FGCU softball senior balances EMT training and Regional playHomes For Our Troops grants veteran new home
PUNTA GORDA The Weather Authority helps you prepare for the hurricane season at the 2024 Charlotte County Hurricane Expo With hurricane season less than two weeks away, it’s important to start preparing.
GAINESVILLE FGCU softball senior balances EMT training and Regional play Ahead of NCAA Regional play, FGCU senior outfielder Riley Oakes started EMT training as she works toward being a trauma surgeon.
PUNTA GORDA Homes For Our Troops grants veteran new home Through all the cheers and a community-wide escort, it’s a ‘welcome to your forever home for army sergeant veteran Brandon Rethmel and his family.
ALVA Three dead in triple drowning near the Franklin Lock in Olga The Lee County Sheriff’s Office is responding to a scene of a water rescue where three people were recovered.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA Beat the Heat: Stay safe during extreme weather The Weather Authority has issued a heat advisory for portions of South, Southeast, and Southwest Florida from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday.
FORT MYERS Leaders discuss possibility of shutting down Caloosahatchee Bridge Should residents endure two years of partial lane closures, or fully shut the Caloosahatchee bridge down for 10 weeks?
GAINESVILLE FGCU softball parents cherish NCAA Tournament experience The parents of the FGCU softball team are relishing seeing their daughters play in the NCAA Tournament.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA The Weather Authority: Hot, hot, hot Heat advisory in place for Saturday until 8 p.m.
FORT MYERS Fort Myers teen finds dead body in bed of his truck A 16-year-old in Fort Myers drove to school, drove home, drove to the barbershop and back home again. Then, he noticed a swarm of flies in the back of his truck.
Scottie Scheffler facing felony charges; local attorney reacts The attorney we spoke with told us that, at a minimum, we’d spend the night in jail before having our first appearance and getting bail.
GAINESVILLE FGCU softball falls to No. 4 Florida in NCAA Tournament The FGCU softball team couldn’t keep up with the No. 4 Florida Gators as the Eagles drop their first Regional game 6-0 to the Gators.
Summer Safety: Swim safety tips to know before the summer The pool is warming up to be the hot spot for kids and families this summer. It’s now also the number one leading cause of drowning deaths for children ages 1-4 in the state.Â
FORT MYERS BEACH ‘The Whale’ restaurant to break ground on new building The Whale is a place that has shown great strength and determination.
COLLIER COUNTY Endangered Florida panther deaths surpass 2023 total in 5 months It’s taken wildlife officials just over five and a half months to report finding more dead endangered Florida panthers than in all of 2023.
FORT MYERS FMPD honors 7 officers and 2 K-9s who died in the line of duty dating back to 1930 Nine lives were given, and all nine will remain remembered. A lifetime of gratitude for the fallen officers.
PUNTA GORDA The Weather Authority helps you prepare for the hurricane season at the 2024 Charlotte County Hurricane Expo With hurricane season less than two weeks away, it’s important to start preparing.
GAINESVILLE FGCU softball senior balances EMT training and Regional play Ahead of NCAA Regional play, FGCU senior outfielder Riley Oakes started EMT training as she works toward being a trauma surgeon.
PUNTA GORDA Homes For Our Troops grants veteran new home Through all the cheers and a community-wide escort, it’s a ‘welcome to your forever home for army sergeant veteran Brandon Rethmel and his family.
ALVA Three dead in triple drowning near the Franklin Lock in Olga The Lee County Sheriff’s Office is responding to a scene of a water rescue where three people were recovered.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA Beat the Heat: Stay safe during extreme weather The Weather Authority has issued a heat advisory for portions of South, Southeast, and Southwest Florida from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday.
FORT MYERS Leaders discuss possibility of shutting down Caloosahatchee Bridge Should residents endure two years of partial lane closures, or fully shut the Caloosahatchee bridge down for 10 weeks?
GAINESVILLE FGCU softball parents cherish NCAA Tournament experience The parents of the FGCU softball team are relishing seeing their daughters play in the NCAA Tournament.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA The Weather Authority: Hot, hot, hot Heat advisory in place for Saturday until 8 p.m.
FORT MYERS Fort Myers teen finds dead body in bed of his truck A 16-year-old in Fort Myers drove to school, drove home, drove to the barbershop and back home again. Then, he noticed a swarm of flies in the back of his truck.
Scottie Scheffler facing felony charges; local attorney reacts The attorney we spoke with told us that, at a minimum, we’d spend the night in jail before having our first appearance and getting bail.
GAINESVILLE FGCU softball falls to No. 4 Florida in NCAA Tournament The FGCU softball team couldn’t keep up with the No. 4 Florida Gators as the Eagles drop their first Regional game 6-0 to the Gators.
Summer Safety: Swim safety tips to know before the summer The pool is warming up to be the hot spot for kids and families this summer. It’s now also the number one leading cause of drowning deaths for children ages 1-4 in the state.Â
FORT MYERS BEACH ‘The Whale’ restaurant to break ground on new building The Whale is a place that has shown great strength and determination.
COLLIER COUNTY Endangered Florida panther deaths surpass 2023 total in 5 months It’s taken wildlife officials just over five and a half months to report finding more dead endangered Florida panthers than in all of 2023.
FORT MYERS FMPD honors 7 officers and 2 K-9s who died in the line of duty dating back to 1930 Nine lives were given, and all nine will remain remembered. A lifetime of gratitude for the fallen officers.
Gage Skidmore/ Flickr/ MGN WASHINGTON (AP) – Republicans’ swift condemnation of Donald Trump’s disparaging comments about Sen. John McCain’s military service marks a turning point in the party’s cautious approach to the billionaire-turned-presidential candidate. But Trump simply may not care; indeed he seemed to bask in his McCain takedown. After dismissing McCain’s reputation as a war hero because he was captured in Vietnam and “I like people who weren’t captured,” Trump declared “I will say what I want to say.” He insisted he would stay in the GOP primary field, despite rivals who say he’s now shown he doesn’t merit the presidency. “It’s not just absurd,” Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. “It’s offensive. It’s ridiculous. And I do think it is a disqualifier as commander in chief.” Numerous other GOP candidates, including Jeb Bush, Rick Perry and Scott Walker, were similarly critical of Trump. The Republican National Committee also put its thumb on the scale, issuing a statement saying “there is no place in our party or our country for comments that disparage those who have served honorably.” As the furor unfolded, Trump spoke dismissively of his rivals and the GOP establishment in an interview with The Associated Press, recalling his years of helping to bankroll candidates. “You know the Republican Party – of course I was one of their darlings when I was a contributor,” he said. “I went from a darling to somebody that they’re not happy with because I’m not a politician.” Asked whether he now thought McCain was a war hero, Trump merely referred to his previous day’s comments, when he said “perhaps” he was while seeming to mock McCain for being captured. Until now, Republicans have been largely cautious in their handling of Trump and his provocations. While officials privately fretted about the damage he could do to the party, they are also worried about alienating voters drawn to his celebrity, brashness and willingness to take on establishment Republicans. He’s emerged as one of the favorites early in a race that is bound to see shifts in the standing of many of the candidates. Trump has made other eyebrow-raising comments since declaring his candidacy, most notably his assertion that Mexican immigrants are rapists and drug dealers. Many GOP candidates were slow and halting in their response to those comments, underscoring a continuing struggle to hit the right notes on immigration when they want to appeal to Hispanics without alienating traditional GOP voters. But for a party that prides itself on its support for the military, Trump’s comments about McCain were an easy opening. McCain, the 2008 GOP presidential nominee, spent more than five years as a prisoner of war, enduring torture and refusing release ahead of fellow captives. Democrats reminded voters about the tepid response to his earlier bombast. Democratic presidential contender Hillary Rodham Clinton said it was shameful “that it took so long for most of his fellow Republican candidates to start standing up to him.” Trump noted he got a standing ovation after his remarks to a religious conservative forum in Iowa and told AP “when I left the room, everybody thought I gave the best presentation of anybody.” But his comments about McCain drew a smattering of boos, his rivals received standing ovations, too, and when some of them spoke up for McCain in their remarks, they got hearty applause. To some Republicans, Trump will have a detrimental effect on other candidates. “It’s all Trump, all the time,” said Matt Strawn, the former Iowa GOP chairman. For candidates still introducing themselves to voters and trying to qualify for the party’s first debate Aug. 6, Strawn said, “it is all but impossible for them to cut through the Trump noise.” Although polls this early in a presidential contest are of dubious reliability, they are being used to determine who can come to the debate, and Trump appears likely to make the cut. Pennsylvania GOP chairman Rob Gleason doesn’t mind the fuss kicked up by Trump. “Now there’s more people interested in what the Republican Party has to say,” Gleason said. “It’s all good.” Also looming over the GOP: The prospect Trump could run as a third-party candidate if he doesn’t win the GOP nomination. Trump declined to rule that out Saturday. GOP pollster Frank Luntz said Trump could siphon off enough votes as a third-party candidate to cost the party the White House. “If you tell me Trump is running as an independent, I will tell you that the next president will be Hillary Clinton,” said Luntz, a moderator at the Iowa forum who asked Trump about McCain being a war hero. Rick Perry, one of the few veterans running for president, said Trump has demonstrated he has neither the character nor the temperament for the White House. “Over the top,” the former Texas governor said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” ”Really offensive.” Bush tweeted, “Enough with the slanderous attacks.” Trump pressed ahead Sunday with his critical remarks on McCain, who had no comment. He said the senator has been “all talk, no action” on looking after military veterans. McCain stirred Trump’s anger last week when he said Trump’s comments about immigrants had “fired up the crazies” at a Phoenix rally. ___ Associated Press writers Jill Colvin, Steve Peoples and Calvin Woodward contributed to this report.