ALVA Woodpeckers build home in Alva woman’s house You may have heard of squatters, but this woman is dealing with squawkers. Who needs a rooster to wake up when you have woodpeckers?
FORT MYERS Man claims he was trapped in a high-rise for 5 days A 77-year-old man wants justice after he claims he spent days trapped on the 24th floor of a high-rise apartment building.
PUNTA GORDA Charlotte Correctional prisoner arrested for death of another inmate State Attorney Amira Fox convened a grand jury, which decided to move forward with a case against a Charlotte Correctional inmate.
SANIBEL Construction near Dairy Queen eagle nest on Sanibel raises concerns While many eagle nests may be a bit difficult to see, one nest has always been a favorite for Sanibel residents and tourists.
The environmental effects of artificial sweeteners Experts are studying how the foods we eat affect the environment, especially after we flush our waste down the toilet.
Victim reacts to man exposing himself to her Ring camera You get a notification on your phone from your ring camera app that someone is at the door, only to find out it is someone exposing themselves. It’s the last thing victim Maria Kivi wanted or expected to see last week.
LEE COUNTY The art of capturing your eye and drawing you in How do you capture young, hip, trendy, fun, movers and shakers, all in a pose? We take you behind the scenes of a Gulfshore Life cover shoot.
FORT MYERS The lives of two SJC Boxers changed in the ring Two SJC Boxers, Mario Nunez and Arbon Kurtishi, help each other in the ring as each of them had their lives changed because of boxing.
FORT MYERS Chlamydia cases rising sharply in Lee County If you think about a crowded space- something with more than 250 people- if it’s in Lee county, statistically one person has chlamydia.
SANIBEL Sanibel resort day passes hope to get more business on the island A pass will allow vacationers to hang out at a Sanibel beach club for a day in hopes of drumming up some business.
Voting equipment tested ahead of Lee County elections Voting equipment is being tested in Lee County. This is to ensure all ballots are printed and counted correctly for the upcoming election.
Collier County teen assaulted after leaving party The teen has been charged and the sheriff’s office said they’re aware that many believe felony charges are in order, but under Florida law, there are very specific criteria that must be met for felony charges to be filed.
WINK weather team watching tropical wave over Atlantic Ocean The Weather Authority is watching a tropical disturbance over the Central Atlantic Ocean.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral drug bust leads investigators to fake fentanyl, cash and guns Cape Coral man arrest on drug charges. Investigators said they found, guns, drugs, and more than $32,000 in Richard Riley’s home.
NAPLES Naples youth flag football team to compete in Ohio tournament This weekend, the Naples Lunatics Green will compete in the Superhero Sports tournament in Canton, Ohio.
ALVA Woodpeckers build home in Alva woman’s house You may have heard of squatters, but this woman is dealing with squawkers. Who needs a rooster to wake up when you have woodpeckers?
FORT MYERS Man claims he was trapped in a high-rise for 5 days A 77-year-old man wants justice after he claims he spent days trapped on the 24th floor of a high-rise apartment building.
PUNTA GORDA Charlotte Correctional prisoner arrested for death of another inmate State Attorney Amira Fox convened a grand jury, which decided to move forward with a case against a Charlotte Correctional inmate.
SANIBEL Construction near Dairy Queen eagle nest on Sanibel raises concerns While many eagle nests may be a bit difficult to see, one nest has always been a favorite for Sanibel residents and tourists.
The environmental effects of artificial sweeteners Experts are studying how the foods we eat affect the environment, especially after we flush our waste down the toilet.
Victim reacts to man exposing himself to her Ring camera You get a notification on your phone from your ring camera app that someone is at the door, only to find out it is someone exposing themselves. It’s the last thing victim Maria Kivi wanted or expected to see last week.
LEE COUNTY The art of capturing your eye and drawing you in How do you capture young, hip, trendy, fun, movers and shakers, all in a pose? We take you behind the scenes of a Gulfshore Life cover shoot.
FORT MYERS The lives of two SJC Boxers changed in the ring Two SJC Boxers, Mario Nunez and Arbon Kurtishi, help each other in the ring as each of them had their lives changed because of boxing.
FORT MYERS Chlamydia cases rising sharply in Lee County If you think about a crowded space- something with more than 250 people- if it’s in Lee county, statistically one person has chlamydia.
SANIBEL Sanibel resort day passes hope to get more business on the island A pass will allow vacationers to hang out at a Sanibel beach club for a day in hopes of drumming up some business.
Voting equipment tested ahead of Lee County elections Voting equipment is being tested in Lee County. This is to ensure all ballots are printed and counted correctly for the upcoming election.
Collier County teen assaulted after leaving party The teen has been charged and the sheriff’s office said they’re aware that many believe felony charges are in order, but under Florida law, there are very specific criteria that must be met for felony charges to be filed.
WINK weather team watching tropical wave over Atlantic Ocean The Weather Authority is watching a tropical disturbance over the Central Atlantic Ocean.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral drug bust leads investigators to fake fentanyl, cash and guns Cape Coral man arrest on drug charges. Investigators said they found, guns, drugs, and more than $32,000 in Richard Riley’s home.
NAPLES Naples youth flag football team to compete in Ohio tournament This weekend, the Naples Lunatics Green will compete in the Superhero Sports tournament in Canton, Ohio.
Gage Skidmore / CC BY-SA 2.0 MIAMI (AP) – Donald Trump is a part-time Florida resident – and a full-time problem for the home-state senator running for president, Marco Rubio. Rubio is counting on Florida to reshape the Republican contest that Trump has dominated by winning three of the first four states to vote. A loss in Florida on March 15 could doom Rubio’s chances, his campaign acknowledges. “We’re going to be fine in Florida,” Rubio said aboard his campaign plane this week. “I feel very good. We know how to run and win campaigns in Florida.” Trump has a different assessment. When he spoke at a mega-rally last month in Pensacola, he expressed surprise at how well he seemed to be doing in the state. This week, Florida has sent a wave of support toward Rubio, replete with endorsements from politicians and campaign cash from donors. And Rubio directly took on Trump in Thursday’s debate in Houston, a strong performance that had his senior strategist Todd Harris declaring afterward: “We are going to win Florida. Take it to the bank.” The 44-year-old former speaker of the Florida legislative body was elected senator in 2010. He enjoys high favorability ratings, and people know his name. With Jeb Bush, the ex-governor, out of the way, it seems clear, at last, that Rubio has the state’s inside track. One problem: Florida loves political outsiders. This state twice elected as governor a wealthy businessman who mostly paid for his own campaign. Sound familiar? Florida Gov. Rick Scott thinks so. He penned a glowing column last month in USA Today that compared Trump favorably to himself. “Voters have been choosing new ideas and new energy over the old formula of sheer time served in political office,” he wrote. Orlando businessman KC Craichy said he never imagined he’d support someone as “overbearing” and “brash” as Trump. Now he sees those as “necessary characteristics for the next president to shake up the status quo” and plans to vote for Trump. Trump, whose beachfront palace Mar-a-Lago serves as a second home, seemed to identify his political opportunity here early on. Last fall, the Trump campaign hired Karen Giorno, a GOP strategist who has worked with Scott, and opened an office in Sarasota. The campaign employs at least 10 people in the state and has been collecting supporter information at large rallies like the one in Pensacola. “We have, by far, the best campaign organization in state of Florida,” said Joe Gruters, Trump’s Florida co-chairman and a vice chairman of Florida’s Republican Party. “Most of the candidates have bypassed Florida because it is so big and expensive. Mr. Trump knew that he would be able to participate.” Trump is largely paying for his own campaign. Rubio is raising money the traditional – and time-consuming – way and only now beginning to expand his Florida operation, led by two longtime political hands. The campaign recently opened its first Florida offices, and Rubio plans multiple stops in the state. Rubio allies also are eager to remind Floridians that in Rubio’s 2010 Senate race, Trump supported Charlie Crist, who has since become a Democrat. Yet these late moves – and the fact that Trump has been weakest with those who decided in the final stretch, according to exit polls – face another Florida reality: Residents have already begun voting. More than 850,000 GOP ballots were mailed weeks ago in absentee voting. Officials project that slightly more than half of the state’s Republican voters will have cast ballots before the primary. Early in-person voting begins in some counties as soon as Monday. Florida politics-watchers have been surprised that the candidates have paid little early attention to the state. Backers of the previous GOP presidential nominee, Mitt Romney, began advertising there a full month before the election; as of Thursday, Florida had seen almost no presidential commercials this time around. An outside group backing Rubio, called Conservative Solutions PAC, is beginning Florida ads on Friday. A commercial that first hit the airwaves in Jacksonville says Trump “knows nothing” about foreign policy. Rich Heffley, a Florida Republican strategist who had been helping Bush in this election, said successful presidential campaigns have typically moved into Florida early and stayed “straight on through the general election.” “It frustrates me that more people are not focusing on Florida for the long run,” Heffley said. Whoever emerges as the GOP nominee, Florida will star again in the general election. It’s the nation’s biggest swing state, with a mix of Republican and Democrats and a diverse population, like “five states in one,” Heffley said. Trump is showing power in the state. A new Quinnipiac University poll, conducted after Bush pulled out, found the businessman with a 16-point lead over Rubio. “There is no doubt that Donald Trump will make a strong showing in Florida,” said Fort Lauderdale attorney Ed Pozzuoli, who had supported Bush. “And whether Marco Rubio can catch him remains to be seen.”