Hurricane season preparations at Lee County construction sitesBones found on Sanibel concern beachgoers
FORT MYERS BEACH Hurricane season preparations at Lee County construction sites Many already know the drill when hurricane season is around the corner.
SANIBEL Bones found on Sanibel concern beachgoers A husband and wife found what appeared to be bones. What type and where they came from is being investigated.
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.
Reverse shoulder replacement offers new approach to pain management Shoulder replacement is the third most common replacement in the US, following hip and knee replacement.
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 A local non-profit is calling one lawsuit a battle for who controls the water in the State of Florida. Three major sugar companies filed a lawsuit in 2021 against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over the design and intended use of the Everglades Agriculture Area (EAA) Reservoir.
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.
FORT MYERS BEACH Hurricane season preparations at Lee County construction sites Many already know the drill when hurricane season is around the corner.
SANIBEL Bones found on Sanibel concern beachgoers A husband and wife found what appeared to be bones. What type and where they came from is being investigated.
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.
Reverse shoulder replacement offers new approach to pain management Shoulder replacement is the third most common replacement in the US, following hip and knee replacement.
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 A local non-profit is calling one lawsuit a battle for who controls the water in the State of Florida. Three major sugar companies filed a lawsuit in 2021 against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over the design and intended use of the Everglades Agriculture Area (EAA) Reservoir.
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.
FBI / MGN ATLANTA (AP) – Bond was denied on Thursday for a 24-year-old woman accused in a string of jewelry store robberies across the South, and a federal judge said she’d be a flight risk if released. Abigail Lee Kemp smiled at her parents as she shuffled into the Atlanta courtroom. She wore a jail-issued orange sweat shirt and orange pants with her hands cuffed behind her and her legs shackled. Federal Magistrate Judge Linda Walker said there’s a risk Abigail Lee Kemp would flee or be a danger to the community if released on bond. Kemp will remain in custody and be transferred to the Northern District of Florida to face the charges against her. Her parents and other supporters declined to comment after the hearing. Federal prosecutors have accused Kemp and 35-year-old Lewis Jones III of teaming up to rob a half-dozen jewelry stores in Georgia, Florida, Tennessee and the Carolinas. The two were arrested Jan. 8 at Kemp’s apartment in Smyrna, an Atlanta suburb. Kemp and Jones each face a conspiracy charge filed in Florida’s Northern District. Both the prosecutor and the judge said it’s likely additional charges will be filed in Florida and that charges will also be filed in the other states where the robberies happened. Kemp’s lawyer, Rebecca Shepard, argued that Kemp is not a flight risk, citing the fact that she grew up in Cobb County, just outside Atlanta, and that her entire family is there. She also lacks the resources to flee, Shepard said, noting that Kemp qualified to have a public defender. The behavior she’s accused of would have been an aberration, given that Kemp has no prior history of violent crimes, Shepard said. An estimated $4.3 million in jewelry was stolen in the six robberies and has not been recovered, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Roemer said. Money from the sale of that jewelry could be used to flee, she argued. She also noted that Kemp has a passport that she used as recently as May to go to the Dominican Republic and that she now says she can’t find. Roemer argued that Kemp is a danger to the community, citing the fact that she is accused of using a gun in each robbery and that the employees of at least one jewelry store, in Panama City Beach, Florida, feared they would be executed when they were told to get on their knees. Roemer also said that committing six robberies and one likely attempted robbery since April means Kemp’s behavior “went from an aberration to almost a pattern or habit.” The FBI zeroed in on Kemp after analyzing records from cellphone towers near the robberies, then checking social media and hearing from suspicious friends, court records show. Kemp told FBI agents that Jones was with her for all the robberies, sometimes coming inside and other times staying outside as a lookout, an FBI special agent wrote in court records. Jones is scheduled to have a bond hearing Friday in Atlanta. Natasha Silas, a federal public defender appointed to represent him, did not immediately respond to a phone call and email seeking comment Thursday.