Single-member vs. at-large voting debate intensifies in Lee CountyEmails show beginnings, contradictions of South Seas resort amendment
Single-member vs. at-large voting debate intensifies in Lee County Three members of Southwest Florida’s state Legislature delegation hosted a public forum May 1 at Lehigh Acres Municipal Services Improvement District, established by the state in 2015.
Emails show beginnings, contradictions of South Seas resort amendment South Seas resort ownership group’s engineer proposed a land-use amendment for Lee County’s government at least six months before the first public discussions and at least seven weeks before the county’s official timeline began, emails between the resort’s representatives and county show.
NORTH FORT MYERS Lee County deputy subdues convicted felon with Taser at North Fort Myers Walmart Lee County deputies used a Taser on a man after they raced through a North Fort Myers Walmart searching for him.
FORT MYERS 2 posing as Target Corporate employees steal over $6K at Fort Myers Target SWFL Crime Stoppers seeks information on two men who allegedly claimed to be employees of Target Corporate and stole over $6,000 at Target.
Punta Gorda cosiders fate of historic A.C. Freeman House It was built by politician and businessman Augustus C. Freeman whose name the house bears, and it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.
CAPE CORAL Man arrested for armed robbery in Cape Coral The Cape Coral Police Department has arrested a man for armed robbery and falsifying his name to law enforcement.
Jacksonville Gov. DeSantis signs bills to provide financial options for Floridians Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill that will provide financial options to Floridians and another bill that curates the state public school curriculum.
BONITA SPRINGS LCSO seeks information on missing 77-year-old kayaker LCSO seeks information on a missing kayaker after responding to a call about a missing kayak off the coast of Bonita Beach.
FORT MYERS Tim Tebow speaks at annual Southwest Florida Community Prayer Breakfast Former Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow took the stage at Hammond Stadium for the annual Southwest Florida Community Prayer Breakfast.
FORT MYERS Fort Myers City Council to provide update on Fowler Street construction project The Fort Myers City Council is set to provide an update on the progress of the Fowler Street intersection project.
the weather authority Hot and humid Thursday before evening isolated storms impact coastal communities The Weather Authority is tracking a humid Thursday morning with high afternoon temperatures and evening coastal isolated storms.
FORT MYERS BEACH Sea turtle nesting season begins in Fort Myers Beach Sea turtle nesting season has officially begun, and the FWC wants to remind visitors about the fragility of the young reptiles.
BAREFOOT LAKE Neighbors react to chaos at Barefoot Lake Imagine being scared to leave your home on the weekends. Ana and Anrik understand the feeling all too well.
CAPE CORAL The story of Ollie’s Pub and what kept it open through years of hardships Before Ollie’s housed weekly events, packed to the brim with artwork and home to many, it was a simple dream and an empty space.
Most Wanted Wednesday: Southwest Florida’s most wanted suspects for May 1, 2024 Here are some of Southwest Florida’s most wanted suspects for May 1, 2024.
Single-member vs. at-large voting debate intensifies in Lee County Three members of Southwest Florida’s state Legislature delegation hosted a public forum May 1 at Lehigh Acres Municipal Services Improvement District, established by the state in 2015.
Emails show beginnings, contradictions of South Seas resort amendment South Seas resort ownership group’s engineer proposed a land-use amendment for Lee County’s government at least six months before the first public discussions and at least seven weeks before the county’s official timeline began, emails between the resort’s representatives and county show.
NORTH FORT MYERS Lee County deputy subdues convicted felon with Taser at North Fort Myers Walmart Lee County deputies used a Taser on a man after they raced through a North Fort Myers Walmart searching for him.
FORT MYERS 2 posing as Target Corporate employees steal over $6K at Fort Myers Target SWFL Crime Stoppers seeks information on two men who allegedly claimed to be employees of Target Corporate and stole over $6,000 at Target.
Punta Gorda cosiders fate of historic A.C. Freeman House It was built by politician and businessman Augustus C. Freeman whose name the house bears, and it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.
CAPE CORAL Man arrested for armed robbery in Cape Coral The Cape Coral Police Department has arrested a man for armed robbery and falsifying his name to law enforcement.
Jacksonville Gov. DeSantis signs bills to provide financial options for Floridians Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill that will provide financial options to Floridians and another bill that curates the state public school curriculum.
BONITA SPRINGS LCSO seeks information on missing 77-year-old kayaker LCSO seeks information on a missing kayaker after responding to a call about a missing kayak off the coast of Bonita Beach.
FORT MYERS Tim Tebow speaks at annual Southwest Florida Community Prayer Breakfast Former Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow took the stage at Hammond Stadium for the annual Southwest Florida Community Prayer Breakfast.
FORT MYERS Fort Myers City Council to provide update on Fowler Street construction project The Fort Myers City Council is set to provide an update on the progress of the Fowler Street intersection project.
the weather authority Hot and humid Thursday before evening isolated storms impact coastal communities The Weather Authority is tracking a humid Thursday morning with high afternoon temperatures and evening coastal isolated storms.
FORT MYERS BEACH Sea turtle nesting season begins in Fort Myers Beach Sea turtle nesting season has officially begun, and the FWC wants to remind visitors about the fragility of the young reptiles.
BAREFOOT LAKE Neighbors react to chaos at Barefoot Lake Imagine being scared to leave your home on the weekends. Ana and Anrik understand the feeling all too well.
CAPE CORAL The story of Ollie’s Pub and what kept it open through years of hardships Before Ollie’s housed weekly events, packed to the brim with artwork and home to many, it was a simple dream and an empty space.
Most Wanted Wednesday: Southwest Florida’s most wanted suspects for May 1, 2024 Here are some of Southwest Florida’s most wanted suspects for May 1, 2024.
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) – Since she was a little girl, Kaisha Toledo dreamed of voting for president, a civic act she couldn’t do while growing up in Puerto Rico. After she moved to the Orlando area two years ago, registering to vote was among the first thing she did, and she is prepared to pick a U.S. president for the first time next month. Puerto Ricans can chose candidates in the presidential primaries but not in the general election for president since the island is a territory, not a state. In Florida, she isn’t alone. Florida has gained 929,327 registered voters since the last presidential election, according to voter registration data released late Friday. About 39 percent of that gain came from Hispanics, who as a group traditionally underperform for their numbers at the ballot box. Hispanics make up just under a quarter of Florida’s population of 20 million residents, but as of Oct. 18, they were 16 percent of registered voters. They’ve made significant strides from the last presidential race in 2012, when they represented only a little more than 13.5 percent of registered voters. “We can vote in primaries, but that is it,” Toledo, a behavioral therapist, said of voting in Puerto Rico. “To have that opportunity to vote for president now is a dream since I was a little girl learning about presidents and history.” The biggest voter-registration gains have been along the Interstate 4 corridor, where tens of thousands of Puerto Ricans have settled in the last several years since the island’s economy soured. In fact, almost half of the new numbers of registered voters came from the corridor stretching from Tampa to Orlando to Daytona Beach and the Space Coast. Since the last presidential election, Florida has gained a little more than 475,000 Hispanics, and a third were Puerto Rican. Florida’s Puerto Rican population is now about even with New York’s as the largest on the mainland. The state’s more than 1 million Puerto Ricans are catching up to Cubans, with a population of 1.4 million residents, as the state’s largest Hispanic group. Voter registration groups and get-out-the vote efforts have been aggressive in courting central Florida’s Puerto Ricans. They’ve knocked on tens of thousands of doors and set up boxes with vote-by-mail applications in small businesses like Valisa Bakery in Orlando. “They are indeed a part of the rising non-Cuban Hispanic voters in the state,” said Beatriz Lopez, communications director of the Center for American Progress Action Fund, a Washington-based progressive, nonpartisan policy institute. “We’ve only begun to scratch the surface of this population.” That’s because many Puerto Ricans who arrive in Florida aren’t necessarily attuned to the binary politics of Democrats and Republicans, particularly when it comes to presidential races. Political parties on the island are, for the most part, based on support for the island’s independence, statehood or commonwealth status. African-American voters in Florida registered overwhelmingly as Democrats. White voters leaned Republican, and Asian voters preferred no party affiliation. Hispanic voters leaned Democratic but were well-represented among voters with no party affiliation. Since the last president election in 2012, the GOP gained 304,320 Florida voters, the Democrats added 95,771 to their roles and those with no party affiliation jumped by 517,028. Democrats now account for 38 percent of all Florida voters. Republicans make up 35 percent, and those with no party affiliation are 24 percent of the electorate. The biggest gains for no-party-affiliation voters were in Florida’s largest metro areas: Miami, Tampa and Orlando. The biggest gains for Democrats were along the I-4 corridor, and the largest gains for Republicans were around The Villages retirement community and the Tampa and Fort Myers areas. Two week ago, Toledo encouraged her husband and stepson to register to vote by computer. “Now the whole family gets to vote,” she said.