FGCU president reflects on first year with graduating classLee County teachers bargain for new raises
FGCU FGCU president reflects on first year with graduating class Alico Arena was packed this weekend as Florida Gulf Coast University graduated 1,900 students in four ceremonies.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA Lee County teachers bargain for new raises Kevin Daly is the voice of the Lee County Teachers Union, and he says he knows firsthand the struggle teachers experience across the state.
FORT MYERS New Starbucks off Colonial expected to add to traffic headaches It’s a venti-sized traffic nightmare. That’s how Gina O’Donnell envisions the future of this plaza.
NAPLES Feeding families through Meals of Hope They’re a Naples-based non-profit organization whose mission is to alleviate hunger both locally and throughout the country.
Family dealing with two losses in quick succession A teenager will not get to celebrate turning 21 years old with friends, can’t put a smile on his family member’s faces and will never get to see his mother again.
JERUSALEM (AP) Israeli leaders have approved a military operation into the Gaza Strip city of Rafah Israeli leaders approved a military operation into the Gaza Strip city of Rafah, and Israeli forces were striking targets in the area, officials announced Monday, hours after Hamas announced it had accepted an Egyptian-Qatari cease-fire proposal.
FORT MYERS Middle school tech worker uses CPR skills to save pickleball player’s life It was the right place, at the right time, and that right place was near the pickleball court.
EVERGLADES Big Sugar’s lawsuit for control over Lake Okeechobee water There’s a battle for who controls the water in the State of Florida. Three major sugar companies have filed a lawsuit saying they are owed a specific amount of public water for irrigation from Lake Okeechobee.
NAPLES Annual Holocaust Remembrance Day program returns to Jewish Federation of Greater Naples Sunday was a day to remember the six million men, women and children lost in the Holocaust.
COLLIER COUNTY 13th dead Florida panther of 2024 found Saturday; deaths now match 2023’s annual total Wildlife officials discovered the 13 dead endangered Florida panther of the year, matching 2023’s total reported mortalities less than halfway into the year.
NORTH PORT Entryway work temporarily closes North Port Library The North Port Library will be closed through Saturday while work is being done to the entryway. During the closure books and other borrowed items can be returned to nearby locations.
FORT MYERS More changes near Colonial Blvd. and Six Mile Cypress in Fort Myers An already jam-packed, headache-inducing area for traffic is expected to get worse on Monday.
National Hurricane Preparedness Week: Preseason preparations With less than a month until the official start of the 2024 Atlantic Hurricane Season, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has designated May 5th to May 11th National Hurricane Preparedness Week.
CAPE CORAL Temporary closures planned for Cape Coral athletic fields Three athletic fields in Cape Coral will temporarily close in May and another in June.
FORT MYERS Influencer shooting victim ‘Hood Fishing’ is stable and recovering A local internet star injured during a shooting in broad daylight on Fort Myers Street is still recovering from what happened.
FGCU FGCU president reflects on first year with graduating class Alico Arena was packed this weekend as Florida Gulf Coast University graduated 1,900 students in four ceremonies.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA Lee County teachers bargain for new raises Kevin Daly is the voice of the Lee County Teachers Union, and he says he knows firsthand the struggle teachers experience across the state.
FORT MYERS New Starbucks off Colonial expected to add to traffic headaches It’s a venti-sized traffic nightmare. That’s how Gina O’Donnell envisions the future of this plaza.
NAPLES Feeding families through Meals of Hope They’re a Naples-based non-profit organization whose mission is to alleviate hunger both locally and throughout the country.
Family dealing with two losses in quick succession A teenager will not get to celebrate turning 21 years old with friends, can’t put a smile on his family member’s faces and will never get to see his mother again.
JERUSALEM (AP) Israeli leaders have approved a military operation into the Gaza Strip city of Rafah Israeli leaders approved a military operation into the Gaza Strip city of Rafah, and Israeli forces were striking targets in the area, officials announced Monday, hours after Hamas announced it had accepted an Egyptian-Qatari cease-fire proposal.
FORT MYERS Middle school tech worker uses CPR skills to save pickleball player’s life It was the right place, at the right time, and that right place was near the pickleball court.
EVERGLADES Big Sugar’s lawsuit for control over Lake Okeechobee water There’s a battle for who controls the water in the State of Florida. Three major sugar companies have filed a lawsuit saying they are owed a specific amount of public water for irrigation from Lake Okeechobee.
NAPLES Annual Holocaust Remembrance Day program returns to Jewish Federation of Greater Naples Sunday was a day to remember the six million men, women and children lost in the Holocaust.
COLLIER COUNTY 13th dead Florida panther of 2024 found Saturday; deaths now match 2023’s annual total Wildlife officials discovered the 13 dead endangered Florida panther of the year, matching 2023’s total reported mortalities less than halfway into the year.
NORTH PORT Entryway work temporarily closes North Port Library The North Port Library will be closed through Saturday while work is being done to the entryway. During the closure books and other borrowed items can be returned to nearby locations.
FORT MYERS More changes near Colonial Blvd. and Six Mile Cypress in Fort Myers An already jam-packed, headache-inducing area for traffic is expected to get worse on Monday.
National Hurricane Preparedness Week: Preseason preparations With less than a month until the official start of the 2024 Atlantic Hurricane Season, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has designated May 5th to May 11th National Hurricane Preparedness Week.
CAPE CORAL Temporary closures planned for Cape Coral athletic fields Three athletic fields in Cape Coral will temporarily close in May and another in June.
FORT MYERS Influencer shooting victim ‘Hood Fishing’ is stable and recovering A local internet star injured during a shooting in broad daylight on Fort Myers Street is still recovering from what happened.
MGN SHALIMAR, Fla. (AP) – A veteran sheriff’s deputy who was shot and killed while serving a domestic violence restraining order had come out of retirement to earn money for trips to Disney World with his young granddaughter. The suspect was later killed in a confrontation with police. Okaloosa County Deputy Bill Myers, 64, died Tuesday after he was shot multiple times in the head and back. “He had an ability to make those around him smile, especially his young granddaughter who he adored and took to Disney World as often as he could,” Okaloosa County Sheriff Larry Ashley said, fighting tears during a news conference late Tuesday. Myers, a 25-year department veteran, had retired in 2013 but returned to work in January, Ashely said. “He was a part of our family. We are a family here,” Ashley said. Joel Dixon Smith, 33, was being served a domestic violence restraining order at the lawyer’s office just blocks from the sheriff’s office. He was supposed to be turning over his guns to Myers, 64, when he pulled out a concealed weapon and shot the deputy multiple times, authorities said. Smith, a postal worker, fled in his vehicle to a Comfort Suites hotel about 10 miles away in Niceville, where he had previously booked a room. He barricaded himself inside and deputies eventually fired tear gas into his room. He charged out firing and was fatally shot by deputies, Ashley said. No one else was hurt. Smith had been arrested in 2008 for domestic battery, Ashley said, but had no other details. The restraining order was meant to protect Smith’s wife. Smith was a rural Postal Service carrier, beginning in Niceville in 2013, the agency said in a statement. Annie Allen works at an awning business next to the law firm. Allen said she and her boss, store owner David Wray, were starting their day when as many as eight gunshots rang out. “We heard ‘pop, pop, pop,'” she said. Allen called 911, and Wray went to check things out. Wray said he initially thought a nearby store had been robbed. He spotted Myers’ patrol car and ran over thinking to tell a deputy about the possible robbery but instead saw Myers bleeding. Wray said he was stooped over Myers when a well-dressed man walked out of the law office. Wray said he asked if anyone had called 911, but the man just continued to his truck. That’s when another woman screamed that the man was the shooter. “It was like I was in a movie,” Wray said. “I just couldn’t believe any of it.” Wray said he used his phone to take photos of the fleeing truck before trying to follow it in his own vehicle. “I thought I’d chase him, but there was a lot of traffic,” Wray said. “I’m not James Bond. I didn’t want to get anybody hurt, so I went back.” At the scene of the shooting, Wray said he and another man tried to talk to the deputy, but he didn’t respond. “It was the saddest thing I’d ever seen,” Wray said. “I cradled his head for a while. He was bleeding profusely.” At the Comfort Suites, guest David Bump of Ozark, Alabama, said he awoke Tuesday to deputies pounding at his room. “I opened the door and they had their guns drawn,” he said. Bump said officers took him and other guests across the street, where they spent hours watching the standoff. “When they brought the guy out, he was on a gurney with his face covered,” said Bump, who was working in the area on a construction crew. Deputy Myers was white. Smith listed himself as Native American on one voter registration and white on a more recent one.