, the NTSB said. -In a similar accident in Manhattan on March 10, 2014, a worker was killed by a train while trying to re-energize tracks that had been out of service for maintenance. The NTSB blamed the accident of briefings that poorly communicated which part of the track would be safe. -The derailment of a freight train on Metro-North tracks in the Bronx on July 18, 2013, which caused no injuries, was caused by deteriorated concrete ties and other problems compounded by deferred maintenance, the NTSB said. In March, the Federal Railroad Administration issued a stinging report on Metro-North, saying the railroad let safety concerns slip while pushing to keep trains on time. Railroad executives pledged to make safety their top priority. Metro-North is the second-largest commuter rail line in the country. It carried more than 83.4 million riders between New York City and its suburbs last year. The largest commuter line, the Long Island Rail Road, is a sister agency and is benefitting from the lessons Metro-North has learned, Schumer said. (Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)