ALVA Woodpeckers build home in Alva woman’s house You may have heard of squatters, but this woman is dealing with squawkers. Who needs a rooster to wake up when you have woodpeckers?
FORT MYERS Man claims he was trapped in a high-rise for 5 days A 77-year-old man wants justice after he claims he spent days trapped on the 24th floor of a high-rise apartment building.
PUNTA GORDA Charlotte Correctional prisoner arrested for death of another inmate State Attorney Amira Fox convened a grand jury, which decided to move forward with a case against a Charlotte Correctional inmate.
SANIBEL Construction near Dairy Queen eagle nest on Sanibel raises concerns While many eagle nests may be a bit difficult to see, one nest has always been a favorite for Sanibel residents and tourists.
The environmental effects of artificial sweeteners Experts are studying how the foods we eat affect the environment, especially after we flush our waste down the toilet.
Victim reacts to man exposing himself to her Ring camera You get a notification on your phone from your ring camera app that someone is at the door, only to find out it is someone exposing themselves. It’s the last thing victim Maria Kivi wanted or expected to see last week.
LEE COUNTY The art of capturing your eye and drawing you in How do you capture young, hip, trendy, fun, movers and shakers, all in a pose? We take you behind the scenes of a Gulfshore Life cover shoot.
FORT MYERS The lives of two SJC Boxers changed in the ring Two SJC Boxers, Mario Nunez and Arbon Kurtishi, help each other in the ring as each of them had their lives changed because of boxing.
FORT MYERS Chlamydia cases rising sharply in Lee County If you think about a crowded space- something with more than 250 people- if it’s in Lee county, statistically one person has chlamydia.
SANIBEL Sanibel resort day passes hope to get more business on the island A pass will allow vacationers to hang out at a Sanibel beach club for a day in hopes of drumming up some business.
Voting equipment tested ahead of Lee County elections Voting equipment is being tested in Lee County. This is to ensure all ballots are printed and counted correctly for the upcoming election.
Collier County teen assaulted after leaving party The teen has been charged and the sheriff’s office said they’re aware that many believe felony charges are in order, but under Florida law, there are very specific criteria that must be met for felony charges to be filed.
WINK weather team watching tropical wave over Atlantic Ocean The Weather Authority is watching a tropical disturbance over the Central Atlantic Ocean.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral drug bust leads investigators to fake fentanyl, cash and guns Cape Coral man arrest on drug charges. Investigators said they found, guns, drugs, and more than $32,000 in Richard Riley’s home.
NAPLES Naples youth flag football team to compete in Ohio tournament This weekend, the Naples Lunatics Green will compete in the Superhero Sports tournament in Canton, Ohio.
ALVA Woodpeckers build home in Alva woman’s house You may have heard of squatters, but this woman is dealing with squawkers. Who needs a rooster to wake up when you have woodpeckers?
FORT MYERS Man claims he was trapped in a high-rise for 5 days A 77-year-old man wants justice after he claims he spent days trapped on the 24th floor of a high-rise apartment building.
PUNTA GORDA Charlotte Correctional prisoner arrested for death of another inmate State Attorney Amira Fox convened a grand jury, which decided to move forward with a case against a Charlotte Correctional inmate.
SANIBEL Construction near Dairy Queen eagle nest on Sanibel raises concerns While many eagle nests may be a bit difficult to see, one nest has always been a favorite for Sanibel residents and tourists.
The environmental effects of artificial sweeteners Experts are studying how the foods we eat affect the environment, especially after we flush our waste down the toilet.
Victim reacts to man exposing himself to her Ring camera You get a notification on your phone from your ring camera app that someone is at the door, only to find out it is someone exposing themselves. It’s the last thing victim Maria Kivi wanted or expected to see last week.
LEE COUNTY The art of capturing your eye and drawing you in How do you capture young, hip, trendy, fun, movers and shakers, all in a pose? We take you behind the scenes of a Gulfshore Life cover shoot.
FORT MYERS The lives of two SJC Boxers changed in the ring Two SJC Boxers, Mario Nunez and Arbon Kurtishi, help each other in the ring as each of them had their lives changed because of boxing.
FORT MYERS Chlamydia cases rising sharply in Lee County If you think about a crowded space- something with more than 250 people- if it’s in Lee county, statistically one person has chlamydia.
SANIBEL Sanibel resort day passes hope to get more business on the island A pass will allow vacationers to hang out at a Sanibel beach club for a day in hopes of drumming up some business.
Voting equipment tested ahead of Lee County elections Voting equipment is being tested in Lee County. This is to ensure all ballots are printed and counted correctly for the upcoming election.
Collier County teen assaulted after leaving party The teen has been charged and the sheriff’s office said they’re aware that many believe felony charges are in order, but under Florida law, there are very specific criteria that must be met for felony charges to be filed.
WINK weather team watching tropical wave over Atlantic Ocean The Weather Authority is watching a tropical disturbance over the Central Atlantic Ocean.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral drug bust leads investigators to fake fentanyl, cash and guns Cape Coral man arrest on drug charges. Investigators said they found, guns, drugs, and more than $32,000 in Richard Riley’s home.
NAPLES Naples youth flag football team to compete in Ohio tournament This weekend, the Naples Lunatics Green will compete in the Superhero Sports tournament in Canton, Ohio.
MGN Online DETROIT (AP) – Emails showing that General Motors ordered a half-million replacement ignition switches nearly two months before telling the government of a safety recall will be heavily scrutinized by federal prosecutors, who are investigating GM’s conduct, according to legal experts. The email chain, released Monday by an attorney suing GM, again raises questions about how forthcoming GM has been with safety regulators and lawmakers, as well as a GM-funded investigation into the defective switches by former U.S. Attorney Anton Valukas. The chain of emails from December through February shows that a contract employee for GM inquired about the parts on Dec. 18, 2013, and ordered them from Delphi the following day, in preparation to replace parts on 500,000 to over 700,000 vehicles. The cost was estimated at nearly $3 million. Yet GM did not report a safety defect to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration until 51 days later, on Feb. 7, 2014. Federal law requires automakers to tell the agency about defects within five business days of discovering them. The U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan is investigating potential criminal actions by GM in its handling of the recall of 2.6 million older-model small cars nationwide. The faulty switches are responsible for at least 32 deaths and hundreds of injuries. The switches can slip out of the run position, causing engines to stall unexpectedly and disabling air bags. GM has admitted knowing about the problem for more than a decade. The emails muddy the timeline GM has given regarding the recall. The part order came just after a Dec. 17 meeting of a three-executive GM panel that decides if cars should be recalled. But the Valukas report said that although the committee heard a presentation from GM investigators seeking to recall the ignition switches, no decision was made that day. GM says it didn’t determine that the cars should be recalled until Jan 31. Also, the parts order was not mentioned when CEO Mary Barra subsequently testified before Congress. Barra has said she first found out about the switch problem in late December and the decision to issue a recall on Jan. 31. GM says it is standing by Barra’s previous statements. The emails also could lead to further congressional hearings on the matter with Barra being called to Washington again. “Not only was the company taking concrete actions without telling NHTSA, but in subsequent congressional hearings and investigations, GM has failed to disclose these activities,” said Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo. “Once again, the leadership and integrity of GM’s senior managers deserve the strictest scrutiny.” Federal prosecutors are looking into whether GM misled safety regulators. Criminal charges against the company and employees are possible. GM has already admitted violating the law, paying a $35 million fine and agreeing to strict federal oversight. The Justice Department will have a “field day” with the emails, matching up dates against the timeline from Valukas’ report and documents filed with NHTSA, looking for conflicts, said Peter Henning, a former federal prosecutor who now is a law professor at Wayne State University in Detroit. Someone higher up in GM, he said, would have had to authorize the parts order, and investigators will want to know who that was. “That’s not coming out of petty cash. Even for a company like GM,” Henning said. Also, Henning said the company wouldn’t order that many parts unless it knew a recall was coming. The documents also raise questions about Valukas’ report, because GM said he was given unfettered access to company documents, Henning said. Texas attorney Robert Hilliard, who released the emails, said GM should have told the government and warned its customers as soon as it knew about the problem. For his clients alone, a warning at the time of the parts order could have prevented one death and 85 injuries, Hilliard said. He contends that Barra, who was head of product development and purchasing before becoming CEO, should have known about an unbudgeted order of 500,000 replacement switches. Jere Beasley, another lawyer who also received the emails, said Delphi produced them after Beasley and associated lawyers agreed to drop the company as a defendant in the ignition switch cases. Delphi and the Justice Department would not comment. Valukas issued a statement standing by his report and saying that to his knowledge GM gave him access to all the information it had on repair options. But it didn’t directly address whether or not he received the parts-ordering emails. GM said in a statement the emails are “further confirmation” that its system needed to be reformed, which it has done. The company also said it is standard practice to start ordering parts before a recall determination is made.