FORT MYERS Jeep flipped on its side after two-vehicle crash Authorities are responding to a car crash on Ortiz Avenue and Palm Beach Boulevard in Fort Myers.
The future of the Fort Myers Ferris wheel proposal Is the third time the charm? Downtown Fort Myers is buzzing over the idea of a new eye in the sky. On Thursday night, Steve Weathers gave his presentation on the proposed Ferris Wheel plan for the third time in a matter of months. Currently, nothing is set in stone. For the historic preservation committee, […]
LEE COUNTY SCHOOLS Lee County Schools approves new code of conduct The Lee County school board unanimously passed a new code of conduct on Thursday night, and there wasn’t any pushback, not even during public comment.
ALVA ‘I still feel like I’m under the water sometimes,’ Drowning survivor speaks out as community mourns A community mourns the death of three young men who died drowning in the Caloosahachee River on Saturday, May 18.
Google teaches internet safety to SWFL middle school students The internet is a big playground with tons of entertainment options, but similarly to real playgrounds, not everyone plays nice.
WINK NEWS Lessons learned and how to apply them this 2024 hurricane season Hurricane season is approaching, so now is the time for Southwest Floridians to gear up and protect themselves against potential storms.
CAPE CORAL 12-year-old hit by speeding car in Cape Coral A 12-year-old boy is recovering after Cape Coral police say he was hit by a speeding car Wednesday night.
Lee County NAACP protesting unarmed man’s death The NAACP knows Amira Fox’s decision cannot be overturned, so they’re pushing for more open conversation around mental health and how police officers should be trained to tackle similar situations.
BUCKINGHAM What chemicals were in the blue paint that filled the Orange River Getting to the bottom of what is inside the paint that filled the Orange River near homes in Buckingham.
SANIBEL Sanibel works to complete marsh restoration The Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation completed its marsh restoration project on the island.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA What’s the missing piece to improve safety on State Road 31 Eileen Sartell lives in the Babcock area, and she said the speeding in the area is horrible
New research may save brain cells A tsunami is a massive wave of destruction, but it doesn’t just happen on the coast. It can happen inside your brain.
Two local golf pros recount memories from PGA Championship Two local golf pros, Jeremy Wells and Evan Bowser, recount the memories they made playing in the PGA Championship.
LEHIGH ACRES Man accused of driving 102 mph faces homicide charges for Lehigh Acres crash Maxcimiliano Rodriguez, who faced vehicular homicide charges, had his first appearance in court on Thursday.
Brown pelican found on Marco Beach with possible red tide poisoning A brown pelican was found on a Marco Island beach last week, showing signs of red tide toxicosis.
FORT MYERS Jeep flipped on its side after two-vehicle crash Authorities are responding to a car crash on Ortiz Avenue and Palm Beach Boulevard in Fort Myers.
The future of the Fort Myers Ferris wheel proposal Is the third time the charm? Downtown Fort Myers is buzzing over the idea of a new eye in the sky. On Thursday night, Steve Weathers gave his presentation on the proposed Ferris Wheel plan for the third time in a matter of months. Currently, nothing is set in stone. For the historic preservation committee, […]
LEE COUNTY SCHOOLS Lee County Schools approves new code of conduct The Lee County school board unanimously passed a new code of conduct on Thursday night, and there wasn’t any pushback, not even during public comment.
ALVA ‘I still feel like I’m under the water sometimes,’ Drowning survivor speaks out as community mourns A community mourns the death of three young men who died drowning in the Caloosahachee River on Saturday, May 18.
Google teaches internet safety to SWFL middle school students The internet is a big playground with tons of entertainment options, but similarly to real playgrounds, not everyone plays nice.
WINK NEWS Lessons learned and how to apply them this 2024 hurricane season Hurricane season is approaching, so now is the time for Southwest Floridians to gear up and protect themselves against potential storms.
CAPE CORAL 12-year-old hit by speeding car in Cape Coral A 12-year-old boy is recovering after Cape Coral police say he was hit by a speeding car Wednesday night.
Lee County NAACP protesting unarmed man’s death The NAACP knows Amira Fox’s decision cannot be overturned, so they’re pushing for more open conversation around mental health and how police officers should be trained to tackle similar situations.
BUCKINGHAM What chemicals were in the blue paint that filled the Orange River Getting to the bottom of what is inside the paint that filled the Orange River near homes in Buckingham.
SANIBEL Sanibel works to complete marsh restoration The Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation completed its marsh restoration project on the island.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA What’s the missing piece to improve safety on State Road 31 Eileen Sartell lives in the Babcock area, and she said the speeding in the area is horrible
New research may save brain cells A tsunami is a massive wave of destruction, but it doesn’t just happen on the coast. It can happen inside your brain.
Two local golf pros recount memories from PGA Championship Two local golf pros, Jeremy Wells and Evan Bowser, recount the memories they made playing in the PGA Championship.
LEHIGH ACRES Man accused of driving 102 mph faces homicide charges for Lehigh Acres crash Maxcimiliano Rodriguez, who faced vehicular homicide charges, had his first appearance in court on Thursday.
Brown pelican found on Marco Beach with possible red tide poisoning A brown pelican was found on a Marco Island beach last week, showing signs of red tide toxicosis.
Parents and guardians of North Park Elementary School students wait at Cajon High School to pick up their children Monday, April 10, 2017, in San Bernardino, Calif. A deadly shooting occurred at the elementary school. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong) SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (AP) For Elizabeth Barajas it had been an hours-long nightmare waiting to learn the fate of the daughter she had dropped off at school a couple of hours before police reported gunfire in a classroom that left two adults and one child dead and another child wounded. Then, in some ways, the nightmare became worse. Barajas learned her daughter, Marissa Perez, had been sitting at her desk Monday morning when a gunman stormed into her classroom, shot her teacher to death, killed one of her classmates and wounded another before killing himself. “I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what to tell her,” Barajas said as the two held each other and sobbed after the ordeal that sent police flooding onto the campus of San Bernardino’s North Park School. As Marissa and about 600 other students were shepherded to safety, Barajas and hundreds of other parents raced to the school. There they would endure an agonizing four-hour wait before learning that all but two of their children were physically if not emotionally unharmed. “She just said she was scared. As soon as she saw the guy with the gun, she went under the table. She keeps telling me ‘My teacher got shot, my friend got shot,'” Barajas said as she clutched her daughter’s blood-stained sweatshirt. Marissa said the shooter didn’t say a word as he opened fire. One of her friends was hit, she added, as she pointed to her abdomen. Police identified the gunman as Cedric Anderson, 53, of Riverside. They believe he arrived at the school intending to kill his estranged wife, North Park teacher Elaine Smith, and accidentally shot the two children. Many of the parents of the school’s 600 students were at home when the blaring sounds of emergency vehicle sirens shattered the morning quiet of their neighborhood. Amberly Raffle, who had left her son with his pre-kindergarten class earlier that morning, said she wasn’t sure what the sirens were about until her sister-in-law ran to her house to tell her there was a problem at the school. “Policemen were everywhere and ambulances, firetrucks, helicopters,” she said of the scene she saw. “I got really scared then.” It was “every parent’s worst nightmare,” said Holly Penalber as she wiped tears from her face while waiting to hear the fate of her 9-year-old son and 7-year-old daughter. Penalber, a Riverside County sheriff’s deputy, was on a training assignment when she began getting frantic texts from her husband and mother, saying something bad had happened at the school. Then she waited hours outside a nearby high school where parents were eventually reunited with their children. She was too nervous to join Barajas and others in the library, saying there were more rumors than information there. But eventually she heard from someone who had seen her children and assured her they were safe. “It was such a sigh of relief. But I won’t feel good until I hold my kids,” she said. One of the first parents to be reunited with a child was Raffle, who cried tears of joys as she embraced her son. “He doesn’t really know what happened,” she said. “I think we’re blessed because of that.” Barajas is concerned about what witnessing the shooting will do to her daughter. “They can’t just tell us your kids are fine,” she said. “Obviously my kid is not fine. She witnessed what happened to her teacher and the other students, and all they said is your kids are safe, your kids are fine.”