$150k worth of equipment stolen from Lee HealthAward-winning stylist to host event during Naples Automotive Experience
FORT MYERS $150k worth of equipment stolen from Lee Health Fort Myers police arrested a hospital employee accused of stealing more than 150 thousand dollars worth of medical equipment from Lee Health.
NAPLES Award-winning stylist to host event during Naples Automotive Experience On Friday, an Emmy Award-winning Hollywood stylist will host Forever Fabulous, a charity event with the St. Matthew’s House.
FORT MYERS Colonial and I-75 diverging diamond to be completed by spring The diverging diamond at Colonial Boulevard and Interstate 75 in Fort Myers is diverting drivers.
NAPLES 20th Annual Spring Home & Garden show coming to Naples The 20th semi-annual Spring Home & Garden show is coming to Naples.
NAPLES Collier Publix worker spreads joy with kindness cards In Collier County, one person stands out for his daily acts of kindness, bringing smiles to those around him.
FGCU FGCU softball pitcher ranked among the best in the country FGCU softball pitcher Allison Sparkman enters her sophomore season ranked as one of the top pitchers in the country.
Congress steps in as Port Charlotte widow searches for husband’s ashes A Port Charlotte woman continues to fight to find her husband’s ashes, lost in the mail. Members of Congress are now backing her efforts.
FORT MYERS Fort Myers mom recounts dramatic chase to find kidnapped daughter A mother’s worst nightmare unfolded when her 2-year-old daughter was taken from her in Fort Myers on Monday.
ESTERO Copperleaf Community fights hunger through fundraising The Copperleaf Country Club community in Estero is making a significant impact in the fight against hunger.
NAPLES Collier County students explore trade careers at job fair Hundreds of Collier County students explored potential future careers at the Build My Future Job Fair.
NORTH NAPLES New orthopedic hospital nears completion in Collier County A new orthopedic hospital is nearing completion in Collier County, Florida, with an estimated cost of $140 million.
Real estate deals that shaped the SWFL landscape in 2024 The rise of online retail and continued regional population growth played a large role in a series of yin/yang real estate transactions that defined Southwest Florida’s top deals of 2024.
New Florida law governs oversight, brings financial bite A new law has transformed the condominium market in Florida, forcing owners to change their financial plans. The laws have been prompting many owners to sell their condos now, because the bills have come due and they cannot afford to pay them.
Punta Gorda imposes moratorium on car washes, storage facilities Approvals for new car washes and storage facilities in Punta Gorda will be put on pause for a period of 180 days during a moratorium begininng after the next City Council meeting Feb. 19.
Stephen Deutsch, Charlotte County commissioner, accused of using racial slur A Charlotte County commissioner is involved in an investigation after being accused of using a racial slur.
FORT MYERS $150k worth of equipment stolen from Lee Health Fort Myers police arrested a hospital employee accused of stealing more than 150 thousand dollars worth of medical equipment from Lee Health.
NAPLES Award-winning stylist to host event during Naples Automotive Experience On Friday, an Emmy Award-winning Hollywood stylist will host Forever Fabulous, a charity event with the St. Matthew’s House.
FORT MYERS Colonial and I-75 diverging diamond to be completed by spring The diverging diamond at Colonial Boulevard and Interstate 75 in Fort Myers is diverting drivers.
NAPLES 20th Annual Spring Home & Garden show coming to Naples The 20th semi-annual Spring Home & Garden show is coming to Naples.
NAPLES Collier Publix worker spreads joy with kindness cards In Collier County, one person stands out for his daily acts of kindness, bringing smiles to those around him.
FGCU FGCU softball pitcher ranked among the best in the country FGCU softball pitcher Allison Sparkman enters her sophomore season ranked as one of the top pitchers in the country.
Congress steps in as Port Charlotte widow searches for husband’s ashes A Port Charlotte woman continues to fight to find her husband’s ashes, lost in the mail. Members of Congress are now backing her efforts.
FORT MYERS Fort Myers mom recounts dramatic chase to find kidnapped daughter A mother’s worst nightmare unfolded when her 2-year-old daughter was taken from her in Fort Myers on Monday.
ESTERO Copperleaf Community fights hunger through fundraising The Copperleaf Country Club community in Estero is making a significant impact in the fight against hunger.
NAPLES Collier County students explore trade careers at job fair Hundreds of Collier County students explored potential future careers at the Build My Future Job Fair.
NORTH NAPLES New orthopedic hospital nears completion in Collier County A new orthopedic hospital is nearing completion in Collier County, Florida, with an estimated cost of $140 million.
Real estate deals that shaped the SWFL landscape in 2024 The rise of online retail and continued regional population growth played a large role in a series of yin/yang real estate transactions that defined Southwest Florida’s top deals of 2024.
New Florida law governs oversight, brings financial bite A new law has transformed the condominium market in Florida, forcing owners to change their financial plans. The laws have been prompting many owners to sell their condos now, because the bills have come due and they cannot afford to pay them.
Punta Gorda imposes moratorium on car washes, storage facilities Approvals for new car washes and storage facilities in Punta Gorda will be put on pause for a period of 180 days during a moratorium begininng after the next City Council meeting Feb. 19.
Stephen Deutsch, Charlotte County commissioner, accused of using racial slur A Charlotte County commissioner is involved in an investigation after being accused of using a racial slur.
VALHALLA, N.Y. (AP) – Federal investigators began examining the burned-out wreckage at the site of a deadly commuter train crash Wednesday, looking for clues to how the train was functioning and why the SUV that was crushed in the wreck was stopped on the tracks. Six people were killed in the fiery rush-hour collision Tuesday evening. National Transportation Safety Board officials were looking at the train’s black-box-style recorders, seeking to learn how fast the train was going, whether its brakes were applied and whether its horn was sounded as it approached the crossing where it slammed into the SUV, NTSB vice chairman Robert Sumwalt said. Investigators also planned to look at the track signals’ recording devices, interview the Metro-North train’s operators, peer into the wreckage with laser-scanning devices and seek aerial footage, he said. “We intend to find out not only what happened, but we want to find out why it happened,” he said at the crash site in Valhalla, about 20 miles north of New York City. Meanwhile, officials were using dental records to identify the badly burned victims. It was the deadliest accident in the history of one of the nation’s busiest commuter railroads – one that has come under harsh scrutiny over a series of accidents in recent years. The five dead train passengers were all men, Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino said. The SUV’s female driver also was killed. Fifteen people remained hospitalized, seven with very serious injuries, as officials said they were, for now, mystified by the ghastly crash. “It’s really inexplicable, based on the facts we have now,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo said on WCBS-AM radio. “Everybody wants to know exactly what happened, so that if something can be corrected, we correct it.” The wreck happened in an area where the tracks are straight and car traffic can be tricky, as drivers exiting or entering a parkway turn and cross the tracks near a wooded area and a cemetery. The driver had gotten out of her Mercedes SUV momentarily after the crossing’s safety gates came down around her and hit her car, according to the driver behind her, Rick Hope. “I said to myself, ‘The clock is ticking here, the gate is down, the bells are ringing – what are you going to do here?'” he told WNYW-TV. “She looked a little confused, gets back in the car and pulls forward” on the tracks. Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino said it appeared that the woman got out to lift the crossing gate off her vehicle. All railroad grade crossings have gate arms that are designed to lift automatically if they strike something like a car on the way down, railroad safety consultant Grady Cothen said. The arms are made of wood and are designed to be easily broken if a car trapped between them moves forward or backward, he said. As of Wednesday morning, transit officials hadn’t found any problems with the tracks or signal, Astorino said. It was not the first deadly crash at the site: A truck driver died after a Metro-North train struck the vehicle at the same Commerce Street crossing in 1984, according to Federal Railroad Administration records. The driver didn’t stop before the collision. Authorities said the impact was so powerful the electrified third rail came up and pierced the train, and Cuomo said the SUV’s gas tank apparently exploded, starting a fire that consumed the SUV and the train’s first car, which was left blackened and mangled, its roof twisted sideways. The SUV, pushed about 400 feet, looked as though it was stuck on the front of the train. Elizabeth Bordiga was commuting home from her nursing job at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City when she suddenly felt the train jerk a few times. Initially, she and other passengers in the middle part of the train started calmly walking to the back. But then they started smelling gasoline, “and somebody said, “There’s a fire,” she recalled Wednesday by phone. But they couldn’t open the emergency window or figure out how to escape until a firefighter in the train got a door open, she said. Commuters lifted each other down from the train to the ground about 7 feet below, said Bordiga, who uses a cane and couldn’t jump. “When I was on the ground, I looked to the right and saw flames. I couldn’t believe it,” she said. In the train’s first car, Christopher Gross was watching a movie on his laptop “and all of a sudden, impact,” he told ABC’s “Good Morning America.” He was hurled onto the floor, hearing screams and seeing flames about a foot from his head and a fellow passenger whose leg had been amputated below the knee. “It’s life or death at this point,” he recalled. And then, he said, a man whose hands were burned elbowed open the emergency exit latch, allowing some of the train’s roughly 700 passengers to escape. The train’s engineer tried to rescue people until the smoke and flames got so severe that he had to escape, Astorino said. Every day, trains travel across more than 212,000 highway-rail grade crossings in the U.S. There are about 270 deaths a year at grade crossings, down 54 percent from two decades ago, according to the FRA. Metro-North is the nation’s second-busiest commuter railroad, after the Long Island Rail Road. It was formed in 1983 and serves about 280,000 riders a day in New York and Connecticut. Metro-North has been criticized severely for accidents over the last couple of years. Late last year, the NTSB issued rulings on five 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. Among the accidents was a 2013 derailment that killed four people, the railroad’s first passenger fatalities, in the Bronx. The NTSB said the engineer had fallen asleep at the controls because of a severe, undiagnosed case of sleep apnea. Last March, the FRA issued a stinging report on Metro-North, saying it let safety concerns slip while pushing to keep trains on time. Railroad executives pledged to make safety their top priority.