FORT MYERS LCSO offering youth boxing program The Lee County Sheriff’s Office youth boxing program is your kid’s golden ticket to mastering the art of self-defense.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral man speaks on helping apprehend armed 13-year-old The man who helped apprehend an armed 13-year-old spoke on the incident.
NAPLES Naples Cars on Fifth event fuels $2M for local charity efforts For over two decades, car enthusiasts in Southwest Florida have gathered on Fifth Avenue in Naples.
MARCO ISLAND Caxambas Park boat ramp on Marco Island set to reopen Collier County announced the reopening of the Caxambas Park boat ramp on Marco Island.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral Animal Shelter to host Puppy Bowl 3 ahead of big game Ahead of the big game on Sunday, Cape Coral Animal Shelter will be featuring its very own Puppy Bowl III.
FORT MYERS From the ballpark to the beach: the Minnesota Twins are back for Spring Training 1700 miles later the Twins truck is here and the team from Minnesota is ready to spend the next six weeks here in Fort Myers.
the weather authority Warm stretch continues throughout this weekend The Weather Authority says if you are a fan of the warmer weather, you are going to love this weekend.
SANIBEL Sanibel’s red tide raises health alerts and wildlife concerns With great weather in the forecast, it’s shaping up to be a perfect beach weekend. However, visitors to the barrier islands should exercise caution.
NAPLES Naples Automotive Experience raises funds for St. Matthew’s House The Naples Automotive Experience brought excitement and philanthropy to the community, raising money for St. Matthew’s House.
MATLACHA Little Pine Island bridge work causes delays, FDOT promises progress Construction on the Little Pine Island Bridge has narrowed traffic to one lane, causing significant delays for drivers.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA Support women’s heart health on National Wear Red Day The first Friday in February marks National Wear Red Day!
Ongoing repairs following Naples plane crash A deadly plane crash that occurred one year ago in Naples, Florida continues to impact lives in Southwest Florida. The tragic event involved two pilots who lost their lives on Interstate 75.
Naples jet crash, one year later: new details on emergency response Sunday marks one year since a jet crashed after its pilots attempted an emergency landing on I-75 just outside of Naples. “Your mind goes back to everything that happened that day,” said Heather Mazurkiewicz, public information officer with the North Collier Fire Rescue. “I think about the fact that there weren’t more lives lost.” At […]
LCSO cutting down law enforcement response times The Lee County Sheriff’s Office is gearing up to implement “Prepared 9-1-1,” a new tool designed to enhance emergency response times.
FORT MYERS LCSO offering youth boxing program The Lee County Sheriff’s Office youth boxing program is your kid’s golden ticket to mastering the art of self-defense.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral man speaks on helping apprehend armed 13-year-old The man who helped apprehend an armed 13-year-old spoke on the incident.
NAPLES Naples Cars on Fifth event fuels $2M for local charity efforts For over two decades, car enthusiasts in Southwest Florida have gathered on Fifth Avenue in Naples.
MARCO ISLAND Caxambas Park boat ramp on Marco Island set to reopen Collier County announced the reopening of the Caxambas Park boat ramp on Marco Island.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral Animal Shelter to host Puppy Bowl 3 ahead of big game Ahead of the big game on Sunday, Cape Coral Animal Shelter will be featuring its very own Puppy Bowl III.
FORT MYERS From the ballpark to the beach: the Minnesota Twins are back for Spring Training 1700 miles later the Twins truck is here and the team from Minnesota is ready to spend the next six weeks here in Fort Myers.
the weather authority Warm stretch continues throughout this weekend The Weather Authority says if you are a fan of the warmer weather, you are going to love this weekend.
SANIBEL Sanibel’s red tide raises health alerts and wildlife concerns With great weather in the forecast, it’s shaping up to be a perfect beach weekend. However, visitors to the barrier islands should exercise caution.
NAPLES Naples Automotive Experience raises funds for St. Matthew’s House The Naples Automotive Experience brought excitement and philanthropy to the community, raising money for St. Matthew’s House.
MATLACHA Little Pine Island bridge work causes delays, FDOT promises progress Construction on the Little Pine Island Bridge has narrowed traffic to one lane, causing significant delays for drivers.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA Support women’s heart health on National Wear Red Day The first Friday in February marks National Wear Red Day!
Ongoing repairs following Naples plane crash A deadly plane crash that occurred one year ago in Naples, Florida continues to impact lives in Southwest Florida. The tragic event involved two pilots who lost their lives on Interstate 75.
Naples jet crash, one year later: new details on emergency response Sunday marks one year since a jet crashed after its pilots attempted an emergency landing on I-75 just outside of Naples. “Your mind goes back to everything that happened that day,” said Heather Mazurkiewicz, public information officer with the North Collier Fire Rescue. “I think about the fact that there weren’t more lives lost.” At […]
LCSO cutting down law enforcement response times The Lee County Sheriff’s Office is gearing up to implement “Prepared 9-1-1,” a new tool designed to enhance emergency response times.
MGN WASHINGTON (AP) – The government is revising its definition of what it means to farm, meaning some people who receive farm subsidies but don’t do any of the work would receive less government cash. Congress charged the Agriculture Department last year with creating a new definition for what it means to be “actively engaged” in farming, the criteria to receive some subsidies. USDA proposed Tuesday that farms must document that their managers put in 500 hours of substantial management work annually or 25 percent of the time necessary for the success of the farming operation to qualify. “We want to make sure that farm program payments are going to the farmers and farm families that they are intended to help,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said. The rules only apply to some farm businesses, however. Congress exempted family owned entities, which make up some of the country’s largest farms, as part of a provision in the wide-ranging farm bill that directed USDA to issue the new rules. USDA said as many as 1,400 operations could lose eligibility under the rules, saving around $50 million over a three-year period. The rules are in response to concerns that some people were abusing the idea of “actively engaged” to qualify for subsidies. A report by the Government Accountability Office in 2013 looked at some farms that received hundreds of thousands of subsidies a year and claimed that 11 or more people were actively engaged in the operation. For some operations, unlimited numbers of so-called managers can now receive payments. Under the new rules, up to three managers per operation could receive subsidies. Farmers receive roughly $5 billion a year under the actively-engaged requirements. The definition up until now has been broad, allowing people to claim vague “active personal management” to receive subsidies. People who don’t even visit a farm can receive money. USDA employees often have a difficult time verifying how engaged an individual is. The proposed rule still would allow people to claim “active personal management” but defines that as the 500 hours of work or 25 percent of time necessary for the operation’s success. It is focused on farm businesses that are organized as general partnerships, in which multiple members share management, and non-family joint ventures, which are short-term business associations among individuals or entities. Farms that organize under those two types of business models can sometimes sidestep farm subsidy limits. The GAO report found that general partnerships and joint ventures received a very high proportion of their subsidies through multiple members claiming that they were actively engaged in farming. Vilsack says the rules would help “close a loophole that has been taken advantage of” by those businesses. Farm bills passed by both the House and the Senate proposed stricter rules for which farmers could qualify, and would not have allowed anyone to have qualified under the vague classification of “active personal management.” Farmers would have had to contribute labor, capital, equipment or land to qualify for money. Instead, the final bill that emerged from House-Senate negotiations directed USDA to better define what that management is and specified that family farms could not be part of the rule. Craig Cox of the Environmental Working Group, which has fought farm subsidies for the wealthy, called the rule “a tiny step forward.” “It doesn’t get at the heart of the problem,” he said.