16 transported after 2 airboats crash in Collier CountyNew bill filed: Auto shop and law enforcement must work together to solve hit-and-run crashes
16 transported after 2 airboats crash in Collier County According to the Collier County Sheriff’s Office, two airboats crashed south of U.S. 41 east between mile markers 74 and 75, leaving well over a dozen people injured.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA New bill filed: Auto shop and law enforcement must work together to solve hit-and-run crashes There could be new detectives on the block, located in your nearest auto shop. A new state bill aims at trying to stop hit-and-run drivers from getting away.
CAPE CORAL New leash on life; Cape Coral shelter dog beats cancer with drug being tested for humans A drug now being studied in human trials to kill cancerous tumors, is already approved and helping animals.
CAPE CORAL City of Cape Coral planning a new interchange with I-75 The city of Cape Coral is in the early stages of planning a new interchange with I-75, an idea that has been discussed for more than a decade.
Tracking invasive species after hurricanes Hurricanes Helene and Milton didn’t just bring wind and rain, they brought new threats to southwest Florida’s ecosystem.
PUNTA GORDA Woman in Punta Gorda shooting charged with 2nd degree murder A woman in a homicide investigation on Nasturtium Drive in Punta Gorda has been charged with 2nd-degree murder.
Lee County mother continuing fight to get children a bus stop The school district already told her she lives too close to the school to qualify for a bus route but she has not given up.
NORTH NAPLES Grant Thornton Invitational returns to Tiburon Golf Club Stars on the PGA and LPGA Tours are back in Southwest Florida for the Grant Thornton Invitational at Tiburon Golf Club.
FORT MYERS Black Flag brings classic punk energy to The Ranch in Fort Myers Legendary punk band Black Flag made their mark in Southwest Florida during the Fort Myers stop of their “First Four Years” tour.
Charlotte Technical College breaks ground on aviation facility The Charlotte County School District is flying high and keeping its “Space Academy” designation with a new aviation training facility for students.
CAPE CORAL Man arrested in connection with Cape Coral home invasion The Cape Coral Police Department has announced the arrest of one of three men suspected in a home invasion that took place earlier this month.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral residents react to $100M North Cape land deal The city of Cape Coral is seeing two projects that will change the city. One is called one of the most lucrative deals in county history.
Royal Palm Coast Realtor Association breaks ground on new Fort Myers headquarters As Royal Palm Coast Realtor Association’s president pointed out, about 1,000 people are still moving to Florida every day, and many of them are finding their way to Southwest Florida.
PUNTA GORDA Charlotte County drug trafficker sentenced to 10 years A Charlotte County man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for drug trafficking.
lehigh acres ‘How to sign away parental rights?’; Lehigh Acres woman accused of killing her 4-month-old baby The Lee County Sheriff’s Office has arrested a woman accused of killing her 4-month-old baby.
16 transported after 2 airboats crash in Collier County According to the Collier County Sheriff’s Office, two airboats crashed south of U.S. 41 east between mile markers 74 and 75, leaving well over a dozen people injured.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA New bill filed: Auto shop and law enforcement must work together to solve hit-and-run crashes There could be new detectives on the block, located in your nearest auto shop. A new state bill aims at trying to stop hit-and-run drivers from getting away.
CAPE CORAL New leash on life; Cape Coral shelter dog beats cancer with drug being tested for humans A drug now being studied in human trials to kill cancerous tumors, is already approved and helping animals.
CAPE CORAL City of Cape Coral planning a new interchange with I-75 The city of Cape Coral is in the early stages of planning a new interchange with I-75, an idea that has been discussed for more than a decade.
Tracking invasive species after hurricanes Hurricanes Helene and Milton didn’t just bring wind and rain, they brought new threats to southwest Florida’s ecosystem.
PUNTA GORDA Woman in Punta Gorda shooting charged with 2nd degree murder A woman in a homicide investigation on Nasturtium Drive in Punta Gorda has been charged with 2nd-degree murder.
Lee County mother continuing fight to get children a bus stop The school district already told her she lives too close to the school to qualify for a bus route but she has not given up.
NORTH NAPLES Grant Thornton Invitational returns to Tiburon Golf Club Stars on the PGA and LPGA Tours are back in Southwest Florida for the Grant Thornton Invitational at Tiburon Golf Club.
FORT MYERS Black Flag brings classic punk energy to The Ranch in Fort Myers Legendary punk band Black Flag made their mark in Southwest Florida during the Fort Myers stop of their “First Four Years” tour.
Charlotte Technical College breaks ground on aviation facility The Charlotte County School District is flying high and keeping its “Space Academy” designation with a new aviation training facility for students.
CAPE CORAL Man arrested in connection with Cape Coral home invasion The Cape Coral Police Department has announced the arrest of one of three men suspected in a home invasion that took place earlier this month.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral residents react to $100M North Cape land deal The city of Cape Coral is seeing two projects that will change the city. One is called one of the most lucrative deals in county history.
Royal Palm Coast Realtor Association breaks ground on new Fort Myers headquarters As Royal Palm Coast Realtor Association’s president pointed out, about 1,000 people are still moving to Florida every day, and many of them are finding their way to Southwest Florida.
PUNTA GORDA Charlotte County drug trafficker sentenced to 10 years A Charlotte County man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for drug trafficking.
lehigh acres ‘How to sign away parental rights?’; Lehigh Acres woman accused of killing her 4-month-old baby The Lee County Sheriff’s Office has arrested a woman accused of killing her 4-month-old baby.
First responders gather near the entrance to the First Crossing recreation area during the search and rescue operation for a victim in a flash flood along the banks of the East Verde River Monday, July 17, 2017, in Payson, Ariz. The bodies of nearly a dozen children and adults have been found after Saturday’s flash flooding poured over a popular swimming area in the Tonto National Forest. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin) CAVE CREEK, Ariz. (AP) Maria Raya-Garcia almost didn’t get the weekend off to celebrate her birthday beside a popular swimming hole in Arizona. The bosses at El Encanto Mexican restaurant in Cave Creek, a touristy Wild West-style town outside Phoenix, didn’t want the popular prep cook to be gone during their busiest days, but they finally relented. Raya-Garcia was celebrating her 27th birthday Saturday, lounging with family members in a rocky canyon north of Phoenix when a flash flood roared down a placid creek and swept them away. Searchers later found her lifeless body, along with those of her three young children, her mother, sister and other members of her family. In mere seconds, Mother Nature had ravaged the extended family with roots in the central Mexican state of Guanajuato, leaving nine confirmed dead. Authorities say they believe a body found Wednesday is that of her husband, Hector Miguel Garnica. The tragedy tore a hole in the community of about 5,000 where Raya-Garcia lived with her husband and children, a 45-minute drive through the desert from Phoenix. The Rev. Jess Ty, pastor at Our Lady of Joy Catholic Church in the nearby community of Carefree, where Raya-Garcia and her husband worshipped, called on parishioners to pray for the family’s relatives as they mourned their losses and awaited word on Garnica. The couple’s children, Hector Daniel, 7, Mia, 5, and Emily, 3, were baptized at the mission-style, blush-colored adobe church set among prickly pear and saguaro cactuses. “It’s a very close community, so people have been really affected,” said Laura Hicks, the church’s operations director. People who knew the family were so upset that El Encanto, where Raya-Garcia worked, closed Monday, Hicks said. Employees erected a makeshift memorial at the restaurant’s blue and white-tiled entry arch. By Tuesday, a group of white candles had melted down and bouquets of wilted flowers stuck out of the wrought-iron gate. “She was an excellent employee, really,” El Encanto manager Richard Oakley said of Raya-Garcia. “We were preparing her to be a kitchen manager.” Raya-Garcia had worked there two or three years and her husband, also trained as a cook, had a job in the past along with one of their cousins, Oakley said. “She asked for two days off for her birthday, and we resisted at first because it was a weekend,” Oakley recalled, choking up as he recounted his last conversation with Raya-Garcia. “This was a real treat for them to get away for the weekend.” Nearby at The Horny Toad, an Old West-style bar and restaurant where her husband worked, general manager Tom Price said he broke down Sunday when Hector Garnica’s sister told him about the deadly flash flood. Price said he had known Garnica since the cook was 12 and worked with him on and off at the restaurant over the past eight years. “I have nothing bad to say about him, you won’t find anyone in this town that has anything bad to say about the guy,” Price said. Garnica’s cousin Iris Garnica said working in restaurants was his passion and led him to jobs in most every eatery in town. Down the road at Black Mountain Elementary School, where the couple’s eldest child, Hector Daniel, attended classes, drama teacher Berta Cortes choked up when she recalled the little boy who was about to enter second grade. His sister Mia was supposed to start at the school for the first time when classes resume in August. “He would go up and hug you,” Cortes said Tuesday as she sat in the school’s theater classroom, “but he was a shy boy.” The drama teacher said she chose Hector Daniel, also known as Daniel or Danny, to be the elephant colonel in a first-grade production of a play based on “The Jungle Book.” He led six other students clad in elephant ears and gray shirts in a song. “You are going to be the leader,” said Cortes, as she reminisced about telling Hector about his role. “He was so proud.” Besides the boy’s immediate family, the flood killed Raya-Garcia’s mother, Celia Garcia Castaneda, 60; Raya-Garcia’s sister, Maribel Raya-Garcia, 24; her brother, Javier Raya-Garcia, 19; her niece Erica Raya-Garcia, 2; and Jonathan Leon, 13, a grandson of Garcia Castaneda. They were among about 50 members of an extended family who had come to the Phoenix area over some 20 years from the region of Leon, Mexico, looking for better job opportunities, said Hector Garnica’s second cousin Jessica Mandujano. Within that group, Garnica and Raya-Garcia often hosted parties and other gatherings for the entire family, the cousin said. “Of course we’re all affected,” Mandujano said. “It’s still hard to realize that happened.”