Warmer with sun and clouds for your Friday plansFDOT to open all lanes of Caloosahatchee Bridge year ahead of construction schedule
the weather authority Warmer with sun and clouds for your Friday plans The Weather Authority is tracking a warmer day ahead, with a mixture of sun and clouds expected this Friday afternoon.
FDOT to open all lanes of Caloosahatchee Bridge year ahead of construction schedule The Florida Department of Transportation announced it will open all lanes of the Caloosahatchee Bridge a year ahead of its pedestrian sidewalk project.
NAPLES 12-year-old collecting donations for the needy during the holidays A 12-year-old Naples boy isn’t worried about what he’s getting for Christmas. Instead, he’s working on his 6th annual “Holiday Sock Drive.”
Fort Myers man facing homelessness before the holidays A 75-year-old man is on the brink of homelessness despite working over 80 hours a week.
NAPLES Adoptee uses non-profit to provide suitcases for foster children This holiday season, a Naples woman is on a mission to bring foster children something many take for granted: a suitcase filled with dignity.
MARCO ISLAND City of Marco Island discusses lead awareness during city council meeting The city of Marco Island sent out 4900 letters to residents warning them that their pipes could contain plastic or lead.
NAPLES The future of electric planes in Southwest Florida Features of living near an airport include persistent headache-inducing engine rumbles and foul-smelling jet fuel, but electric planes could play a part in the solution.
PORT CHARLOTTE Neighbors awaiting answers on Port Charlotte Beach Park repairs Neighbors said a contractor hired by the Florida Division of Emergency Management mishandled the boats at Port Charlotte Beach Park.
FGCU introduces new technology for cognitive health screenings Ten minutes. That’s all it takes for doctors to assess how well you remember, how quickly you learn things, and how your brain is working overall.
WINK Investigates: Disgraced contractor faces new lawsuits and allegations Paul Beattie, a disgraced home builder is back doing business but legal challenges continue as another one of his businesses gets sued. Former employees of Beattie speak out, only to WINK.
SWFL reacts to UNC hiring Bill Belichick Southwest Florida reacts to North Carolina hiring Bill Belichick as its new head football coach and how that could impact the decisions of local recruits.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA Some Floridians want more alone time during the holidays The holidays are all about spending time with family and friends, but nearly half of Americans say they really want more alone time during the holiday.
LABELLE Hendry County rolls out cameras for school speed zones The Hendry County Sheriff’s Office has rolled out a new way of enforcing school zone speed limits by using cameras that will target drivers traveling over a certain speed in a school zone.
Aggressive driving concerns on the rise in Southwest Florida The arrest of a man who, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office said, killed a motorcyclist after crashing into him on purpose is raising concerns over aggressive driving in Southwest Florida.
SANIBEL Sanibel School students prepare for community Christmas performance The school that has had to claw and fight its way back more than once to reopen is getting the chance to celebrate.
the weather authority Warmer with sun and clouds for your Friday plans The Weather Authority is tracking a warmer day ahead, with a mixture of sun and clouds expected this Friday afternoon.
FDOT to open all lanes of Caloosahatchee Bridge year ahead of construction schedule The Florida Department of Transportation announced it will open all lanes of the Caloosahatchee Bridge a year ahead of its pedestrian sidewalk project.
NAPLES 12-year-old collecting donations for the needy during the holidays A 12-year-old Naples boy isn’t worried about what he’s getting for Christmas. Instead, he’s working on his 6th annual “Holiday Sock Drive.”
Fort Myers man facing homelessness before the holidays A 75-year-old man is on the brink of homelessness despite working over 80 hours a week.
NAPLES Adoptee uses non-profit to provide suitcases for foster children This holiday season, a Naples woman is on a mission to bring foster children something many take for granted: a suitcase filled with dignity.
MARCO ISLAND City of Marco Island discusses lead awareness during city council meeting The city of Marco Island sent out 4900 letters to residents warning them that their pipes could contain plastic or lead.
NAPLES The future of electric planes in Southwest Florida Features of living near an airport include persistent headache-inducing engine rumbles and foul-smelling jet fuel, but electric planes could play a part in the solution.
PORT CHARLOTTE Neighbors awaiting answers on Port Charlotte Beach Park repairs Neighbors said a contractor hired by the Florida Division of Emergency Management mishandled the boats at Port Charlotte Beach Park.
FGCU introduces new technology for cognitive health screenings Ten minutes. That’s all it takes for doctors to assess how well you remember, how quickly you learn things, and how your brain is working overall.
WINK Investigates: Disgraced contractor faces new lawsuits and allegations Paul Beattie, a disgraced home builder is back doing business but legal challenges continue as another one of his businesses gets sued. Former employees of Beattie speak out, only to WINK.
SWFL reacts to UNC hiring Bill Belichick Southwest Florida reacts to North Carolina hiring Bill Belichick as its new head football coach and how that could impact the decisions of local recruits.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA Some Floridians want more alone time during the holidays The holidays are all about spending time with family and friends, but nearly half of Americans say they really want more alone time during the holiday.
LABELLE Hendry County rolls out cameras for school speed zones The Hendry County Sheriff’s Office has rolled out a new way of enforcing school zone speed limits by using cameras that will target drivers traveling over a certain speed in a school zone.
Aggressive driving concerns on the rise in Southwest Florida The arrest of a man who, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office said, killed a motorcyclist after crashing into him on purpose is raising concerns over aggressive driving in Southwest Florida.
SANIBEL Sanibel School students prepare for community Christmas performance The school that has had to claw and fight its way back more than once to reopen is getting the chance to celebrate.
Photo via MGN The Latest from the Super Bowl (all times local): Philadelphia Eagles win its first Super Bowl, holding off favored Patriots 41-33 in a game that shattered Super Bowl records. 9:05 p.m. Nick Foles threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Zach Ertz, and the Philadelphia Eagles took a 38-33 lead over the defending champion New England Patriots late in the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl. Ertz beat Devin McCourty on a quick-in route and held the ball in front of him as he drove for the goal line. The ball went over the goal line and popped out of Ertz’s hands as he hit the ground. The ruling was upheld on review, with referee Gene Steratore saying Ertz possessed the ball as a runner before the ball went across the goal line. It was the 13th scoring possession out of 18 in the game, and the teams had more than 1,100 yards total offense after the score. The previous Super Bowl record was 929 combined yards. ___ 8:40 p.m. Tom Brady and the New England Patriots have taken their first lead in the first 1,000-yard Super Bowl. Brady threw his second touchdown pass to Rob Gronkowski and third overall, and Stephen Gostkowski’s PAT kick gave the Patriots a 33-32 lead over the Philadelphia Eagles in the fourth quarter. Brady is on the verge of breaking his record of 466 yards passing from last year’s Super Bowl, when the Patriots rallied to beat Atlanta. The teams have combined to score on 12 of the game’s 17 possessions. Nick Foles has 308 yards passing with two touchdowns and another touchdown receiving. ___ 8:25 p.m. Tom Brady has thrown for more than 400 yards for the second straight Super Bowl, and the New England Patriots are within three of the Philadelphia Eagles for the second time in the second half of the Super Bowl. The Patriots and Eagles have also set the record for combined yardage in a Super Bowl, before the start of the fourth quarter. The previous record was 929 yards, set when Washington had 602 yards to 327 for Denver in the Redskins’ 42-10 win in 1988. Brady threw a 26-yard scoring pass to Chris Hogan, pushing him to 404 yards passing and getting the Patriots within 29-26 late in the third quarter. Brady set the Super Bowl record with 466 yards when the Patriots rallied from 25 points down to beat Atlanta 34-28 in overtime in Houston last year. The other 400-yard game was by Kurt Warner of the St. Louis Rams in a 23-16 win over Tennessee in 2000. ___ 8:10 p.m. The high-scoring Philadelphia Eagles have answered the New England Patriots again in the Super Bowl. Nick Foles threw 22-yard touchdown pass to Corey Clement, and the Eagles restored their 10-point halftime lead, going up 29-19 on the Patriots. Clement held the ball in his left arm as he took two steps, and a third step appeared to be just out of bounds. The scoring play stood after a video review. Foles now has two touchdowns passing and one receiving, with 268 yards passing. Tom Brady had 344 yards passing and a touchdown for the Patriots as the teams have combined for 833 yards midway through the third quarter. ___ 7:55 p.m. Tom Brady has found his favorite target, and the New England Patriots have drawn closer in the Super Bowl. Brady had four straight completions to Rob Gronkowski, the last one a 5-yarder for the touchdown that cut Philadelphia’s lead to 22-19. The 75-yard play got going on Brady’s 25-yard throw to Gronkowski, followed right away by a 24-yarder. After a 14-yard completion and 3-yard run by James White, Brady found his tight end again in the end zone on the opening drive of the second half. __ 7:41 p.m. The Super Bowl broadcast on NBC hasn’t gone off without a hitch. The telecast went dark for several seconds on Sunday night during a commercial break, prompting predictable confusion and frustration from viewers. NBC Sports issued a statement on Twitter that attributed the darkness to a “brief equipment failure.” The network said no game action or commercial time was missed. The temperature outside in Minneapolis at halftime was 0 degrees, with a wind chill factor of minus-18 degrees below zero. Complaints from the TV audience on social media also included criticism of the audio quality during Justin Timberlake’s halftime show at cavernous U.S. Bank Stadium. – Dave Campbell ___ 7:40 p.m. Justin Timberlake has paid tribute to Prince during his Super Bowl halftime performance with a cover of “I Would Die 4 U.” The singer’s set started out in an underground portion of U.S. Bank Stadium made to look like a club filled with lasers and dancers. Timberlake emerged from into the stadium and performed a dance-filled set that included “Sexyback” and “Cry Me A River.” Timberlake danced atop the NFL logo and then with a marching band for “Suit & Tie.” The singer kept on his feet before taking a seat at a white piano to perform “I Would Die 4 U” with footage of Prince projected onto a long screen in the middle of the stadium. Before the game, there were rumors that Timberlake would use a hologram of Prince during his performance, drawing criticism from fans and those who knew the late superstar. ___ 7:15 p.m. Nick Foles caught a 1-yard touchdown pass from tight end Trey Burton on a fourth-down trick play, and the Philadelphia Eagles have a 22-12 halftime lead over the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl. The Foles score came after Tom Brady dropped an over-the-shoulder catch on a trick play for New England on an earlier drive that ended in a failed fourth-down play. With 34 seconds left in the half, Foles lined up at quarterback before shifting behind the right side of the offensive line as Corey Clement took the snap. Foles paused at the line of scrimmage before running to the end zone as Burton took a reverse pitch from Clement. Burton was recruited as a quarterback at Florida. Foles and Tennessee’s Marcus Mariota are the only quarterbacks to throw and catch a touchdown in the playoffs since at least 1950. The Eagles answered a 26-yard scoring run by James White that pulled the Patriots within three. Stephen Gostowski missed the PAT kick. Earlier, the Eagles’ Jake Elliott missed and the Eagles failed on a 2-point conversion. White, who had three touchdowns and a 2-point conversion in last year’s Super Bowl win over Atlanta, has 26 career points in the Super Bowl. That’s fourth all time behind Jerry Rice (48), Adam Vinatieri (34) and Emmitt Smith (30). ___ 6:45 p.m. New England Patriots wide receiver Brandin Cooks is out for the rest of the Super Bowl with a concussion. Cooks was wide open early in the second quarter underneath the Philadelphia zone, when he caught Tom Brady’s pass, pivoted and danced back and forth to try to extend the play. He didn’t see Eagles safety Michael Jenkins coming, though, and was knocked to the turf with a legal-but-jarring hit by Jenkins. Cooks was barely moving for several seconds, before sitting up and slowly walking off the field. The Patriots soon announced he was out for the remainder of the game with a head injury. This leaves Brady without one of his most important targets. Cooks was second on the team during the regular season with 1,082 yards and seven touchdowns, a critical contribution amid the absence of wide receiver Julian Edelman. The first Super Bowl of Cooks’ career was a short but rough one. He took a jet-sweep handoff in the first quarter and tried to hurdle Eagles safety Rodney McLeod hit him in the groin area and slammed him backward to the turf at the 8-yard line after only a 1-yard gain on third-and-2. Then Patriots kicker Stephen Gronkowski had a 26-yard field goal try bounce off the left upright after a mishandled snap. -:- 6:35 p.m. Turns out Tom Brady’s not quite as good on the other end of a pass, and Philadelphia’s lead is growing. Brady botched an attempted over-the-shoulder catch on a throw from receiver Danny Amendola on a trick play. The Patriots went for it on fourth-and-5 after that play, and Brady’s throw to Rob Gronkowski was knocked away by Philadelphia’s Jalen Mills. Six plays later, LeGarrette Blount scored on a 21-yard run. The 2-point conversion pass attempt by Nick Foles fell incomplete, leaving the Eagles’ lead at 15-3. Earlier in New England’s drive, Brandin Cooks stayed motionless on the field for about a minute after a hard blindside hit to the head from Malcolm Jenkins at the end of a 23-yard catch. It was announced that Cooks wouldn’t return. ___ 6:08 p.m. Nick Foles isn’t having any trouble moving the Philadelphia offense against the defending champion New England Patriots. Foles threw a 34-yard touchdown pass to a leaping Alshon Jeffery in the back of the end zone to give the Eagles a 9-3 lead in the first quarter. Jake Elliott missed his fifth PAT kick of the season, going wide right. Foles was 8 of 11 for 102 yards on the first two Philadelphia possessions. The Patriots matched the Eagles’ field goal on the opening drive. It was the first time in eight Super Bowls with Tom Brady and Bill Belichick that New England scored in the first quarter. ___ 6 p.m. Tom Brady and the New England Patriots have finally scored points in the first quarter of a Super Bowl. The Patriots answered an opening field goal by the Philadelphia Eagles with Stephen Gostkowski’s 26-yarder for a 3-3 tie on New England’s first possession. It’s the first time in eight Super Bowl appearances that the Patriots have scored in the first quarter with Brady and coach Bill Belichick. The key plays were Brady’s completions of 28 yards to Chris Hogan and 15 yards to running back James White. Both teams drove 67 yards to their first points. ___ 5:45 p.m. A Metro Transit spokesman says 17 people were taken away after they blocked a light-rail line carrying Super Bowl ticketholders to the stadium. Howie Padilla says no one was hurt in the protest, which blocked trains for about two hours ahead of Sunday’s kickoff. Metro Transit had buses standing by to get ticketholders to the stadium in time. The activists said they were protesting police brutality, as well as the light-rail trains being taken over by Super Bowl spectators rather than being available to ordinary citizens. Padilla says Metro Transit doesn’t expect the 17 activists to face charges. He says Metro Transit respects people’s right to free speech and demonstration. ___ 5:44 p.m. The Philadelphia Eagles have settled for Jake Elliott’s 25-yard field goal and a 3-0 lead over the New England Patriots on the opening drive of the Super Bowl. The Eagles had a first down at the 5 after Corey Clement’s 16-yard gain on a catch and run. But a penalty and two incomplete passes forced Philadelphia to settle for the field goal. The Patriots will take over looking for their first points in the first quarter in eight Super Bowl appearances with quarterback Tom Brady. Quarterback Nick Foles had completions of 17 yards to Alshon Jeffery and 15 yards to Torrey Smith the play after Smith had a drop on second down. ___ 5:27 p.m. The New England Patriots have won the opening coin toss for the Super Bowl and have deferred to the second half. The Philadelphia Eagles will start the game with the ball and hope to be the first team to score on the opening possession of the Super Bowl since Devin Hester returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown for Chicago against Indianapolis in the 2007 game. ___ 4:45 p.m. Carson Wentz is throwing passes in warmups for the Philadelphia Eagles. The injured quarterback was walking gingerly and not stepping into the throws as he worked alongside starter Nick Foles. Wentz tore a ligament in his left knee against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 14. Foles led playoff wins against Atlanta and Minnesota. Foles is trying to join Bob Griese, Doug Williams and Jeff Hostetler as backups to win Super Bowls after starting no more than five games during the regular season. The Eagles are playing the New England Patriots, who are trying to win their sixth Super Bowl with quarterback Tom Brady. ___ 4:20 p.m. Winning the NFL MVP award might not be a great omen for Tom Brady. The past eight winners of the AP MVP award to reach the Super Bowl have lost the game, including Brady in the 2007 season against the New York Giants. The other MVPs to lose the big game since Kurt Warner did the regular season-Super Bowl MVP double in the 1999 season for the Rams are: Warner (2001), Rich Gannon (2002), Shaun Alexander (2005), Peyton Manning (2009 and 2013), Cam Newton (2015) and Matt Ryan (2016). Brady would rather join Warner, Steve Young (1994), Emmitt Smith (1993), Joe Montana (1989), Terry Bradshaw (1978) and Bart Starr (1966) as the players to win the regular season and Super Bowl MVPs in the same season. – Josh Dubow ___ 3 p.m. The coldest Super Bowl Sunday won’t be felt inside cozy U.S. Bank Stadium. The overnight temperature in Minneapolis reached minus-6 degrees and was up to 2 degrees around four hours before kickoff between the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles. The coldest previous range was the Detroit Super Bowl in 1982, with a low of 5 degrees and a high of 16 when it was played at the Silverdome. There was a chance for the Minneapolis high to reach 5 on Sunday. When the Super Bowl was in Minnesota at the Metrodome in 1992, the outside temperature at kickoff was 26 degrees. That’s the average high here for Feb. 4. The coldest outdoor game in Super Bowl history was in New Orleans at Tulane Stadium in 1972, when the kickoff temperature was 39 degrees. ___