Lee County teachers bargain for new raisesNew Starbucks off Colonial expected to add to traffic headaches
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.
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.
NAPLES $8K reward offered for information on 2 brothers wanted in fatal stabbing More money is up for grabs if you’re able to help police find two brothers who allegedly stabbed two men in Collier County.
NEW YORK Trump fined $1K for gag order violation in hush money case as judge warns of possible jail time The judge presiding over Donald Trump’s New York hush money trial has fined him $1,000 for violating his gag order and has sternly warned the former president that additional violation could result in jail time.
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.
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.
NAPLES $8K reward offered for information on 2 brothers wanted in fatal stabbing More money is up for grabs if you’re able to help police find two brothers who allegedly stabbed two men in Collier County.
NEW YORK Trump fined $1K for gag order violation in hush money case as judge warns of possible jail time The judge presiding over Donald Trump’s New York hush money trial has fined him $1,000 for violating his gag order and has sternly warned the former president that additional violation could result in jail time.
DEA / MGN MOSCOW (AP) – Russia set up a taskforce Wednesday to wipe out the “infection” of doping in track and field as the country faces being banned from next year’s Olympic competition. The Russian athletics federation was suspended Friday by the IAAF after a report commissioned by the World Anti-Doping Agency accused the country of operating a state-sponsored doping program. The chairman of the new taskforce, Gennady Alyoshin, said the group consists of officials from sport federations, the government and an athletes’ representative. He said the aim is “to root out this infection” in the track and field federation. With only nine months until the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Russian Olympic Committee head Alexander Zhukov denied that any changes would be purely cosmetic. While the committee will work to get Russia’s track and field ban lifted, he said: “The main task is not just to fight back against the criticism that’s being directed at us, but to really clean up our sport and get rid of doping.” To ensure reforms are implemented, the taskforce has been given some powers to run the Russian athletics federation ahead of new federation elections in January, Zhukov said. It will also liaise with the IAAF and WADA on Russia’s progress in cleaning up track and field. The announcement of the taskforce comes after Zhukov met IOC president Thomas Bach in Switzerland last week and the two reached an agreement that Russia would punish all athletes, coaches and officials connected with doping in return for clean Russian athletes being allowed to compete in Rio. “We feel serious support from the International Olympic Committee for the Russian Olympic Committee and all our clean athletes,” Zhukov said Wednesday. “If in the end our athletes go to the Olympics in Rio, all clean athletes, then we’ll consider that the committee’s work is completely done.” Zhukov dismissed suggestions from some Russian athletes and officials that Russia’s track team could compete at the Olympics under the IOC or Russian Olympic Committee flag as a compromise solution, which would likely mean their results would not count toward Russia’s standing in the medals table. “Russian athletes should compete under the Russian flag. That’s our position and we’ll keep strongly to that,” he said. Zhukov also restated Russia’s position that it will not consider boycotting the Olympics. As well as Alyoshin, who has previously represented Russia in managing UNESCO’s anti-doping fund, the taskforce also contains representatives of the Russian badminton and modern pentathlon federations, the Sports Ministry, lawyers and Olympic gold medal-winning synchronized swimmer Olga Brusnikina. Earlier, Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko told Russian media the panel would also include law enforcement representatives. The conciliatory tone from Zhukov and Alyoshin was in contrast to a combative appearance by Mutko at the Russian parliament earlier Wednesday. Mutko suggested that WADA was under external “pressure” and suggested that medals from the 2012 Olympics should not be reallocated if doping is proved. That is a key issue for Russia, which lost a discus silver medal after a doping sample was retested after the London Olympics and could lose more medals in an ongoing legal battle over whether some athletes found guilty of doping should have their Olympic results disqualified.