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.
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.
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.
MGN WASHINGTON (AP) – Florida’s unique system for imposing the death penalty found a skeptical audience at the Supreme Court on Tuesday as some justices questioned whether the state gives judges too much power to decide capital sentences. The court considered an appeal from death row inmate Timothy Lee Hurst, who was convicted in the 1998 stabbing death of his manager at a Popeyes restaurant in Pensacola. A jury divided 7-5 in favor of the death penalty, and a judge then imposed the sentence. Hurst’s lawyer, former U.S. solicitor general Seth Waxman, argued that Florida’s system is unconstitutional because juries play only an advisory role in recommending a death sentence. “Under Florida law, Timothy Hurst will go to his death despite the fact that a judge, not a jury, made the factual finding that rendered him eligible for death,” Waxman said. The state requires juries to weigh aggravating factors against other factors, such as a troubled childhood, that might lead them to spare defendants from the death penalty. But the juries have no binding effect on the judge, who weighs those factors independently and can reach a different decision. Florida is also the only state in which juries don’t have to reach a unanimous verdict to recommend a death sentence or agree on which aggravating factors exist. Waxman said the system goes against a 2002 Supreme Court ruling that says factual findings supporting the death penalty must be made by a jury, not a judge. In Hurst’s case, prosecutors asked the jury to find two aggravating factors: the murder was committed during a robbery and it was “especially heinous, atrocious or cruel.” But the jury was not required to say how it voted on each factor. Waxman said it’s possible that only four jurors agreed with one, while three agreed with the other. Justice Anthony Kennedy seemed concerned that a jury could base its decision on one aggravating factor, but a judge could then rely on a different factor that the jury never considered. “Theoretically, this could happen,” Kennedy said. Justice Elena Kagan appeared troubled that the entire appeals process in Florida focuses only on the judge’s findings, suggesting the judge makes “the crucial death penalty eligibility determination.” Florida Solicitor General Allen Winsor said Florida’s system may leave ultimate responsibility to the judge, but it lets the jury decide whether there are facts making a defendant eligible for the death penalty in the first place. Winsor argued the system gives defendants a “judicial backstop” in having both jury and judge find at least one aggravating factor warranting a death sentence. Chief Justice John Roberts said in a typical trial, jurors don’t have to agree on a particular basis for the verdict, so there could be “12 different reasons” to find a defendant guilty. Justice Antonin Scalia noted that if a crime can be satisfied by various elements, jurors don’t have to agree on the same one. But later, Scalia suggested jurors might act differently if they knew their determination of aggravating factors was final, and not subject to a judge’s review. He said it’s “a lot more responsibility” for jurors if they know they have the final word.