Paying tribute to Deshia Arthur: Community unites in grief and hopeFinal day for Sanibel storm debris collection
Paying tribute to Deshia Arthur: Community unites in grief and hope Family and friends affectionately called her ‘DD,’ describing the 18-year-old Deshia Arthur as caring and sincere ahead of her funeral service on Sunday.
SANIBEL Final day for Sanibel storm debris collection Sunday is the last chance for Sanibel residents to sort and place any remaining storm debris for collection by the city’s contractor.
Seasonal Sunday in store with temps reaching the upper 70s The Weather Authority is forecasting blue skies, sunshine, and seasonal temperatures in the upper 70s on Sunday.
FORT MYERS BEACH Precautionary boil water notice lifted for Fort Myers Beach A precautionary boil water notice was in effect for all residents of Fort Myers Beach due to a water main break on Estero Boulevard that has been resolved.
Man injured after stabbing in Immokalee According to the Collier County Sheriff’s Office, one man is injured after being stabbed in the lower back on Saturday night.
FORT MYERS BEACH Fort Myers Beach hosts 36th annual Christmas Boat Parade Christmas is right around the corner, and celebrations are underway. The Fort Myers Beach Boat Christmas Boat parade took place on Saturday.
ESTERO Elevate Kava Bar and Lounge hosts grand opening Elevate Kava Bar and Lounge held its grand opening in Estero on Friday Night. The kava bar held its soft opening on Black Friday.
FORT MYERS Man charged with homicide for fatal shooting in Fort Myers According to the Fort Myers Police Department, a man was charged with homicide on Friday for a fatal shooting in October.
FORT MYERS Golisano Children’s Hospital hosts Porsche & Friends Parade Sports cars lined up like Santa’s reindeer, delivering presents to Golisano Children’s Hospital on Saturday.
Man sought for attempted robbery at CVS in Lee County Southwest Florida Crime Stoppers is seeking information on a man for attempting to rob a CVS Store in Lee County.
immokalee Pedestrian dies after being hit by 2 vehicles in Immokalee A fatal hit-and-run on Friday night in Collier County left a pedestrian dead, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
Beautiful Saturday in store with temps in the low to mid 70s The Weather Authority says it will be another beautiful weekend across Southwest Florida.
ORLANDO Naples falls to Jones in state semifinals One win stood in between the Golden Eagles and a trip to the state title as Naples competed in its 12th state semifinal.
ESTERO 1 dead after crashing into tree in Estero According to the Florida Highway Patrol, one person is dead after crashing into a tree in Estero on Friday night.
NAPLES Vigil held for teen shot and killed at Collier party Family, friends and loved ones gathered at a candlelight vigil to remember and honor the life of 18-year-old D’eisha Arthur.
Paying tribute to Deshia Arthur: Community unites in grief and hope Family and friends affectionately called her ‘DD,’ describing the 18-year-old Deshia Arthur as caring and sincere ahead of her funeral service on Sunday.
SANIBEL Final day for Sanibel storm debris collection Sunday is the last chance for Sanibel residents to sort and place any remaining storm debris for collection by the city’s contractor.
Seasonal Sunday in store with temps reaching the upper 70s The Weather Authority is forecasting blue skies, sunshine, and seasonal temperatures in the upper 70s on Sunday.
FORT MYERS BEACH Precautionary boil water notice lifted for Fort Myers Beach A precautionary boil water notice was in effect for all residents of Fort Myers Beach due to a water main break on Estero Boulevard that has been resolved.
Man injured after stabbing in Immokalee According to the Collier County Sheriff’s Office, one man is injured after being stabbed in the lower back on Saturday night.
FORT MYERS BEACH Fort Myers Beach hosts 36th annual Christmas Boat Parade Christmas is right around the corner, and celebrations are underway. The Fort Myers Beach Boat Christmas Boat parade took place on Saturday.
ESTERO Elevate Kava Bar and Lounge hosts grand opening Elevate Kava Bar and Lounge held its grand opening in Estero on Friday Night. The kava bar held its soft opening on Black Friday.
FORT MYERS Man charged with homicide for fatal shooting in Fort Myers According to the Fort Myers Police Department, a man was charged with homicide on Friday for a fatal shooting in October.
FORT MYERS Golisano Children’s Hospital hosts Porsche & Friends Parade Sports cars lined up like Santa’s reindeer, delivering presents to Golisano Children’s Hospital on Saturday.
Man sought for attempted robbery at CVS in Lee County Southwest Florida Crime Stoppers is seeking information on a man for attempting to rob a CVS Store in Lee County.
immokalee Pedestrian dies after being hit by 2 vehicles in Immokalee A fatal hit-and-run on Friday night in Collier County left a pedestrian dead, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
Beautiful Saturday in store with temps in the low to mid 70s The Weather Authority says it will be another beautiful weekend across Southwest Florida.
ORLANDO Naples falls to Jones in state semifinals One win stood in between the Golden Eagles and a trip to the state title as Naples competed in its 12th state semifinal.
ESTERO 1 dead after crashing into tree in Estero According to the Florida Highway Patrol, one person is dead after crashing into a tree in Estero on Friday night.
NAPLES Vigil held for teen shot and killed at Collier party Family, friends and loved ones gathered at a candlelight vigil to remember and honor the life of 18-year-old D’eisha Arthur.
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Obama administration is facing a storm of Republican criticism after acknowledging that a $400 million cash payment to Iran seven months ago was contingent on the release of a group of American prisoners. Thursday’s explanation was the first time the U.S. had so clearly linked the two events, which critics have painted as a hostage-ransom arrangement. State Department spokesman John Kirby has said the negotiations to return the Iranian money from a 1970s account to buy U.S. military equipment were conducted separately from talks to free four U.S. citizens in Iran. But he recently noted the U.S. withheld the delivery of the cash as leverage until Iran permitted the Americans to leave the country. Kirby said Friday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” program that the U.S. offers “no apologies.” “First of all, this was Iran’s money, OK? It was money that they were going to get back anyway,” he said. “The second thing that was going on here … was that there was a team working to get our American citizens back. That was a separate track. And it’s true that with the nuclear deal done these two tracks were kind of converging and coming together, and we took full advantage of that. We make no apologies for that.” Kirby added that “there isn’t a lot of trust with Iran, so it would have been foolish and imprudent, in our view, to go ahead and settle the cash payment … when we didn’t have our Americans back.” The hostage release and cash transfer occurred Jan. 17, fueling suspicions from Republican lawmakers and accusations from GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump of a quid pro quo that undermined America’s longstanding opposition to ransom payments. Several members of Congress immediately pounced on Thursday’s shift. “If it quacks like a duck, it’s a duck. If a cash payment is contingent on a hostage release, it’s a ransom. The truth matters and the president owes the American people an explanation,” Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., said. “Decisions like these are putting our nation and our allies at risk,” added Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., the Senate Intelligence Committee chairman. In a speech Thursday night in Charlotte, North Carolina, Trump accused President Barack Obama of lying. “He denied it was for the hostages, but it was. He said we don’t pay ransom, but he did. He lied about the hostages, openly and blatantly,” Trump said. Kirby spoke a day after The Wall Street Journal reported new details of the crisscrossing planes on that day. U.S. officials wouldn’t let Iran bring the cash home from a Geneva airport until a Swiss Air Force plane carrying three of the freed Americans departed from Tehran, the paper reported. The fourth American left on a commercial flight. Earlier this month, after the revelation the U.S. delivered the money in pallets of cash, the administration flatly denied any connection between the payment and the prisoners. “Reports of link between prisoner release & payment to Iran are completely false,” Kirby tweeted at the time. The money comes from an account used by the Iranian government to buy American military equipment in the days of the U.S.-backed shah. The equipment was never delivered after the shah’s government was overthrown in 1979 and revolutionaries took American hostages at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. The two sides have wrangled over that account and numerous other financial claims ever since. Obama has said his negotiators secured the U.S. a good deal on a busy diplomatic weekend that also included finalizing the seven-nation nuclear accord. But he and other officials have consistently denied any linkages. “We actually had diplomatic negotiations and conversations with Iran for the first time in several decades,” Obama said Aug. 5, meaning “our ability to clear accounts on a number of different issues at the same time converged.” “This wasn’t some nefarious deal,” he said. The agreement was the return of the $400 million, plus an additional $1.3 billion in interest, terms that Obama described as favorable compared to what might have been expected from a tribunal set up in The Hague to rule on pending deals between the two countries. U.S. officials have said they expected an imminent ruling on the claim and settled with Tehran instead. Some Iranian officials immediately linked the payment to the release of four Americans, including Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, who had been held in Iranian prisons. Another of the prisoners, pastor Saeed Abedini, also had linked the two events. He said that as the prisoners waited for hours at an airport to leave Iran, a senior Iranian intelligence official informed them their departure depended on the plane with the cash. U.S. officials had pinned the delays on difficulties finding Rezaian’s wife and mother, and ensuring they could depart Iran with him. “The administration clearly has a lot of explaining to do,” Rep. Jeb Hensarling, the House Financial Services Committee chairman, said. Congress, he added, must “fully investigate this outrageous action.”