FORT MYERS Students make goodie bags for kids fighting Cancer A special delivery, straight from the heart, to Galisano’s Children’s Hospital. Three 8th graders from Lexington Middle School delivered 100 goodie bags to bring smiles to kids fighting cancer.
TICE Large police presence at park in Tice Deputies and K9s are investigating Schandler Hall Community Park on Palm Beach Boulevard in Tice.
CAPE CORAL Lee County superintendent candidates face off in debate These three people, Denise Carlin, Morgan Wright and Sheridan Chester, are making it clear that they want the job.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA DEA to reclassify Marijuana as Schedule Three drug When you think of marijuana in Florida, You might think of an illegal drug seized by law enforcement. Kim Rivers, the CEO of Florida-based cannabis retailer Trulieve, says when used medicinally, it can help a lot of people.
FORT MYERS Expect more delays on Colonial and Fowler due to intersection project Work on the Colonial Fowler intersection in Fort Myers is underway, and there are many moving parts.
FORT MYERS Possible pay-by-text scam in downtown Fort Myers may have cost woman nearly $1,000 Pay-by-text parking may have cost one woman nearly a thousand dollars after her credit card was hacked.
FORT MYERS Lee County STET team protecting our schools with cameras There are cameras in our kid’s schools, dozens of them, but did you know that Lee County Schools sends those live video feeds to the sheriff’s office, and it’s someone’s job to watch them?
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA Six-week abortion ban to take effect soon A stricter abortion ban will take effect in Florida on Wednesday.
Estero’s Golf Coast Driving Range shuts down, visitors devastated A place to relax, let loose and hit a few drives, has come to the end of an era for this community. “This is the first place we came to,” said Roxanne Henningsen, a Bonita Springs resident. “And it like became our second home. The people are wonderful. It’s just a great atmosphere. And we’ve […]
CAPE CORAL Business owners reeling after massive fire in Cape Coral “Very scary” are the words Denise Creacy used to describe what she felt when she saw plumes of black smoke, firefighters, and police fill her neighborhood.
LEHIGH ACRES Changing how you are represented in Lee County Leaders want to hear your thoughts this week at a town hall on how you elect county commissioners.
FORT MYERS Frontier Airlines announces nonstop flights from RSW to San Juan, PR These flights will take off on June 2 and run 3 times a week.
NAPLES Fight to save the trees in Naples neighborhood When Sue Canfield looks up in her front yard she sees light shining through the sprawling branches of a 25-year-old Oak towering above her. The trees, which line every road in the waterways of naples, is why she choose this neighborhood but soon those very trees will be taken down.
City of Naples hosts open house workshop for Naples road projects The City of Naples is hosting an open house workshop to hear from the public regarding road improvements.
CAPE CORAL Ollie’s Pub, the home of SWFL’s local music scene, closes after 4 memorable years Ollie’s Pub, once the center of local original music in Southwest Florida, is closing after a prosperous yet arduous four years.
FORT MYERS Students make goodie bags for kids fighting Cancer A special delivery, straight from the heart, to Galisano’s Children’s Hospital. Three 8th graders from Lexington Middle School delivered 100 goodie bags to bring smiles to kids fighting cancer.
TICE Large police presence at park in Tice Deputies and K9s are investigating Schandler Hall Community Park on Palm Beach Boulevard in Tice.
CAPE CORAL Lee County superintendent candidates face off in debate These three people, Denise Carlin, Morgan Wright and Sheridan Chester, are making it clear that they want the job.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA DEA to reclassify Marijuana as Schedule Three drug When you think of marijuana in Florida, You might think of an illegal drug seized by law enforcement. Kim Rivers, the CEO of Florida-based cannabis retailer Trulieve, says when used medicinally, it can help a lot of people.
FORT MYERS Expect more delays on Colonial and Fowler due to intersection project Work on the Colonial Fowler intersection in Fort Myers is underway, and there are many moving parts.
FORT MYERS Possible pay-by-text scam in downtown Fort Myers may have cost woman nearly $1,000 Pay-by-text parking may have cost one woman nearly a thousand dollars after her credit card was hacked.
FORT MYERS Lee County STET team protecting our schools with cameras There are cameras in our kid’s schools, dozens of them, but did you know that Lee County Schools sends those live video feeds to the sheriff’s office, and it’s someone’s job to watch them?
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA Six-week abortion ban to take effect soon A stricter abortion ban will take effect in Florida on Wednesday.
Estero’s Golf Coast Driving Range shuts down, visitors devastated A place to relax, let loose and hit a few drives, has come to the end of an era for this community. “This is the first place we came to,” said Roxanne Henningsen, a Bonita Springs resident. “And it like became our second home. The people are wonderful. It’s just a great atmosphere. And we’ve […]
CAPE CORAL Business owners reeling after massive fire in Cape Coral “Very scary” are the words Denise Creacy used to describe what she felt when she saw plumes of black smoke, firefighters, and police fill her neighborhood.
LEHIGH ACRES Changing how you are represented in Lee County Leaders want to hear your thoughts this week at a town hall on how you elect county commissioners.
FORT MYERS Frontier Airlines announces nonstop flights from RSW to San Juan, PR These flights will take off on June 2 and run 3 times a week.
NAPLES Fight to save the trees in Naples neighborhood When Sue Canfield looks up in her front yard she sees light shining through the sprawling branches of a 25-year-old Oak towering above her. The trees, which line every road in the waterways of naples, is why she choose this neighborhood but soon those very trees will be taken down.
City of Naples hosts open house workshop for Naples road projects The City of Naples is hosting an open house workshop to hear from the public regarding road improvements.
CAPE CORAL Ollie’s Pub, the home of SWFL’s local music scene, closes after 4 memorable years Ollie’s Pub, once the center of local original music in Southwest Florida, is closing after a prosperous yet arduous four years.
flgov.com TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) – Whether ordering Planned Parenthood inspections, criticizing the federal Ebola response or suing the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gov. Rick Scott makes headlines in Florida off events of national scope. Scott’s penchant for grabbing the spotlight when national news breaks could help prepare him for a potential 2018 Senate run as he takes on issues popular with the conservative Republican base. “It is not the conduct of someone who’s planning to go sit by the pool,” said Mac Stipanovich, a lobbyist and political consultant who has worked for former Gov. Jeb Bush, among others. “If you look at what he’s doing, it’s certainly consistent with positioning himself with a future political race.” Scott, 62, won’t talk about his political future – that’s a no-no for politicians until they actually make an announcement – but there’s widespread speculation that he’s thinking beyond the governor’s office, which he leaves in January 2019 because of term limits. Besides his efforts to show leadership in response to national news, he’s also still hauling in huge donations for his political committee and spending it aggressively on political consultants and advertising. “You didn’t see that sort of thing from Jeb (Bush) when he was leaving office,” said Stipanovich. When Bush’s terms as Florida governor ended in 2007, he stayed out of politics until he announced his run for president this year. Democratic political consultant Steve Schale said he wouldn’t be surprised if Scott, who focused on federal issues during both of his campaigns, has White House aspirations. “He’s always felt more comfortable in that conservative federal space,” said Schale, who pointed out that Scott wasn’t nearly as quick to address severe flooding in the Tampa Bay area. “It took him less than a day to order an investigation into Planned Parenthood, but it took him more than a week to declare an emergency in Tampa.” Although Scott’s actions are consistent with his political beliefs, he’s getting maximum attention for them in areas that play well with conservatives. After national attention about Planned Parenthood providing fetal tissue for research, the governor ordered an investigation of the group’s 16 clinics in Florida to make sure they were complying with abortion laws. He responded to a shooting at a Chattanooga, Tennessee, military recruiting center by ordering Florida National Guardsmen be armed. In reaction to reports of secret waiting lists at VA hospitals in other states, Scott sued the agency to let state inspectors examine records at Florida facilities. He also repeatedly demanded that the federal government provide testing kits, training and protective suits after Ebola cases were confirmed in Texas. Brecht Heuchan, the top political adviser to Scott’s Let’s Get to Work committee, said he hasn’t heard the governor, his staff or political advisers talk about the governor’s future political plans. He said the political committee isn’t so much about promoting Scott as promoting Florida. “He views this committee as just another tool to promote the things that are important to his overarching goals,” Heuchan said. Still, Let’s Get to Work has spent $612,000 on political consultants and nearly $1.7 million on ads since the beginning of the year. Donors since the election have included Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeffrey Vinik, who’s contributed $200,000, and $50,000 from the Busch family famous as the founders of Budweiser. Scott had never run for office before spending more than $70 million of his own money to win the 2010 governor’s race. He won re-election last year, coming from behind in the polls after spending $13 million of his own money in the final week of the election. Although Scott has shown he can raise the resources to win an election, each of his victories came with less than half the votes cast and he has never had a high approval rating. A June 22 Quinnipiac University poll found that 39 percent of respondents approved of the job Scott is doing, and 49 percent disapproved – his worst rating since March 2013. Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson has yet to decide whether he will seek a third term in 2018. If he does, it would pose a challenge for Scott if the governor seeks the seat. Nelson has easily won each of his Senate elections.