Man accused of using stolen credit card from car burglary at Lehigh Acres CVSFamily of flea market murder victim struggles to find closure
LEHIGH ACRES Man accused of using stolen credit card from car burglary at Lehigh Acres CVS Southwest Florida Crime Stoppers is seeking information on a man who allegedly used a stolen credit card at the CVS in Lehigh Acres.
ARCADIA Family of flea market murder victim struggles to find closure The family of a woman who was murdered at an Arcadia flea market continues to seek justice as the accused killer awaits trial.
NAPLES Naples man accused of possessing child porn After an investigation, a Naples man has been arrested after allegedly having child pornography in his home.
CAPE CORAL Arrest report for volunteer softball coach accused of inappropriate behavior released New details have been released about the arrest of a Cape Coral volunteer softball coach accused of sending nude photos and touching a 17-year-old student.
the weather authority Dry, warm, and humid morning before isolated storms pop up this afternoon and evening The Weather Authority is tracking a dry and humid Wednesday morning before afternoon isolated storms in Southwest Florida.
FORT MYERS BEACH Fort Myers Beach to test hurricane emergency messaging alert The Town of Fort Myers Beach is set to test its CodeRED alert system as hurricane season begins in 31 days.
FORT MYERS Students make goodie bags for kids fighting Cancer A special delivery, straight from the heart, to Galisano’s Children’s Hospital. Three 8th graders from Lexington Middle School delivered 100 goodie bags to bring smiles to kids fighting cancer.
TICE Large police presence seen at park in Tice Lee County Sheriff’s Office deputies and K-9s were seen investigating at Schindler Hall Community Park on Palm Beach Boulevard in Tice.
CAPE CORAL Lee County superintendent candidates face off in debate These three people, Denise Carlin, Morgan Wright and Sheridan Chester, are making it clear that they want the job.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA DEA to reclassify Marijuana as Schedule Three drug When you think of marijuana in Florida, You might think of an illegal drug seized by law enforcement. Kim Rivers, the CEO of Florida-based cannabis retailer Trulieve, says when used medicinally, it can help a lot of people.
FORT MYERS Expect more delays on Colonial and Fowler due to intersection project Work on the Colonial Fowler intersection in Fort Myers is underway, and there are many moving parts.
FORT MYERS Possible pay-by-text scam in downtown Fort Myers may have cost woman nearly $1,000 Pay-by-text parking may have cost one woman nearly a thousand dollars after her credit card was hacked.
FORT MYERS Lee County STET team protecting our schools with cameras There are cameras in our kid’s schools, dozens of them, but did you know that Lee County Schools sends those live video feeds to the sheriff’s office, and it’s someone’s job to watch them?
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA Six-week abortion ban to take effect soon A stricter abortion ban will take effect in Florida on Wednesday.
Estero’s Golf Coast Driving Range shuts down, visitors devastated A place to relax, let loose and hit a few drives, has come to the end of an era for this community. “This is the first place we came to,” said Roxanne Henningsen, a Bonita Springs resident. “And it like became our second home. The people are wonderful. It’s just a great atmosphere. And we’ve […]
LEHIGH ACRES Man accused of using stolen credit card from car burglary at Lehigh Acres CVS Southwest Florida Crime Stoppers is seeking information on a man who allegedly used a stolen credit card at the CVS in Lehigh Acres.
ARCADIA Family of flea market murder victim struggles to find closure The family of a woman who was murdered at an Arcadia flea market continues to seek justice as the accused killer awaits trial.
NAPLES Naples man accused of possessing child porn After an investigation, a Naples man has been arrested after allegedly having child pornography in his home.
CAPE CORAL Arrest report for volunteer softball coach accused of inappropriate behavior released New details have been released about the arrest of a Cape Coral volunteer softball coach accused of sending nude photos and touching a 17-year-old student.
the weather authority Dry, warm, and humid morning before isolated storms pop up this afternoon and evening The Weather Authority is tracking a dry and humid Wednesday morning before afternoon isolated storms in Southwest Florida.
FORT MYERS BEACH Fort Myers Beach to test hurricane emergency messaging alert The Town of Fort Myers Beach is set to test its CodeRED alert system as hurricane season begins in 31 days.
FORT MYERS Students make goodie bags for kids fighting Cancer A special delivery, straight from the heart, to Galisano’s Children’s Hospital. Three 8th graders from Lexington Middle School delivered 100 goodie bags to bring smiles to kids fighting cancer.
TICE Large police presence seen at park in Tice Lee County Sheriff’s Office deputies and K-9s were seen investigating at Schindler Hall Community Park on Palm Beach Boulevard in Tice.
CAPE CORAL Lee County superintendent candidates face off in debate These three people, Denise Carlin, Morgan Wright and Sheridan Chester, are making it clear that they want the job.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA DEA to reclassify Marijuana as Schedule Three drug When you think of marijuana in Florida, You might think of an illegal drug seized by law enforcement. Kim Rivers, the CEO of Florida-based cannabis retailer Trulieve, says when used medicinally, it can help a lot of people.
FORT MYERS Expect more delays on Colonial and Fowler due to intersection project Work on the Colonial Fowler intersection in Fort Myers is underway, and there are many moving parts.
FORT MYERS Possible pay-by-text scam in downtown Fort Myers may have cost woman nearly $1,000 Pay-by-text parking may have cost one woman nearly a thousand dollars after her credit card was hacked.
FORT MYERS Lee County STET team protecting our schools with cameras There are cameras in our kid’s schools, dozens of them, but did you know that Lee County Schools sends those live video feeds to the sheriff’s office, and it’s someone’s job to watch them?
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA Six-week abortion ban to take effect soon A stricter abortion ban will take effect in Florida on Wednesday.
Estero’s Golf Coast Driving Range shuts down, visitors devastated A place to relax, let loose and hit a few drives, has come to the end of an era for this community. “This is the first place we came to,” said Roxanne Henningsen, a Bonita Springs resident. “And it like became our second home. The people are wonderful. It’s just a great atmosphere. And we’ve […]
Sally Yates (Photo via MGN / U.S. Department of Labor) WASHINGTON (AP) Former acting Attorney General Sally Yates says she bluntly warned the Trump White House in January that new National Security Adviser Michael Flynn “essentially could be blackmailed” by the Russians because he apparently had lied to his bosses about his contacts with Moscow’s ambassador in Washington. The congressional testimony Monday from Yates, an Obama administration holdover fired soon after for other reasons, marked her first public comments about the concerns she raised and filled in basic details about the chain of events that led to Flynn’s ouster in February. Her testimony, coupled with the revelation hours earlier that President Barack Obama himself had warned Donald Trump against hiring Flynn shortly after the November election, made clear that alarms about Flynn had reached the highest levels of the U.S. government months before. Flynn had been an adviser to Trump and an outspoken supporter of his presidential candidacy in the 2016 campaign. Yates, appearing before a Senate panel investigating Russian interference in the election, described discussions with Don McGahn, the Trump White House counsel, in which she warned that Flynn apparently had misled the administration about his communications with Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador. White House officials, including Vice President Mike Pence, had insisted that Flynn had not discussed U.S.-imposed sanctions with Kislyak during the presidential transition period. But they asked Flynn to resign after news reports indicated he had lied about the nature of the calls. “We felt like it was critical that we get this information to the White House, in part because the vice president was unknowingly making false statements to the public and because we believed that Gen. Flynn was compromised with respect to the Russians,” Yates said. “To state the obvious,” she added later, “you don’t want your national security adviser compromised with the Russians.” She said she was briefing the Trump White House so that officials could take “the action that they deemed appropriate” and that she believed the Russians already had the same information. Yates’ questioning by a Senate panel investigating Russian interference in the presidential election was just one portion of a politically charged day that began with combative tweets from Trump and continued with disclosures from Obama administration officials about a private Oval Office conversation between Obama and his successor. Republican senators in the hearing repeatedly pressed Yates on an unrelated matter – her refusal to defend the Trump administration’s travel ban – and whether she was responsible for leaking classified information. She said she was not. Trump shouldered into the conversation in the morning, tweeting that it was the Obama administration, not he, that had given Lt. Gen. Flynn “the highest security clearance” when he worked at the Pentagon. Trump made no mention of the fact that Flynn had been fired from his high position by the Obama administration in 2014. Yates filled in new details of the events of Jan. 26, describing contacting McGahn in the morning and telling him she had something sensitive to discuss in person. Later that day, at the White House, she told him there was an alarming discrepancy between how Trump officials, including Pence, were characterizing Flynn’s contacts with Kislyak and what intelligence officials knew to be true based on recordings they’d reviewed. The pair spoke several times over the next two days, with McGahn asking Yates how Flynn had fared during an interview with the FBI earlier that week – she did not answer – and why it was the concern of the Justice Department if White House officials had misled each other. Flynn’s forced resignation followed media reports that he had discussed U.S.-imposed sanctions on Russia with Ambassador Kislyak, which was contrary to the public representations of the Trump White House. Yates herself, a longtime federal prosecutor, was fired by Trump on Jan. 30 after refusing to defend his travel ban. James Clapper, director of national intelligence under Obama, also testified Monday. He retired when Trump took office. Separately Monday, former Obama officials said that Obama had raised general concerns about Flynn with Trump and had told the incoming president there were better people for the national security post. Trump’s press secretary Sean Spicer said in response that if Obama “was seriously concerned” about Flynn’s connections to Russia or other foreign countries, he should have withheld Flynn’s security clearance. Flynn served under Obama as defense intelligence chief before Obama dismissed him. Trump repeatedly has said he has no ties to Russia and isn’t aware of any involvement by his aides in any Russian interference in the election. He’s dismissed FBI and congressional investigations into his campaign’s possible ties to the election meddling as a “hoax” driven by Democrats bitter over losing the White House. After the hearing Monday, Trump tweeted: “The Russia-Trump collusion story is a total hoax, when will this taxpayer funded charade end?” The Associated Press reported last week that one sign taken as a warning by Obama officials about Flynn’s contacts with Kislyak was a request by a member of Trump’s own transition team made to national security officials in the Obama White House for the classified CIA profile of Kislyak. The AP interviewed multiple former U.S. officials, most of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss sensitive national security information. Yates’ warning about Flynn capped weeks of concern among top Obama officials, former officials told the AP. Obama himself told one of his closest advisers that the FBI, which by then had been investigating Trump associates’ possible ties to Russia for about six months, seemed particularly focused on Flynn. Yates, a longtime federal prosecutor and Obama administration holdover, had been scheduled to appear weeks ago before the House intelligence committee, but that hearing was canceled. The subcommittee that held Monday’s hearing is running one of multiple congressional probes into the Russia interference, along with House and Senate intelligence panels. All the committees are led by Republicans.