Sanibel Church rebuilds after Hurricane IanCostco construction causes commotion in Collier County community
SANIBEL Sanibel Church rebuilds after Hurricane Ian The Sanibel Community Church has completed its remarkable rebuild after Hurricane Ian devastated their place of worship over two years ago.
NAPLES Costco construction causes commotion in Collier County community Costco is eyeing a plot of land in Collier County for a new store, but residents are voicing strong opposition.
NAPLES Dr. Cornelius “Pat” Cacho’s impact on education and Southwest Florida Dr. Cornelius “Pat” Cacho, a beloved philanthropist and advocate for education, dedicated his life to empowering others through opportunity and knowledge.
SANIBEL Sanibel cracks down on school zone speeders with new camera system Sanibel is tightening its grip on school zone speeders with newly installed cameras.
FORT MYERS Fort Myers food pantry expands efforts with Harry Chapin support The Harry Chapin Food Bank in Fort Myers plays a crucial role in supporting smaller food banks in the area.
Fort Myers Beach Pier scheduled to be finished a year ahead of schedule The Fort Myers Beach Pier remains a symbol of the destruction caused by Hurricane Ian two years ago. Efforts to rebuild it has taken a lot of time.
FORT MYERS Iconic Fort Myers statue to undergo repairs The iconic “Rachel at the Well” statue on McGregor Boulevard in Fort Myers has been a landmark for 94 years. However, it became a casualty of Hurricane Ian in 2022, and discussions for its repair are ongoing.
Salvation Army Thrift Store closing its doors in Collier County The Salvation Army has announced the permanent closure of the Naples Family Store on Davis Boulevard.
SANIBEL Rebuilding the Sanibel Causeway with a cause Construction crews are hard at work making the Sanibel Causeway more resilient. The bridge is being fortified to withstand future storms.
LEE COUNTY No. 2 prospect in MLB Roman Anthony with Red Sox for Spring Training Roman Anthony, who is ranked as the second best in baseball, is with the Boston Red Sox for his first Spring Training.
MANASOTA KEY Popular Manasota Key restaurant reopens after storm damage Manasota Key is steadily recovering from a challenging hurricane season, and residents are celebrating the reopening of a beloved local spot.
PINE ISLAND Construction to start on hurricane-proof fire station on Pine Island A new hurricane-proof fire station is coming to Pine Island. The current station, over 40 years old, is in dire need of replacement.
NORTH PORT Braves’ Chris Sale on the mound in southwest Florida once again Spring Training is in full swing for the Atlanta Braves, who’s full squad reported on Tuesday, that means Chris Sale is back in SWFL.
NAPLES Denise Brown speaks on domestic violence at Naples fundraiser event A record crowd of 825 people gathered at the Ritz Carlton Tiburon to raise money and awareness to end domestic violence.
NORTH NAPLES Construction on Collier County diverging diamond begins in March Construction on Southwest Florida’s third diverging diamond interchange is set to begin in March.
SANIBEL Sanibel Church rebuilds after Hurricane Ian The Sanibel Community Church has completed its remarkable rebuild after Hurricane Ian devastated their place of worship over two years ago.
NAPLES Costco construction causes commotion in Collier County community Costco is eyeing a plot of land in Collier County for a new store, but residents are voicing strong opposition.
NAPLES Dr. Cornelius “Pat” Cacho’s impact on education and Southwest Florida Dr. Cornelius “Pat” Cacho, a beloved philanthropist and advocate for education, dedicated his life to empowering others through opportunity and knowledge.
SANIBEL Sanibel cracks down on school zone speeders with new camera system Sanibel is tightening its grip on school zone speeders with newly installed cameras.
FORT MYERS Fort Myers food pantry expands efforts with Harry Chapin support The Harry Chapin Food Bank in Fort Myers plays a crucial role in supporting smaller food banks in the area.
Fort Myers Beach Pier scheduled to be finished a year ahead of schedule The Fort Myers Beach Pier remains a symbol of the destruction caused by Hurricane Ian two years ago. Efforts to rebuild it has taken a lot of time.
FORT MYERS Iconic Fort Myers statue to undergo repairs The iconic “Rachel at the Well” statue on McGregor Boulevard in Fort Myers has been a landmark for 94 years. However, it became a casualty of Hurricane Ian in 2022, and discussions for its repair are ongoing.
Salvation Army Thrift Store closing its doors in Collier County The Salvation Army has announced the permanent closure of the Naples Family Store on Davis Boulevard.
SANIBEL Rebuilding the Sanibel Causeway with a cause Construction crews are hard at work making the Sanibel Causeway more resilient. The bridge is being fortified to withstand future storms.
LEE COUNTY No. 2 prospect in MLB Roman Anthony with Red Sox for Spring Training Roman Anthony, who is ranked as the second best in baseball, is with the Boston Red Sox for his first Spring Training.
MANASOTA KEY Popular Manasota Key restaurant reopens after storm damage Manasota Key is steadily recovering from a challenging hurricane season, and residents are celebrating the reopening of a beloved local spot.
PINE ISLAND Construction to start on hurricane-proof fire station on Pine Island A new hurricane-proof fire station is coming to Pine Island. The current station, over 40 years old, is in dire need of replacement.
NORTH PORT Braves’ Chris Sale on the mound in southwest Florida once again Spring Training is in full swing for the Atlanta Braves, who’s full squad reported on Tuesday, that means Chris Sale is back in SWFL.
NAPLES Denise Brown speaks on domestic violence at Naples fundraiser event A record crowd of 825 people gathered at the Ritz Carlton Tiburon to raise money and awareness to end domestic violence.
NORTH NAPLES Construction on Collier County diverging diamond begins in March Construction on Southwest Florida’s third diverging diamond interchange is set to begin in March.
In a Friday, March 3, 2006 file photo, Brendan Dassey is escorted out of a Manitowoc County Circuit courtroom, in Manitowoc, Wisc. Photo via the Associated Press. MADISON, Wis. (AP) The confession of a Wisconsin inmate featured in the Netflix series “Making a Murderer” was improperly obtained and he should be retried or released from prison, a three-judge federal appeals panel ruled Thursday. Brendan Dassey was sentenced to life in prison in 2007 in photographer Teresa Halbach’s death on Halloween two years earlier. Dassey told detectives he helped his uncle, Steven Avery, rape and kill Halbach in the Avery family’s Manitowoc County salvage yard. Avery was sentenced to life in a separate trial. A federal magistrate judge ruled in August that investigators coerced Dassey, who was 16 years old at the time and suffered from cognitive problems, into confessing and overturned his conviction. The state Justice Department appealed the ruling to the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, a move that kept Dassey, now 27, behind bars pending the outcome. A three-judge panel from the Chicago-based 7th Circuit upheld the magistrate’s decision to overturn his conviction. Wisconsin can appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, ask for a review by the full 7th Circuit or retry Dassey within 90 days. Johnny Koremenos, a spokesman for Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel, said the office expects to seek review by the full 7th Circuit or the U.S. Supreme Court, and hopes “that today’s erroneous decision will be reversed.” “We continue to send our condolences to the Halbach family as they have to suffer through another attempt by Mr. Dassey to re-litigate his guilty verdict and sentence,” Koremenos said. Dassey’s lawyers from the Center on Wrongful Convictions of Youth at Northwestern University said they’re elated and will take immediate steps to secure his release. Attorney Laura Nirider said they want to send Dassey home to his mother as soon as possible. She said they did the math and determined that he had been in prison for 4,132 days as of Thursday. The center’s director, Steven Drizin, said the ruling provides a model for the kind of thorough analysis that courts should always undertake in assessing whether a confession was voluntary, and highlights the importance for teenagers to have parents or trusted adults in the interrogation room. “While these tactics might not have overwhelmed a seasoned criminal or a 30-year-old with a law degree, they clearly overwhelmed a 16-year-old, socially avoidant, intellectually limited (youth) who had never been interrogated by the police before,” he said. The appellate panel split, with Judges Ilana Rovner and Ann Williams affirming and David Hamilton in dissent. The majority opinion by Rovner said “no reasonable court” could have any confidence that Dassey’s confession was voluntary. It cited “the leading, the fact-feeding, the false promises, the manipulation of Dassey’s desire to please” as among many factors that cast it in doubt. Hamilton, in dissent, wrote: “The majority’s decision breaks new ground and poses troubling questions for police and prosecutors. It calls into question standard interrogation techniques that courts have routinely found permissible, even in cases involving juveniles.” Avery and Dassey contend they were framed by police angry with Avery for suing Manitowoc County over his wrongful conviction for sexual assault. Avery spent 18 years in prison in that case before DNA tests showed he didn’t commit the crime. He’s pursuing his own appeal in state court. Their cases gained national attention in 2015 after Netflix aired “Making a Murderer,” a multi-part documentary looking at Halbach’s death, the ensuing investigation and trials. The series sparked widespread conjecture about the pair’s innocence and has garnered them a massive following on social media pushing for their release. Authorities who worked on the cases insisted the documentary is biased. Ken Kratz, the prosecutor, wrote in his book “Avery” that Dassey was “a shuffling, mumbling young man with bad skin and broken-bowl haircut” who could have saved Halbach’s life but instead involved himself in her rape and murder and Avery is “by any measure of the evidence, stone guilty.”