Cape Coral Yacht Club receives key permitHoly Trinity Greek Orthodox Church holds 31st annual Greek Fest
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral Yacht Club receives key permit Cape Coral received a key permit for a Yacht Club Community Park. This permit opens up the necessary steps for the park to be built.
PORT CHARLOTTE Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church holds 31st annual Greek Fest The Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church of Port Charlotte kicked off its 31st annual Greek Fest on Friday.
Donations helping young kids get fed Food insecurity is a pressing issue in the community, and organizations like the Harry Chapin Food Bank, Meals of Hope and the Guadalupe Center are stepping up to help.
New risk factors contribute to heart disease February is American Heart Month, a perfect time to assess your heart health.
PORT CHARLOTTE Port Charlotte High School student arrested for possession of BB gun According to the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office, a student has been arrested after a BB gun was found in his backpack on Friday.
FORT MYERS Fort Myers Regional Library to undergo multiple repairs due to Ian The Fort Myers Regional Library is preparing for essential repairs, nearly two years after Hurricane Ian made its impact.
Drug bust at Collier County home leads to triple arrest Three people are accused of running a drug house that held opioids, fentanyl and other illicit narcotics in Collier County.
Charlotte County’s first Grain & Berry opens Fast-growing organic vegan restaurant franchise Grain & Berry opened in Port Charlotte, making it the 19th in the state out of a total of 23 nationwide.
GOLDEN GATE Body found in Collier County canal prompts death investigation Collier County Sheriff’s Office is conducting a death investigation after a body was discovered in a canal.
FORT MYERS DeSantis’ new Boater Freedom Initiative would end random FWC boat safety inspections Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said the new Boater Freedom Initiative will protect Sunshine State residents’ right to boat.
CAPE CORAL Couple celebrates their lifelong love on 62nd Valentine’s Day together Hollis and Linda Nash might be living proof that love doesn’t fade with age.
PUNTA GORDA CROW rescues, rehabilitates 2 orphaned baby River Otters Two orphaned baby North American River Otters were rescued by the Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife.
FORT MYERS Southwest Florida Reading Festival brings bestselling authors Romance is in the air this Valentine’s Day as we look forward to the Southwest Florida Reading Festival taking place in March.
FORT MYERS Fort Myers Florist offers lower prices on roses for Valentine’s Day Valentine’s Day is the busiest day of the year for florists in Southwest Florida, and one florist is offering lower prices on roses.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral Yacht Club receives key permit Cape Coral received a key permit for a Yacht Club Community Park. This permit opens up the necessary steps for the park to be built.
PORT CHARLOTTE Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church holds 31st annual Greek Fest The Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church of Port Charlotte kicked off its 31st annual Greek Fest on Friday.
Donations helping young kids get fed Food insecurity is a pressing issue in the community, and organizations like the Harry Chapin Food Bank, Meals of Hope and the Guadalupe Center are stepping up to help.
New risk factors contribute to heart disease February is American Heart Month, a perfect time to assess your heart health.
PORT CHARLOTTE Port Charlotte High School student arrested for possession of BB gun According to the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office, a student has been arrested after a BB gun was found in his backpack on Friday.
FORT MYERS Fort Myers Regional Library to undergo multiple repairs due to Ian The Fort Myers Regional Library is preparing for essential repairs, nearly two years after Hurricane Ian made its impact.
Drug bust at Collier County home leads to triple arrest Three people are accused of running a drug house that held opioids, fentanyl and other illicit narcotics in Collier County.
Charlotte County’s first Grain & Berry opens Fast-growing organic vegan restaurant franchise Grain & Berry opened in Port Charlotte, making it the 19th in the state out of a total of 23 nationwide.
GOLDEN GATE Body found in Collier County canal prompts death investigation Collier County Sheriff’s Office is conducting a death investigation after a body was discovered in a canal.
FORT MYERS DeSantis’ new Boater Freedom Initiative would end random FWC boat safety inspections Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said the new Boater Freedom Initiative will protect Sunshine State residents’ right to boat.
CAPE CORAL Couple celebrates their lifelong love on 62nd Valentine’s Day together Hollis and Linda Nash might be living proof that love doesn’t fade with age.
PUNTA GORDA CROW rescues, rehabilitates 2 orphaned baby River Otters Two orphaned baby North American River Otters were rescued by the Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife.
FORT MYERS Southwest Florida Reading Festival brings bestselling authors Romance is in the air this Valentine’s Day as we look forward to the Southwest Florida Reading Festival taking place in March.
FORT MYERS Fort Myers Florist offers lower prices on roses for Valentine’s Day Valentine’s Day is the busiest day of the year for florists in Southwest Florida, and one florist is offering lower prices on roses.
RODEO, California (AP) – She was a sweet, pretty California girl with Palestinian roots who left an arranged marriage only to find love with a man who committed the worst mass shooting in modern U.S history. Little by little, details have begun to emerge about 30-year-old Noor Zahi Salman, who grew up in the small suburb of Rodeo, California, tucked in the dry hills near the oil refineries 25 miles northeast of San Francisco. Her romance with Omar Mateen – security guard, bodybuilder and devout Muslim – began online, according to a neighbor, and they were married on Sept. 29, 2011, near her hometown, according to public records. The couple has a 3-year-old son. Early Sunday, the 29-year-old Mateen opened fire at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, leaving 49 people dead and 53 wounded. Authorities believe Mateen’s wife knew about the plot ahead of time, said an official who was briefed on the progress of the case but insisted on anonymity to discuss a continuing investigation. The official said investigators are reluctant to charge her only on the basis of possible advance knowledge of her husband’s plans. Three people identifying themselves as FBI agents visited Salman’s childhood home in Rodeo on Tuesday and spoke with her mother, said Jessie Rojas, a next-door neighbor. In Fort Pierce, Florida, where Salman and Mateen lived, Salman made a brief visit to their first-floor apartment late Monday, escorted by police and her brother-in-law. Her father-in-law said she came to retrieve clothing. She did not speak with reporters. She has otherwise been in seclusion. According to marriage documents on file in the Contra Costa County Recorder’s office, Salman was born in the United States while her parents’ birthplaces were listed as “Palestine.” It’s unclear when her parents, who served as witnesses for the wedding, came to the United States, but their naturalization papers allowing them to stay in the country were approved in 1984. No one answered the door at the Salman home Tuesday, but neighbors who know the 2004 graduate of John Swett High School in nearby Crockett said they find it hard to believe she had anything to do with the massacre. Jasbinder Chahal, who has lived across the street from Salman’s childhood home for the last 15 years, said Salman is “very nice…not the smartest, but she was beautiful. “You know, some kids after high school, they open up the box and the world is theirs. She was inside the box, just pack it up and get married,” said Chahal. “They had a small wedding and took lots of pictures here at the house,” said Chahal. The marriage license says the ceremony took place in Hercules, California, and that an imam officiated. Of Mateen, Chahal said, “He was shorter than her and did not seem very friendly.” Chahal said Salman’s mother, Ekbal Salman, was deeply upset when she visited her Monday night and said she feared for the safety of her daughter and grandson. Salman’s parents tried to shelter their four girls as they grew up. “Noor never played in the street, and the girls were never allowed to drive,” Chahal said. The neighbor quoted Salman’s mother as saying Mateen also kept her daughter from driving, until he recently allowed her to take a test to get her driver’s license. Salman’s marriage to Mateen was her second, said Chahal. Mateen had previously been married as well. Her first marriage had been arranged in the Palestinian Territories by her parents, said Chahal, adding that the union did not work out. “He was in Chicago and they were living there, but they were not married long,” Chahal said. “They had cultural differences since she grew up here and was American.” Mateen had met his first wife, Sitora Yusufiy, online, too. They married in 2009 after a whirlwind romance. Yusufiy, who immigrated to the United States from Uzbekistan, has told reporters that Mateen was mentally unstable and abusive during their brief relationship. She said she knew quickly that the marriage had been a mistake and she left him a few months later. The couple didn’t divorce, though, until June 21, 2011 – just three months before Mateen married Salman. On one of her sister’s Facebook pages – next to a family photo – there is a box with the words: “Solidarity with Gaza.” Salman rarely came home to visit after she married because Mateen would not let her, Chahal said. She quoted Salman’s mother telling her that Mateen even tried to keep the daughter from traveling home to see her father when he was sick. The younger Salman managed to scrape together the money to visit before her father died in a local hospital, Chahal said.