DeSoto County man sentenced for deadly DUI crashOldest Black-owned business in SWFL continues to serve community
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.
PORT CHARLOTTE Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church holds 31st annual Greek Fest The Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church of Port Charlotte kicked off its 31st annual Greek Fest on Friday.
Donations helping young kids get fed Food insecurity is a pressing issue in the community, and organizations like the Harry Chapin Food Bank, Meals of Hope and the Guadalupe Center are stepping up to help.
New risk factors contribute to heart disease February is American Heart Month, a perfect time to assess your heart health.
PORT CHARLOTTE Port Charlotte High School student arrested for possession of BB gun According to the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office, a student has been arrested after a BB gun was found in his backpack on Friday.
FORT MYERS Fort Myers Regional Library to undergo multiple repairs due to Ian The Fort Myers Regional Library is preparing for essential repairs, nearly two years after Hurricane Ian made its impact.
Drug bust at Collier County home leads to triple arrest Three people are accused of running a drug house that held opioids, fentanyl and other illicit narcotics in Collier County.
Charlotte County’s first Grain & Berry opens Fast-growing organic vegan restaurant franchise Grain & Berry opened in Port Charlotte, making it the 19th in the state out of a total of 23 nationwide.
GOLDEN GATE Body found in Collier County canal prompts death investigation Collier County Sheriff’s Office is conducting a death investigation after a body was discovered in a canal.
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.
PORT CHARLOTTE Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church holds 31st annual Greek Fest The Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church of Port Charlotte kicked off its 31st annual Greek Fest on Friday.
Donations helping young kids get fed Food insecurity is a pressing issue in the community, and organizations like the Harry Chapin Food Bank, Meals of Hope and the Guadalupe Center are stepping up to help.
New risk factors contribute to heart disease February is American Heart Month, a perfect time to assess your heart health.
PORT CHARLOTTE Port Charlotte High School student arrested for possession of BB gun According to the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office, a student has been arrested after a BB gun was found in his backpack on Friday.
FORT MYERS Fort Myers Regional Library to undergo multiple repairs due to Ian The Fort Myers Regional Library is preparing for essential repairs, nearly two years after Hurricane Ian made its impact.
Drug bust at Collier County home leads to triple arrest Three people are accused of running a drug house that held opioids, fentanyl and other illicit narcotics in Collier County.
Charlotte County’s first Grain & Berry opens Fast-growing organic vegan restaurant franchise Grain & Berry opened in Port Charlotte, making it the 19th in the state out of a total of 23 nationwide.
GOLDEN GATE Body found in Collier County canal prompts death investigation Collier County Sheriff’s Office is conducting a death investigation after a body was discovered in a canal.
CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) – South Carolina’s governor declared Monday that the Confederate flag should be removed from the Statehouse grounds, reflecting what she described as a new consensus that the slaying of nine black churchgoers has changed what the banner stands for. Gov. Nikki Haley’s about-face comes just days after authorities charged Dylann Storm Roof, 21, with murder. The white man appeared in photos waving holding Confederate flags and burning or desecrating U.S. flags, and purportedly wrote of fomenting racial violence. Survivors told police he hurled racial insults during the attack. “The murderer now locked up in Charleston said he hoped his actions would start a race war. We have an opportunity to show that not only was he wrong, but that just the opposite is happening,” she said, flanked by Democrats and Republicans, blacks and whites who joined her call. “My hope is that by removing a symbol that divides us, we can move our state forward in harmony, and we can honor the nine blessed souls who are now in Heaven,” Haley said. The massacre inside the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church has suddenly made removing the flag – long thought politically impossible in South Carolina – the go-to position, even for politicians who have counted on the votes of disaffected white people in Republican primaries. Moments after Haley’s announcement, her call was echoed by the Republican Party chairman and the top GOP lawmaker, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Haley urged the state’s GOP-led House and Senate to debate the issue no later than this summer. If not, she said she will call a special session and force them to resolve it. “I will use that authority for the purpose of the legislature removing the flag from the statehouse grounds,” she said. South Carolina House Minority Leader Todd Rutherford says he’s confident after talking to members of both parties that the Confederate flag will be taken down within the next two months. “A lot of people understand this is a moment we have to respond to,” said Rep. Rick Quinn, a Republican and former House majority leader who said he will vote to take it down. Other lawmakers proposed moving it to the state-run Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum. Making any changes to the banner requires a two-thirds supermajority in both houses under the terms of a 15-year-old deal that moved it from atop the Statehouse to a position next to a monument to Confederate soldiers out front. Efforts to remove the Confederate battle flag have proven to be career suicide for other South Carolina politicians. The Sons of Confederate Veterans have already warned that they will fight to keep it where it is. As recently as November 2014, a poll of 852 people by Winthrop University found 42 percent of South Carolina residents strongly believed the flag should stay, while only 26 percent strongly believed it should be removed. But South Carolina’s population is slowly becoming more diverse, more educated, wealthier and more exposed to people from outside the state. And the pollster, Scott Huffman, predicts that his August 2015 survey will show that people who didn’t have strong feelings before “will have flipped and now prefer it to come down.” Haley acknowledged there are very different views about what it symbolizes. “For many people in our state, the flag stands for traditions that are noble,” she said. “The hate-filled murderer who massacred our brothers and sisters in Charleston has a sick and twisted view of the flag. In no way does he reflect the people in our state who respect, and in many ways, revere it.” For many others, “the flag is a deeply offensive symbol of a brutally oppressive past,” she said. South Carolina can survive and thrive “while still being home to both of those viewpoints. We do not need to declare a winner and a loser,” she said. “This is a moment in which we can say that the flag, while an integral part of our past, does not represent the future of our great state.” Only a few months have passed since Haley, an Indian-American, described an opponent’s rally to bring down the flag as a campaign stunt. She claimed last year that businesses weren’t bothered despite continuing boycott demands by black groups. “We really fixed all that,” she said, with her election as the state’s first female and first minority governor, and the election of Republican Tim Scott as the South’s first black U.S. senator since Reconstruction. The day after the shooting, Haley’s posture had changed. “We woke up today and the heart and soul of South Carolina was broken,” she said. The Confederate battle flag was placed atop the Statehouse dome in the 1960s as an official protest of the civil rights movement. After mass protests, it was moved to the grounds in 2000, as part of a compromise between a group of black lawmakers and the Republicans who have controlled South Carolina for a quarter-century. That deal kept it flying high since the shooting, even as state and U.S. flags were lowered to honor the victims. It also means that when thousands of mourners honor the Emanuel’s slain senior pastor, state Sen. Clementa Pinckney, they will likely see the Confederate flag before or after filing past his coffin in the Statehouse. Haley was flanked by Scott and U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, now running for president, as well as South Carolina’s only other black congressman, Democratic Rep. Jim Clyburn. “Last week’s terrorizing act of violence shook the very core of every South Carolinian,” State House Speaker Jay Lucas said earlier Monday. “Moving South Carolina forward from this terrible tragedy requires a swift resolution of this issue.” The White House said President Barack Obama respects the state of South Carolina’s authority to decide the issue, but believes the flag belongs in a museum. Obama new Pinckney personally, and plans to deliver his eulogy in Charleston on Friday. “The flag got appropriated by hate groups. We can’t put it in a public place where it can give any oxygen to hate-filled people,” said Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr., a Democrat. The last governor who called for the flag’s removal, Republican David Beasley, was hounded out of office in 1998 by the Sons of Confederate Veterans. The group’s influence also doomed his front-running Senate campaign for the seat won by Republican Jim DeMint. “Do not associate the cowardly actions of a racist to our Confederate Banner,” the group’s South Carolina commander, Leland Summers, said in a statement. “There is absolutely no link between The Charleston Massacre and The Confederate Memorial Banner. Don’t try to create one.”