Family and NAACP continue fighting for justice for Christopher JordanFGCU softball players ready for NCAA Tournament debut
FORT MYERS Family and NAACP continue fighting for justice for Christopher Jordan The NAACP and Jordan’s family said this isn’t the end for them
GAINESVILLE FGCU softball players ready for NCAA Tournament debut FGCU softball players are ready to play in their first NCAA Tournament game against No. 4 Florida.
FORT MYERS Expert weighs in on ‘justified’ police shooting of Christopher Jordan We spoke with Dr. David Thomas – a forensic studies professor from FGCU and a former officer – who supports the idea of officer-involved shooting investigations going to a grand jury.
West Palm Beach 360-degree storm documentation: A closer look at Hurricane Ian’s aftermath At the Governor’s Conference exhibit hall, Dylan Faraone, Regional Director of Mosaic, showcased his work using a 360-degree camera mounted on his car to document the aftermath of major storms, including Hurricane Ian’s impact on southwest Florida.
GAINESVILLE FGCU catcher Neely Peterson returns to Gainesville for NCAA Tournament FGCU catcher Neely Peterson returns to Gainesville, where she fell in love with the sport again playing for Santa Fe College.
CAPE CORAL Do we need a federal gun database for mental illness? One family says yes One family is on a mission to create a new national gun database. It would require medical professionals to enter mental health information.
CAPE CORAL Suspect in custody after a North Fort Myers family loses everything in a fire Their investigation led them to the area of Hancock Bridge Parkway in Cape Coral. The Lee County Sheriff’s Office confirmed a suspect from the Bogart Drive incident is in custody.
FORT MYERS Deadly motorcycle crash shuts down roads on Fowler and Winkler Ave. Fort Myers Police Department has confirmed that a motorcyclist has died in a crash on Fowler and Winkler Avenue on Thursday.
Sarasota How well does a diverging diamond really work? The Sarasota diverging diamond is located at Interstate 75 and University Parkway. It was put in to alleviate heavy traffic.
FORT MYERS RSW experiencing terminal expansion delay Lee County commissioners gave us an update on the RSW terminal expansion project, which is long overdue. Now we know why.
IMMOKALEE National Weather Service surveys storm damage in Immokalee The National Weather Service in Miami concluded after a survey the damage wasn’t from a tornado. It was from a downburst of straight-line wind between 60 – 70 mph.
SANIBEL Sanibel considering e-bike changes Biking is almost as common as driving on Sanibel, and the city’s Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee wants to keep that trend going.
CAPE CORAL Family of victim sues Lee County School District, claiming it failed to protect student Family sued Lee County School District for failing to keep their student safe.
CAPE CORAL Former Cape Coral teacher who sent inappropriate pictures to student reaches plea deal Reynolds’ plea agreement includes 12 years in prison followed by an additional 96 months of probation.
BONITA SPRINGS 12 vehicle crash shuts down all lanes of I-75 near MM 116 Bonita Springs firefighters are working the scene. Tow trucks are helping to get the affected vehicles off the road.
FORT MYERS Family and NAACP continue fighting for justice for Christopher Jordan The NAACP and Jordan’s family said this isn’t the end for them
GAINESVILLE FGCU softball players ready for NCAA Tournament debut FGCU softball players are ready to play in their first NCAA Tournament game against No. 4 Florida.
FORT MYERS Expert weighs in on ‘justified’ police shooting of Christopher Jordan We spoke with Dr. David Thomas – a forensic studies professor from FGCU and a former officer – who supports the idea of officer-involved shooting investigations going to a grand jury.
West Palm Beach 360-degree storm documentation: A closer look at Hurricane Ian’s aftermath At the Governor’s Conference exhibit hall, Dylan Faraone, Regional Director of Mosaic, showcased his work using a 360-degree camera mounted on his car to document the aftermath of major storms, including Hurricane Ian’s impact on southwest Florida.
GAINESVILLE FGCU catcher Neely Peterson returns to Gainesville for NCAA Tournament FGCU catcher Neely Peterson returns to Gainesville, where she fell in love with the sport again playing for Santa Fe College.
CAPE CORAL Do we need a federal gun database for mental illness? One family says yes One family is on a mission to create a new national gun database. It would require medical professionals to enter mental health information.
CAPE CORAL Suspect in custody after a North Fort Myers family loses everything in a fire Their investigation led them to the area of Hancock Bridge Parkway in Cape Coral. The Lee County Sheriff’s Office confirmed a suspect from the Bogart Drive incident is in custody.
FORT MYERS Deadly motorcycle crash shuts down roads on Fowler and Winkler Ave. Fort Myers Police Department has confirmed that a motorcyclist has died in a crash on Fowler and Winkler Avenue on Thursday.
Sarasota How well does a diverging diamond really work? The Sarasota diverging diamond is located at Interstate 75 and University Parkway. It was put in to alleviate heavy traffic.
FORT MYERS RSW experiencing terminal expansion delay Lee County commissioners gave us an update on the RSW terminal expansion project, which is long overdue. Now we know why.
IMMOKALEE National Weather Service surveys storm damage in Immokalee The National Weather Service in Miami concluded after a survey the damage wasn’t from a tornado. It was from a downburst of straight-line wind between 60 – 70 mph.
SANIBEL Sanibel considering e-bike changes Biking is almost as common as driving on Sanibel, and the city’s Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee wants to keep that trend going.
CAPE CORAL Family of victim sues Lee County School District, claiming it failed to protect student Family sued Lee County School District for failing to keep their student safe.
CAPE CORAL Former Cape Coral teacher who sent inappropriate pictures to student reaches plea deal Reynolds’ plea agreement includes 12 years in prison followed by an additional 96 months of probation.
BONITA SPRINGS 12 vehicle crash shuts down all lanes of I-75 near MM 116 Bonita Springs firefighters are working the scene. Tow trucks are helping to get the affected vehicles off the road.
Photo via James St. John / CC BY 2.0 SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – The future of California’s legal marijuana industry is being shaped in a warren of cubicles tucked inside a retired basketball arena, where a garden of paper cannabis leaves sprouts on file cabinets and a burlap sack advertising “USA Home Grown” dangles from a wall. Here, in the outskirts of Sacramento, a handful of government workers face a daunting task: By next year, craft regulations and rules that will govern the state’s emerging legal pot market, from where and how plants can be grown to setting guidelines to track the buds from fields to stores. Getting it wrong could mean the robust cannabis black market stays that way – outside the law – undercutting the attempt to create the nation’s largest legal marijuana economy. The new industry has a projected value of $7 billion, and state and local governments could eventually collect $1 billion a year in taxes. California is “building the airplane while it’s being flown,” lamented state Sen. Mike McGuire, a Democrat whose sprawling Northern California district includes some of the world’s most prized pot fields. He questions if the state can meet January deadlines to create a coherent system that accounts for the loosely regulated medical marijuana industry, now two decades old and developing its own rules, while transforming the enormous illegal market into a legal, licensed one. “It’s going to take us 10 years to dig out of the mess we are in,” predicted McGuire, referring to the unruly market, legal and not. It’s likely that tens of thousands of people and businesses will need licensing. The job of overseeing the industry touches on issues from protecting water quality for fish in streams near pot grows, to safely collecting hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes from businesses that often operate in cash. Inside the former arena, Lori Ajax, the state’s top pot regulator, acknowledged the challenges but said the state can, indeed must, be ready on Jan. 1 when California is required to issue licenses. “We’re small but mighty,” she said of her staff of 11 full-time workers spearheading the project. The new law calls for nearly 20 different types of licenses, including permits for farmers; delivery services that will take pot to a buyer’s front door; testing labs; distributors; and dispensary operators at the retail level. Part of the job heading toward the start of next year falls to other agencies, including the Food and Agriculture Department, which will issue licenses for cultivators. In November, California joined a growing number of states in legalizing recreational marijuana use for adults. In general, the state will treat cannabis like alcohol, allowing people 21 and older to legally possess up to an ounce of pot and grow six marijuana plants at home. The law kicks in Jan. 1, 2018, but many communities already turn an indifferent eye toward pot smoking and local cultivators. Earlier this month, Gov. Jerry Brown proposed spending more than $50 million to establish programs to collect taxes and issue licenses while hiring dozens of workers to regulate the industry, a figure some say is too low. His office stresses that one regulatory framework is needed, not separate ones for recreational and medical cannabis, even though there are laws for each that could duplicate costs and confuse businesses. One of the new law’s requirements calls for the state to develop a computerized system to track cannabis, sometimes called “seed-to-sale” monitoring. It’s envisioned that scanners will be used to keep tabs on pot as it moves from the leafy raw product to street-level sales. McGuire, however, projects it could take much of this year for the state to evaluate and hire a company to do the work, making it questionable if a functioning system could be in place when legal sales launch in January. Attorney Aaron Herzberg, a partner at CalCann Holdings, which leases property to cannabis operations, called the governor’s funding only a starting point. He doesn’t believe there’s enough time to get a regulatory system in place by January. “You are always going to have a black market,” he said. To make the new economy work, “you have to reduce the black market to tolerable levels.” With the rules in development, there are concerns that cottage-industry growers could be driven out by corporate-type businesses, much the way large-scale agribusiness doomed family farms in the Midwest. State Treasurer John Chiang, who is running for governor, has asked President Donald Trump for guidance on how the state’s marijuana industry can participate in the nation’s banking system, while pot remains illegal under U.S. law. Legislators will hold a hearing Monday on whether the state can meet the January deadline. Ajax, whose agency is an arm of the California Department of Consumer Affairs, is well-versed in controlled substances. Six badges she carried while rising through the ranks as an agent with the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control are on display in her sunny, corner office. Along with her extensive experience, she brings a sense of humor to the job. Her office decor includes a psychedelic-style painting of a 1960s hippie wearing a peace symbol necklace with a marijuana plant, joints and a bong. It’s inscribed by the artist to the “new czarina of weed.” “We’re confident that we can get this accomplished,” Ajax said.