Fort Myers Florist offers lower prices on roses for Valentine’s DayTim Aten Knows: Landert Bread rolling out local retail store
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.
Tim Aten Knows: Landert Bread rolling out local retail store Landert Bread’s European rolls, bread, cakes and pastries will be available to more Naples area residents starting this month. A wholesale operation for more than 12 years, Naples-based Landert is launching a retail store in Collier County.
the weather authority Isolated rain can impact your Valentine’s Day evening plans The Weather Authority is tracking isolated rain that may impact your Friday or Valentine’s Day outdoor plans.
Ponte Vedra Beach Gov. DeSantis to hold news conference in Ponte Vedra Beach Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is set to hold a news conference in Ponte Vedra Beach.
PORT CHARLOTTE Port Charlotte woman accused of running over man after vandalizing his car with condiments A Port Charlotte woman is accused of vandalizing her ex-boyfriend’s car by throwing eggs and condiments and then running him over with her car.
FORT MYERS Dog rescue in Fort Myers holds fundraiser as founder fights cancer A beloved dog rescue service in Fort Myers is facing uncertainty as its founder, Carey Kendzior, battles cancer.
Woman arrested for stealing $3,400 in goods from Target in Collier County More than 150 items worth thousands of dollars were reportedly stolen from a Target in Collier County. Deputies arrested Kimberly McDonnell, 36, on charges of grand theft.
Egg prices leading to some locals raising their own chickens High egg prices have some people considering raising their own chickens, but it’s not as simple as it sounds.
FORT MYERS BEACH Fort Myers Beach Library to reopen following Hurricane Ian The Fort Myers Beach Library plans to reopen its doors to the public on March 16.
FORT MYERS Save This Life pet microchips closes down For many, protecting your pet is as important as keeping your kids safe.
Rosie, dog lost during I-75 crash, back home with family New information has been released about Rosie, the dog that went missing in a car crash last weekend and was found Wednesday.
Gatorama owner loses finger at feeding show The owner of Gatorama in Palmdale was bitten by one of his gators during a feeding show over the weekend and lost a finger.
WWII Veteran hits 100th birthday milestone Hundreds of people came to celebrate WWII veteran Vernon Nelson’s 100th birthday.
FORT MYERS Volunteers boost Harry Chapin Food Bank’s reach The Harry Chapin Food Bank relies heavily on its volunteers to make a significant impact in the community.
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.
Tim Aten Knows: Landert Bread rolling out local retail store Landert Bread’s European rolls, bread, cakes and pastries will be available to more Naples area residents starting this month. A wholesale operation for more than 12 years, Naples-based Landert is launching a retail store in Collier County.
the weather authority Isolated rain can impact your Valentine’s Day evening plans The Weather Authority is tracking isolated rain that may impact your Friday or Valentine’s Day outdoor plans.
Ponte Vedra Beach Gov. DeSantis to hold news conference in Ponte Vedra Beach Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is set to hold a news conference in Ponte Vedra Beach.
PORT CHARLOTTE Port Charlotte woman accused of running over man after vandalizing his car with condiments A Port Charlotte woman is accused of vandalizing her ex-boyfriend’s car by throwing eggs and condiments and then running him over with her car.
FORT MYERS Dog rescue in Fort Myers holds fundraiser as founder fights cancer A beloved dog rescue service in Fort Myers is facing uncertainty as its founder, Carey Kendzior, battles cancer.
Woman arrested for stealing $3,400 in goods from Target in Collier County More than 150 items worth thousands of dollars were reportedly stolen from a Target in Collier County. Deputies arrested Kimberly McDonnell, 36, on charges of grand theft.
Egg prices leading to some locals raising their own chickens High egg prices have some people considering raising their own chickens, but it’s not as simple as it sounds.
FORT MYERS BEACH Fort Myers Beach Library to reopen following Hurricane Ian The Fort Myers Beach Library plans to reopen its doors to the public on March 16.
FORT MYERS Save This Life pet microchips closes down For many, protecting your pet is as important as keeping your kids safe.
Rosie, dog lost during I-75 crash, back home with family New information has been released about Rosie, the dog that went missing in a car crash last weekend and was found Wednesday.
Gatorama owner loses finger at feeding show The owner of Gatorama in Palmdale was bitten by one of his gators during a feeding show over the weekend and lost a finger.
WWII Veteran hits 100th birthday milestone Hundreds of people came to celebrate WWII veteran Vernon Nelson’s 100th birthday.
FORT MYERS Volunteers boost Harry Chapin Food Bank’s reach The Harry Chapin Food Bank relies heavily on its volunteers to make a significant impact in the community.
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.