Warmer with sun and clouds for your Friday plansFDOT to open all lanes of Caloosahatchee Bridge year ahead of construction schedule
the weather authority Warmer with sun and clouds for your Friday plans The Weather Authority is tracking a warmer day ahead, with a mixture of sun and clouds expected this Friday afternoon.
FDOT to open all lanes of Caloosahatchee Bridge year ahead of construction schedule The Florida Department of Transportation announced it will open all lanes of the Caloosahatchee Bridge a year ahead of its pedestrian sidewalk project.
NAPLES 12-year-old collecting donations for the needy during the holidays A 12-year-old Naples boy isn’t worried about what he’s getting for Christmas. Instead, he’s working on his 6th annual “Holiday Sock Drive.”
Fort Myers man facing homelessness before the holidays A 75-year-old man is on the brink of homelessness despite working over 80 hours a week.
NAPLES Adoptee uses non-profit to provide suitcases for foster children This holiday season, a Naples woman is on a mission to bring foster children something many take for granted: a suitcase filled with dignity.
MARCO ISLAND City of Marco Island discusses lead awareness during city council meeting The city of Marco Island sent out 4900 letters to residents warning them that their pipes could contain plastic or lead.
NAPLES The future of electric planes in Southwest Florida Features of living near an airport include persistent headache-inducing engine rumbles and foul-smelling jet fuel, but electric planes could play a part in the solution.
PORT CHARLOTTE Neighbors awaiting answers on Port Charlotte Beach Park repairs Neighbors said a contractor hired by the Florida Division of Emergency Management mishandled the boats at Port Charlotte Beach Park.
FGCU introduces new technology for cognitive health screenings Ten minutes. That’s all it takes for doctors to assess how well you remember, how quickly you learn things, and how your brain is working overall.
WINK Investigates: Disgraced contractor faces new lawsuits and allegations Paul Beattie, a disgraced home builder is back doing business but legal challenges continue as another one of his businesses gets sued. Former employees of Beattie speak out, only to WINK.
SWFL reacts to UNC hiring Bill Belichick Southwest Florida reacts to North Carolina hiring Bill Belichick as its new head football coach and how that could impact the decisions of local recruits.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA Some Floridians want more alone time during the holidays The holidays are all about spending time with family and friends, but nearly half of Americans say they really want more alone time during the holiday.
LABELLE Hendry County rolls out cameras for school speed zones The Hendry County Sheriff’s Office has rolled out a new way of enforcing school zone speed limits by using cameras that will target drivers traveling over a certain speed in a school zone.
Aggressive driving concerns on the rise in Southwest Florida The arrest of a man who, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office said, killed a motorcyclist after crashing into him on purpose is raising concerns over aggressive driving in Southwest Florida.
SANIBEL Sanibel School students prepare for community Christmas performance The school that has had to claw and fight its way back more than once to reopen is getting the chance to celebrate.
the weather authority Warmer with sun and clouds for your Friday plans The Weather Authority is tracking a warmer day ahead, with a mixture of sun and clouds expected this Friday afternoon.
FDOT to open all lanes of Caloosahatchee Bridge year ahead of construction schedule The Florida Department of Transportation announced it will open all lanes of the Caloosahatchee Bridge a year ahead of its pedestrian sidewalk project.
NAPLES 12-year-old collecting donations for the needy during the holidays A 12-year-old Naples boy isn’t worried about what he’s getting for Christmas. Instead, he’s working on his 6th annual “Holiday Sock Drive.”
Fort Myers man facing homelessness before the holidays A 75-year-old man is on the brink of homelessness despite working over 80 hours a week.
NAPLES Adoptee uses non-profit to provide suitcases for foster children This holiday season, a Naples woman is on a mission to bring foster children something many take for granted: a suitcase filled with dignity.
MARCO ISLAND City of Marco Island discusses lead awareness during city council meeting The city of Marco Island sent out 4900 letters to residents warning them that their pipes could contain plastic or lead.
NAPLES The future of electric planes in Southwest Florida Features of living near an airport include persistent headache-inducing engine rumbles and foul-smelling jet fuel, but electric planes could play a part in the solution.
PORT CHARLOTTE Neighbors awaiting answers on Port Charlotte Beach Park repairs Neighbors said a contractor hired by the Florida Division of Emergency Management mishandled the boats at Port Charlotte Beach Park.
FGCU introduces new technology for cognitive health screenings Ten minutes. That’s all it takes for doctors to assess how well you remember, how quickly you learn things, and how your brain is working overall.
WINK Investigates: Disgraced contractor faces new lawsuits and allegations Paul Beattie, a disgraced home builder is back doing business but legal challenges continue as another one of his businesses gets sued. Former employees of Beattie speak out, only to WINK.
SWFL reacts to UNC hiring Bill Belichick Southwest Florida reacts to North Carolina hiring Bill Belichick as its new head football coach and how that could impact the decisions of local recruits.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA Some Floridians want more alone time during the holidays The holidays are all about spending time with family and friends, but nearly half of Americans say they really want more alone time during the holiday.
LABELLE Hendry County rolls out cameras for school speed zones The Hendry County Sheriff’s Office has rolled out a new way of enforcing school zone speed limits by using cameras that will target drivers traveling over a certain speed in a school zone.
Aggressive driving concerns on the rise in Southwest Florida The arrest of a man who, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office said, killed a motorcyclist after crashing into him on purpose is raising concerns over aggressive driving in Southwest Florida.
SANIBEL Sanibel School students prepare for community Christmas performance The school that has had to claw and fight its way back more than once to reopen is getting the chance to celebrate.
MGN Online ROLLING Alabama is No. 1. This is not a recording. Each of the last seven college football seasons Alabama has been the No. 1 team in The Associated Press college football poll at some point. That’s each season Nick Saban has been the coach in Tuscaloosa, save for his first. It’s the longest such streak since Miami’s great teams did it from 1986-92. The Tide (11-1) took the top spot in the rankings away from undefeated Florida State (12-0) on Sunday in a move that doesn’t happen much in the AP rankings. The last time an undefeated team was No. 2 behind a team that had lost this late in the season was 1993. Florida State fans will remember that season well. The Seminoles vaulted back into the top spot past No. 2 and unbeaten Nebraska at the conclusion of their regular, despite losing to Notre Dame a few weeks before. Florida State went on to beat Nebraska in the Orange Bowl and win coach Bobby Bowden’s first national championship. This Florida State (12-0), which racked up its sixth victory in a one-score game Saturday night against Florida, will try to flip that script and win its second straight national championship under coach Jimbo Fisher. But back to ‘Bama and why this edition of the Tide represents another example of Saban’s greatness — as if we didn’t already have enough. Alabama has been viewed as the last bastion of old-school football. Run the ball. Stop the run. Control the ball and the game. Alabama’s old-schoolness gets overplayed in these days of high-speed spread offense — Saban’s teams have been plenty explosive offensively while winning three national titles — but there has been a difference this season. The highest-scoring Iron Bowl exemplified Saban’s decision to keep with the times. The days of winning with defense are done in college football. That 9-6 overtime Game of the Century between LSU and Alabama in 2011 seems like decades ago. The Southeastern Conference has finally succumbed to the spread offense revolution, with Auburn coach Gus Malzahn leading the way. Last season, Malzahn’s team beat the Crimson Tide. The Kick-6 will live on forever, but the bigger issue for Alabama was its inability to stop the Tigers, who ran for a shade under 300 yards. Earlier in the season, Texas A&M went up and down the field on the Tide in a 49-42 Alabama victory. Johnny Manziel and the Aggies put up 628 yards that day, the most allowed by Saban’s Alabama teams. On Saturday, Auburn matched it. Saban hired former USC coach Lane Kiffin in the offseason to run the offense and Blake Sims, a more experienced and more mobile quarterback, won a competition with Florida State transfer Jake Coker to start. Alabama’s offense will not be mistaken for Oregon’s hyper-speed spread anytime soon, but the Tide is going no-huddle, getting its a dual-threat quarterback involved in the running game, and is generally better equipped to win games in this new era of football. Games such as Saturday’s in Tuscaloosa. Not a day to play field position. In the third quarter, down by 12, Alabama went for it on fourth-and-3 only 8 yards into Auburn territory. “One of the things that comes into my mind when we make those kind of decisions is if we were playing really, really well on defense, I probably wouldn’t have made that decision,” Saban said. “But the fact is I thought we needed to score to change the momentum of the game — you have to take some chances.” Alabama can still ground and pound with the best of them and even after the Iron Bowl the Tide ranks 10th in the nation in yards per play allowed (4.63). And now Alabama is No. 1 again, a victory against Missouri in the Southeastern Conference title game from reaching the new College Football Playoff and playing for another national title. Some things never change. IN AND OUT Marshall went from unbeaten to unranked after losing a wild one, 67-66 in overtime on Friday against Western Kentucky. Also falling out of the rankings this week were Colorado State and Minnesota. Moving back in were No. 23 LSU, No. 24 Utah and No. 25 Nebraska, which also fired coach Bo Pelini after seven seasons of being good but not good enough for the Cornhuskers. UP AND DOWN Georgia Tech moved up to No. 12 after snapping a five-game losing streak to Georgia on Saturday. The Yellow Jackets go to the Atlantic Coast Conference title game against Florida State with their best ranking since they were ninth heading into the 2009 bowls. No. 15 Georgia and No. 16 UCLA each dropped seven spots this week. FROM THE ARCHIVE Florida State received more first-place votes 29-25 from the AP poll media panel this week and trailed Alabama by only three points. The last time No. 2 had more first-place votes than No. 1 this late in the season was Nov. 25, 1968 when Ohio State was top-ranked with 21 1/2 first-place votes and No. 2 USC had 24 1/2. Florida State is also the first team to drop from No. 1 twice in a season after winning a game since Penn State in 1997.