Warm, breezy day with evening rain ahead of a slight cold frontEdison Festival parade lights up Fort Myers with floats and bands
the weather authority Warm, breezy day with evening rain ahead of a slight cold front The Weather Authority says Sunday is starting off warm across Southwest Florida with overnight lows in the upper 60s and 70s, staying warm throughout the day before a cold front sweeps south later this evening.
FORT MYERS Edison Festival parade lights up Fort Myers with floats and bands The Edison Festival parade was a spectacle of lights and sounds, drawing crowds to celebrate the legacy of Thomas Edison.
PUNTA GORDA Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office investigating shooting in Punta Gorda The Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a road rage/shooting in the Punta Gorda area on Saturday night.
CAPE CORAL Goth Gala for the Forlorn; How the alt scene honored Valentine’s Day Love Your Rebellion hosted the Goth Gala for the Forlorn at Nice Guys Pizza in Cape Coral on Friday night.
FORT MYERS Fort Myers gears up for Edison Festival parade; road closures in place Downtown Fort Myers is buzzing with excitement as the Edison Festival of Light Parade is set to begin.
the weather authority Near-record heat with sun and clouds for your Saturday The Weather Authority says the above-normal temperatures that Southwest Florida has been experiencing will stick around yet again for Saturday.
LEE COUNTY Savannah Bananas bring fun on the diamond at JetBlue Park The Savannah Bananas amazed and entertained a sold out JetBlue Park Friday night for the first time in Southwest Florida.
CAPE CORAL Caught on Camera: Cape Coral mailbox hit by drifting car A Cape Coral homeowner was left in shock after a car sent her mailbox flying through the air and left tire tracks next to her home.
ARCADIA DeSoto County man sentenced for deadly DUI crash Justice for a mother and son killed by a man driving under the influence.
NAPLES Oldest Black-owned business in SWFL continues to serve community Cleveland Bass Movers, founded in 1969, stands as the oldest Black-owned business in Southwest Florida.
FORT MYERS BEACH Broken gate on Lovers Key Beach Resort frustrating residents Residents of Lover’s Key Beach Club in Fort Myers Beach are frustrated with a gate that remains wide open, despite “No Trespassing” signs, since Hurricane Ian struck two years ago.
St. James City Church plans $700k flood-proofing project for future safety Hurricanes have caused flood after flood, and one island church, The First Baptist Church of Saint James City, wants to build higher.
Romance scams rise in the US, AARP warns residents to beware Romance scams are on the rise, with the Federal Trade Commission reporting over 64,000 cases in the U.S. in 2023.
Fort Myers Savannah Bananas make their way to Fort Myers for first time The Savannah Bananas have made their way to JetBlue Park for Friday’s sold-out game in Fort Myers to watch “the greatest show in sports.”
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral Yacht Club receives key permit Cape Coral received a key permit for a Yacht Club Community Park. This permit opens up the necessary steps for the park to be built.
the weather authority Warm, breezy day with evening rain ahead of a slight cold front The Weather Authority says Sunday is starting off warm across Southwest Florida with overnight lows in the upper 60s and 70s, staying warm throughout the day before a cold front sweeps south later this evening.
FORT MYERS Edison Festival parade lights up Fort Myers with floats and bands The Edison Festival parade was a spectacle of lights and sounds, drawing crowds to celebrate the legacy of Thomas Edison.
PUNTA GORDA Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office investigating shooting in Punta Gorda The Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a road rage/shooting in the Punta Gorda area on Saturday night.
CAPE CORAL Goth Gala for the Forlorn; How the alt scene honored Valentine’s Day Love Your Rebellion hosted the Goth Gala for the Forlorn at Nice Guys Pizza in Cape Coral on Friday night.
FORT MYERS Fort Myers gears up for Edison Festival parade; road closures in place Downtown Fort Myers is buzzing with excitement as the Edison Festival of Light Parade is set to begin.
the weather authority Near-record heat with sun and clouds for your Saturday The Weather Authority says the above-normal temperatures that Southwest Florida has been experiencing will stick around yet again for Saturday.
LEE COUNTY Savannah Bananas bring fun on the diamond at JetBlue Park The Savannah Bananas amazed and entertained a sold out JetBlue Park Friday night for the first time in Southwest Florida.
CAPE CORAL Caught on Camera: Cape Coral mailbox hit by drifting car A Cape Coral homeowner was left in shock after a car sent her mailbox flying through the air and left tire tracks next to her home.
ARCADIA DeSoto County man sentenced for deadly DUI crash Justice for a mother and son killed by a man driving under the influence.
NAPLES Oldest Black-owned business in SWFL continues to serve community Cleveland Bass Movers, founded in 1969, stands as the oldest Black-owned business in Southwest Florida.
FORT MYERS BEACH Broken gate on Lovers Key Beach Resort frustrating residents Residents of Lover’s Key Beach Club in Fort Myers Beach are frustrated with a gate that remains wide open, despite “No Trespassing” signs, since Hurricane Ian struck two years ago.
St. James City Church plans $700k flood-proofing project for future safety Hurricanes have caused flood after flood, and one island church, The First Baptist Church of Saint James City, wants to build higher.
Romance scams rise in the US, AARP warns residents to beware Romance scams are on the rise, with the Federal Trade Commission reporting over 64,000 cases in the U.S. in 2023.
Fort Myers Savannah Bananas make their way to Fort Myers for first time The Savannah Bananas have made their way to JetBlue Park for Friday’s sold-out game in Fort Myers to watch “the greatest show in sports.”
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral Yacht Club receives key permit Cape Coral received a key permit for a Yacht Club Community Park. This permit opens up the necessary steps for the park to be built.
MGN Online WASHINGTON (AP) – U.S. military and intelligence officials are voicing increasing pessimism about a key tenet of the Obama administration’s strategy to dislodge the Islamic State group and stabilize Iraq. They say they are seeing little sign of any political accommodation between the country’s Shiite-led government and an alienated Sunni population from which the extremist force is drawing money and personnel. President Barack Obama expressed hope in September that a new Iraqi government led by Prime Minister Haider Abadi “understands that in order for Iraq to succeed it’s not just a matter of a military campaign; it’s also the need for political outreach to all factions within the country.” That’s a feat his predecessor, Nouri al-Maliki, didn’t achieve. But in the months since, the Shiite-dominated government has taken few concrete steps to accommodate Sunnis, whose frustration helped fuel the Islamic State group’s push into Iraq from Syria. Joint chiefs chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey, who returned from the region this week, told Congress Wednesday he was “concerned about what happens after the drums stop beating and ISIL is defeated, and whether the government of Iraq will remain on a path to provide an inclusive government for all of the various groups within it.” Dempsey used an alternative acronym for the militant group. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said on March 2, “I really don’t think there’s any way of reversing or changing the picture fundamentally in Iraq unless the Sunnis are included … and so far that’s been a struggle.” Instead of reaching out to Sunnis, the Iraqi government has bolstered its already close ties to Iran and to Iranian-backed Shiite militias that have been credibly accused of massacring Sunnis, U.S. officials acknowledge. The Iraqi military’s reliance on Shiite militias this week to retake Tikrit, a Sunni stronghold, has complicated the prospects of political reconciliation, experts say. Although some Sunnis welcomed the liberation force, the well-publicized role of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani in directing the assault on Tikrit has inflamed many Sunnis. Iran and Iraq fought a bloody seven-year war in the 1980s. “They see it as a Persian invasion of the Sunni heartland,” said John Maguire, a former CIA case officer with long Middle East experience who travels frequently to Iraq. Human Rights Watch said in a March 4 report that it has documented “numerous” atrocities against Sunni civilians by the Shiite militias and security forces after they retook other towns. Similar to their rivals, the Shiite militias commonly post videos online documenting their atrocities and efforts to intimidate opponents. Sunnis are the dominant ethnic group in most of the areas of Iraq seized by Islamic State militants, who are also Sunnis. While many Iraqi Sunnis loathe the group’s violent ideology, some see it as preferable to Shiite rule. In 2007, Sunni tribes revolted against the Islamic State’s predecessor, al-Qaida in Iraq, after being promised a share of power. American officials believe U.S. bombing can help dislodge Islamic State militants from Iraqi territory in the short term, but they fear that group, or some other virulent Sunni insurgency, will simply re-emerge after the bombing stops in the absence of a political deal. “Ultimately this war against (the Islamic State group) is not really going to be successful, not really going to lead to something that’s good and sustainable afterward, unless certain political accommodations are made,” said Samir Sumaida’ie, a former Iraqi ambassador to the U.S. Dempsey said his trip to Iraq left him worried that the sectarian divide could cause Sunni Arab members of the coalition fighting the Islamic State – like Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf countries – to bolt. After meeting with Abadi, Dempsey told reporters Monday he was given firm assurances that the Shiite-led government is committed to reconciling with the Sunnis. Asked in an interview whether he considered those assurances credible, Dempsey said, “They seemed credible today.” Dempsey noted that during his helicopter flight over Baghdad he saw worrisome signs of Iranian influence. He spotted “a plethora of flags” at checkpoints and elsewhere in the capital, “only one of which happens to be the Iraqi flag,” he said, alluding to the banners of Iranian-backed Shiite militias. Signs of political reconciliation have been sparse. Last month, the Abadi government approved a draft law to set up a national guard that would include Sunnis, but that measure is languishing. A second draft measure designed to ease the purge directed at mainly Sunni members of Saddam Hussein’s Baath Party was greeted by protests from Sunni lawmakers. Alistair Baskey, a spokesman for the National Security Council, noted a series of hopeful steps by the Abadi government, including an effort to train and arm Sunni tribal fighters in Anbar province, and a partnership between Iraqi government forces and Sunni tribal units against Islamic State forces in key cities near Al Asad Airbase. But privately, American officials have expressed serious doubts about the prospects for a political settlement they acknowledge is crucial to their policy. Abadi is seen as well-intentioned but hemmed in by Iraq’s Shiite-dominated, Iranian-influenced political system. Emma Sky, who advised senior U.S. commanders in Iraq through much of the eight-year war, says she sees Washington repeating its mistakes of the past by using military force in Iraq without crafting an overarching strategy. “Once again we’re in a war with no vision of what the political outcome would be,” she said in a telephone interview. At a news conference Tuesday, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said the U.S. had been pressing the Iraqi government on political reconciliation. “At the end of the day this is going to depend upon the Iraqis,” he said, “but there are ways we can work with them and are working with them. … The sectarian danger in Iraq is the principal thing that can unravel the campaign against ISIS.” ___ Associated Press writers Deb Riechmann and Lolita C. Baldor in Washington and Vivian Salama in Baghdad contributed to this report. (Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)