Drivers react to newly opened intersection on Colonial Blvd.Dinosaur from Shell Factory finds new home in Saint James City marina
FORT MYERS Drivers react to newly opened intersection on Colonial Blvd. The dreaded drive through one of our busiest intersections has been the focus of several construction projects.
Dinosaur from Shell Factory finds new home in Saint James City marina A dinosaur has found a new home at the soon-to-be Nauti-Dolphin Marina in Saint James City, Florida. This prehistoric attraction is already drawing attention even though it’s the only thing currently on the property. Dean Zoner, owner of the Nauti-Dolphin Marina, acquired the dinosaur from the Shell Factory, a local business that was going out […]
Florida lawmakers to vote on revamped Governor backed immigration bill on Thursday The House and Senate are set to vote on a new immigration bill on Thursday. The bill aims to address illegal immigration and support federal mass deportation efforts.
CLEWISTON Community raises concerns about Clewiston Animal Services The Clewiston Animal Shelter has made significant improvements, but there is still work to be done to bring conditions to a more humane level.
Collier County beachgoers react to Gulf of America name change The Gulf of Mexico has been officially renamed the “Gulf of America” following an executive order signed by former President Donald Trump.
ENGLEWOOD Englewood Beach’s closure impacts local economy; businesses seek answers Business owners on Englewood Beach are growing increasingly anxious as they await the reopening of the beach, which has been closed since hurricanes Helene and Milton.
FORT MYERS BEACH Food truck park proposal on Estero Blvd divides Fort Myers Beach locals The Fort Myers Beach Local Planning Agency recently voted on whether to transform a vacant lot on Estero Boulevard into a food truck park.
CCSO works with ICE to catch suspects in Southwest Florida State lawmakers are working on a new immigration bill. Here in Southwest Florida, one county has been following strict guidelines on illegal immigration for quite some time.
Burn ban in effect for Collier County The Board of County Commissioners has authorized a burn ban in Collier County.
FGCU FGCU’s Zavian McLean shares student athlete experience with podcast FGCU men’s basketball guard Zavian McLean shares what its like to be a Division I student athlete in his podcast “Truey Talks.”
Locals react to egg price increase Egg prices continue to soar. In fact, prices have gone up about 37% from where they were just one year ago, and the pricing and supply issues have started to impact Southwest Florida.
FORT MYERS BEACH Trump’s executive order on straws stirs debate in Fort Myers Beach President Donald Trump recently signed an executive order to bring back plastic straws, reversing a previous plan to reduce plastic reliance in the federal government.
Charlotte County official’s usage of racial slur prompts calls for resignation Charlotte County Commissioner Stephen Deutsch is under scrutiny after a complaint surfaced last week alleging he used the N-word during a work meeting.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral woman finds hope with new ALS drug A breakthrough discovery of a drug offers new hope for patients with a genetic form of the disease.
Elevate Florida program to help homeowners strengthen properties against storms The Florida Dept. of Emergency Management announced the launch of its new “Elevate Florida” residential mitigation program.
FORT MYERS Drivers react to newly opened intersection on Colonial Blvd. The dreaded drive through one of our busiest intersections has been the focus of several construction projects.
Dinosaur from Shell Factory finds new home in Saint James City marina A dinosaur has found a new home at the soon-to-be Nauti-Dolphin Marina in Saint James City, Florida. This prehistoric attraction is already drawing attention even though it’s the only thing currently on the property. Dean Zoner, owner of the Nauti-Dolphin Marina, acquired the dinosaur from the Shell Factory, a local business that was going out […]
Florida lawmakers to vote on revamped Governor backed immigration bill on Thursday The House and Senate are set to vote on a new immigration bill on Thursday. The bill aims to address illegal immigration and support federal mass deportation efforts.
CLEWISTON Community raises concerns about Clewiston Animal Services The Clewiston Animal Shelter has made significant improvements, but there is still work to be done to bring conditions to a more humane level.
Collier County beachgoers react to Gulf of America name change The Gulf of Mexico has been officially renamed the “Gulf of America” following an executive order signed by former President Donald Trump.
ENGLEWOOD Englewood Beach’s closure impacts local economy; businesses seek answers Business owners on Englewood Beach are growing increasingly anxious as they await the reopening of the beach, which has been closed since hurricanes Helene and Milton.
FORT MYERS BEACH Food truck park proposal on Estero Blvd divides Fort Myers Beach locals The Fort Myers Beach Local Planning Agency recently voted on whether to transform a vacant lot on Estero Boulevard into a food truck park.
CCSO works with ICE to catch suspects in Southwest Florida State lawmakers are working on a new immigration bill. Here in Southwest Florida, one county has been following strict guidelines on illegal immigration for quite some time.
Burn ban in effect for Collier County The Board of County Commissioners has authorized a burn ban in Collier County.
FGCU FGCU’s Zavian McLean shares student athlete experience with podcast FGCU men’s basketball guard Zavian McLean shares what its like to be a Division I student athlete in his podcast “Truey Talks.”
Locals react to egg price increase Egg prices continue to soar. In fact, prices have gone up about 37% from where they were just one year ago, and the pricing and supply issues have started to impact Southwest Florida.
FORT MYERS BEACH Trump’s executive order on straws stirs debate in Fort Myers Beach President Donald Trump recently signed an executive order to bring back plastic straws, reversing a previous plan to reduce plastic reliance in the federal government.
Charlotte County official’s usage of racial slur prompts calls for resignation Charlotte County Commissioner Stephen Deutsch is under scrutiny after a complaint surfaced last week alleging he used the N-word during a work meeting.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral woman finds hope with new ALS drug A breakthrough discovery of a drug offers new hope for patients with a genetic form of the disease.
Elevate Florida program to help homeowners strengthen properties against storms The Florida Dept. of Emergency Management announced the launch of its new “Elevate Florida” residential mitigation program.
MGN Online HALIFAX, N.C. (AP) – There was time enough to warn train dispatchers as a 127-ton tractor-trailer, so big and heavy that it required a special permit and a state trooper escort, tried to negotiate a difficult turn across the tracks. But there’s no indication anyone alerted Amtrak before a passenger train slammed into it in North Carolina on Monday, injuring 55 people. The truck was pulling an electrical distribution center nearly 16 feet tall and 16 feet wide, built by PCX Corp. in Clayton, North Carolina, for a customer in New Jersey. The load stretched for 164 feet – longer than half a football field – and required 13 axles to distribute the truck and load’s combined weight of 255,000 pounds, the permit shows. “It was a big project,” Dean A. Di Lillo, a PCX Corp. vice president, told The Associated Press on Tuesday. He declined to put a value on Monday’s destruction. The tractor-trailer’s backroads route required tight squeezes, including the left turn where it got stuck in Halifax, moving over the tracks from one two-lane road to another. Established protocol requires constant contact between a truck driver, the trooper escort and the train dispatcher when trucks carry oversized cargo across tracks, a former federal railroad regulator told the AP. But State Highway Patrol spokesman Jeff Gordon said drivers, not troopers, are responsible for warning off trains. Amber Keeter, 19, was stuck in traffic in her car with her baby directly behind the tractor-trailer as it tried to make the turn where highways U.S. 301 and N.C. 903 meet. She told the AP that the driver’s team and the trooper spent considerable time trying to prepare for the crossing, and then got stuck on the tracks for about 8 minutes before the train roared around a curve. “It was so long they couldn’t make the turn,” she said. She rolled down her window and asked the flag man if he could call someone to stop the trains, “and he said he didn’t think so,” she said. Then, “the railroad lights started blinking, and so the tractor-trailer driver tried to gun it forward,” she said. The driver jumped out “just a couple of seconds before” the crash. Protocol calls for troopers escorting trucks to “clear their routes and inform the railroad dispatchers what they’re doing,” said Steve Ditmeyer, a former Federal Railroad Administration official who teaches railway management at Michigan State University. Even if they lose contact, they can reach a dispatcher through toll-free numbers that have been posted at these crossings for decades, he said. “That dispatcher would have immediately put up a red signal for Amtrak and radioed Amtrak to stop,” he said. In this case, the train engineer “didn’t know about the truck until he was coming around a curve. He had no long vision,” Ditmeyer said. CSX spokeswoman Kristin Seay wouldn’t say if anyone called before the crash. “That’s all going to be part of the investigation,” she said. Most people treated at hospitals were released by Tuesday, and about a dozen of the train’s 212 passengers had already continued their journey by bus to Richmond, Virginia, where they could take another train. “We’re just thankful that we’re still alive. It could have been really worse. God was really with us,” said Lisa Carson, 50, of Philadelphia. The Federal Railroad Administration’s database shows at least five previous crashes at the same Halifax crossing, all involving vehicles on the tracks. The most recent was in 2005, when a freight train hit a truck’s “utility trailer.” In 1977, an Amtrak train hit a car at 70 mph. The driver got out in time, but a railroad employee was injured, that accident report said. Monday’s was the third serious train crash in less than two months. Crashes in New York and California in February killed a total of seven people and injured 30. The Federal Railroad Administration is continuing to interview witnesses and will review onboard recorders from the train in Monday’s crash. The agency’s associate administrator, Kevin Thompson, said the tracks reopened about 15 hours later, and that CSX was repairing the crossing’s safety equipment. Gordon said the driver tried to back up to make a second attempt with a wider swing to cross the tracks, but there was too much traffic behind it. The approach of the New York-bound train from Charlotte, North Carolina, set off warning lights and the crossing arms came down, prompting the driver to flee. “I saw him jump out of the truck when he knew he couldn’t beat it. … I heard the train noise and thought, ‘Oh, my God, it’s going to happen,'” said eyewitness Leslie Cipriani, who recorded the crash on her cellphone. The truck driver, John Devin Black of Claremont, escaped without injury, but the conductor, Keenan Talley of Raleigh, was among the injured. Gordon said the tractor-trailer is owned by Guy M. Turner Inc. of Greensboro. The company did not respond to an email requesting comment.