Woman rescued from Peace River by good Samaritans days after MiltonRestaurant in Cape Coral helps another in Punta Gorda recover from Milton
Woman rescued from Peace River by good Samaritans days after Milton A woman is lucky to be alive after being found two miles off the coast in the Peace River and brought to shore by vigilant good samaritans.
PUNTA GORDA Restaurant in Cape Coral helps another in Punta Gorda recover from Milton Bartenders at the Celtic Ray in Punta Gorda have struggled since Hurricane Milton severely damaged the pub.
Warrior Homes of Collier awards scholarships to local veterans Four Collier County students with military ties are getting a boost toward their education.
Caught on video: Man arrested after leading police on chase in stolen truck Florida troopers say 36-year-old David Alfonso stole the vehicle in Collier County and then led them on a chase through Lee County to Alico Road and Ben Hill Griffin.
Record early voting in SWFL may be linked to recent hurricanes On Monday, thousands of people got in line at their polling places as early voting started for most places in southwest Florida.
FORT MYERS BEACH Milton leaves Fort Myers Beach residents buried in sand and seeking help Hurricane Milton pushed sand onto the streets of Fort Myers Beach, leaving many residents asking for help.
LEHIGH ACRES East Lee County principal uses lemonade to create gameday tradition East Lee County High School principal Tony Allen uses his lemonade recipe to create a new gameday tradition.
NAPLES Naples man defends home from flood waters One Naples man did not mess around when it came to Hurricane Milton prep. Guy Lollino got five feet of water in his home on Vanderbilt Beach during Hurricane Ian. This time he decided to stack a ton of sandbags and fill the cracks with sprayable Styrofoam.
Detecting pancreatic cancer early with AI A pancreatic cancer diagnosis is one of the most dreaded because it carries a very high mortality rate.
Lee County restores solid waste services The process of removing garbage and debris from the streets of Lee County has begun.
Algae bloom research turns into useful storm tool Many of us watched helplessly and waited as hurricanes Helene and Milton sent storm surges onto our roads, into our homes and businesses, altering what we know as home forever. At the same time, one Florida Gulf Coast University student saw the storms as a scientific opportunity.
Amendment 2: Right to fish and hunt Tens of thousands of Floridians, and thousands more visitors that come to our state, enjoy fishing and hunting. We live in a state surrounded by water and wildlife and people have taken advantage of that.
Amendment 1: Establishing partisan school board elections Some school board meetings have become political, with raised voices and the need for security
FORT MYERS Local salon withstands impacts from 3 major hurricanes One hurricane can be devastating; however, three storms will force you to find better ways to prepare for impacts.
Azaleas on the Corner sells plants, paintings, wine in downtown Fort Myers The mother-daughter team of Marie Dyer and Corinne Wimberly already had a business plan in place to start their own shop. They just didn’t have a place to put it.
Woman rescued from Peace River by good Samaritans days after Milton A woman is lucky to be alive after being found two miles off the coast in the Peace River and brought to shore by vigilant good samaritans.
PUNTA GORDA Restaurant in Cape Coral helps another in Punta Gorda recover from Milton Bartenders at the Celtic Ray in Punta Gorda have struggled since Hurricane Milton severely damaged the pub.
Warrior Homes of Collier awards scholarships to local veterans Four Collier County students with military ties are getting a boost toward their education.
Caught on video: Man arrested after leading police on chase in stolen truck Florida troopers say 36-year-old David Alfonso stole the vehicle in Collier County and then led them on a chase through Lee County to Alico Road and Ben Hill Griffin.
Record early voting in SWFL may be linked to recent hurricanes On Monday, thousands of people got in line at their polling places as early voting started for most places in southwest Florida.
FORT MYERS BEACH Milton leaves Fort Myers Beach residents buried in sand and seeking help Hurricane Milton pushed sand onto the streets of Fort Myers Beach, leaving many residents asking for help.
LEHIGH ACRES East Lee County principal uses lemonade to create gameday tradition East Lee County High School principal Tony Allen uses his lemonade recipe to create a new gameday tradition.
NAPLES Naples man defends home from flood waters One Naples man did not mess around when it came to Hurricane Milton prep. Guy Lollino got five feet of water in his home on Vanderbilt Beach during Hurricane Ian. This time he decided to stack a ton of sandbags and fill the cracks with sprayable Styrofoam.
Detecting pancreatic cancer early with AI A pancreatic cancer diagnosis is one of the most dreaded because it carries a very high mortality rate.
Lee County restores solid waste services The process of removing garbage and debris from the streets of Lee County has begun.
Algae bloom research turns into useful storm tool Many of us watched helplessly and waited as hurricanes Helene and Milton sent storm surges onto our roads, into our homes and businesses, altering what we know as home forever. At the same time, one Florida Gulf Coast University student saw the storms as a scientific opportunity.
Amendment 2: Right to fish and hunt Tens of thousands of Floridians, and thousands more visitors that come to our state, enjoy fishing and hunting. We live in a state surrounded by water and wildlife and people have taken advantage of that.
Amendment 1: Establishing partisan school board elections Some school board meetings have become political, with raised voices and the need for security
FORT MYERS Local salon withstands impacts from 3 major hurricanes One hurricane can be devastating; however, three storms will force you to find better ways to prepare for impacts.
Azaleas on the Corner sells plants, paintings, wine in downtown Fort Myers The mother-daughter team of Marie Dyer and Corinne Wimberly already had a business plan in place to start their own shop. They just didn’t have a place to put it.
Making yet another late-game charge, the FGCU men’s basketball team (14-6, 3-1 ASUN) erased an eight-point deficit in the final 3+ minutes, took the lead, but eventually fell just short as USC Upstate (13-8, 3-1 ASUN) converted a game-winning layup off an offensive rebound with 1.9 seconds to play to hand the Eagles a 62-60 loss Thursday night at Alico Arena. Trailing 54-46 with just more than 3:30 to play in the game, the Eagles made a furious 90-second charge, going on a 10-0 run to take a 56-54 lead following a steal and massive one-handed dunk by Zach Johnson. However, USC Upstate hit a crucial 3-pointer on its ensuing possession to go back ahead, and followed it up with another 3-pointer with just over a minute left to take a 60-56 lead. Unfazed, FGCU again responded, and on a pair of Johnson (Miami, Fla./Norland HS) free throws with 17.6 seconds remaining tied the game back up at 60-60. That set up a final offensive possession for the Spartans. The Eagles got the initial stop, but Upstate’s Michael Buchanan grabbed the rebound and converted the putback to give FGCU just its fourth home regular-season loss to an ASUN opponent since 2012-13. “After about the midway point of the 1st half, Upstate controlled the game,” commented FGCU head coach Joe Dooley, whose team built a lead as large as 28-16 before Upstate closed the opening stanza on a 16-2 run for a 32-30 halftime edge. “You’ve got to win home games, and tonight our focus wasn’t as good as it should have been. But you need to give Upstate a lot of credit – they made plays when they had to – and we made some plays to keep us in the game, but we dug ourselves too big of a hole.” The hole was as large as 11 in the 2nd half, 50-39, with 12:31 remaining. The Eagles turned up the defensive pressure and held the Spartans without a point for more than 8 minutes until they scored at the 4:27 mark. However, in that timeframe the Eagles were only able to trim the deficit down to four, 50-46; something uncharacteristic of this year’s team. FGCU entered the game as the 3rd-best shooting team in the nation at 52.1 percent from the floor, but connected at just a 43.1-percent clip (25-58) Thursday. Entering the final 3:30, the Eagles were only 37.7 percent from the floor (20-53), but the Green and Blue made their final five attempts of the evening. It’s the first time this year that FGCU has lost when shooting better than their opponent from the floor (Upstate: 40.4 percent). Brandon Goodwin (Norcross, Ga./UCF/Norcross HS) led FGCU with 12 points and also secured six rebounds. Johnson and Antravious Simmons (Miami, Fla./VCU/South Miami HS) tallied 11 points each, and Christian Terrell (Jacksonville, Fla./Providence HS) added 10 points. Demetris Morant (Miami, Fla./UNLV/Bishop Gorman HS) narrowly missed a double-double yet again with nine points and nine rebounds. The 60 points were one more than FGCU’s season low of 59 set twice this year against Florida and Georgia Southern. The Eagles entered the evening as the 2nd-highest scoring team in the ASUN at 81.2 per game. FGCU had won nine of the last 10 meetings – including seven in a row during the regular season – against the Spartans, but that streak and the Eagles’ seven-game winning streak overall were snapped in front of a sellout crowd and season-high 4,582 fans inside Alico Arena. FGCU is now 29-4 at home in the regular season against ASUN foes since 2012-13. Mike Cunningham came off the bench to lead Upstate as its lone double-figure scorer with 14 points on 4-7 from 3-point range. As a team, the Spartans shot 12-27 (44.4 percent) from beyond the arc – tied for the most 3-pointers the Eagles have allowed this year. FGCU entered the contest ranked 23rd in the country in 3-point percentage defense, limiting opponents to just 30.2 percent from distance. The Eagles have now opened ASUN play with four-straight games decided by four points or less. In total, FGCU’s first four league games have been decided by just 10 points (1-point win, 3-point win, 4-point win, 2-point loss). Despite the loss, FGCU remains in 1st place in the ASUN standings, but is now joined there by USC Upstate, Lipscomb and North Florida all at 3-1. FGCU will look to bounce back on Saturday, Jan. 21, at 7 p.m. when the Eagles welcome NJIT (9-11, 1-3 ASUN) to The Nest. The Highlanders dropped an 82-76 decision at Stetson on Thursday night. NJIT’s lone early-season ASUN victory was an impressive one, however, as the Highlanders defeated North Florida, 84-78, last Saturday.