Woman rescued from Peace River by good Samaritans days after MiltonRestaurant in Cape Coral helps another in Punta Gorda recover from Milton
Woman rescued from Peace River by good Samaritans days after Milton A woman is lucky to be alive after being found two miles off the coast in the Peace River and brought to shore by vigilant good samaritans.
PUNTA GORDA Restaurant in Cape Coral helps another in Punta Gorda recover from Milton Bartenders at the Celtic Ray in Punta Gorda have struggled since Hurricane Milton severely damaged the pub.
Warrior Homes of Collier awards scholarships to local veterans Four Collier County students with military ties are getting a boost toward their education.
Caught on video: Man arrested after leading police on chase in stolen truck Florida troopers say 36-year-old David Alfonso stole the vehicle in Collier County and then led them on a chase through Lee County to Alico Road and Ben Hill Griffin.
Record early voting in SWFL may be linked to recent hurricanes On Monday, thousands of people got in line at their polling places as early voting started for most places in southwest Florida.
FORT MYERS BEACH Milton leaves Fort Myers Beach residents buried in sand and seeking help Hurricane Milton pushed sand onto the streets of Fort Myers Beach, leaving many residents asking for help.
LEHIGH ACRES East Lee County principal uses lemonade to create gameday tradition East Lee County High School principal Tony Allen uses his lemonade recipe to create a new gameday tradition.
NAPLES Naples man defends home from flood waters One Naples man did not mess around when it came to Hurricane Milton prep. Guy Lollino got five feet of water in his home on Vanderbilt Beach during Hurricane Ian. This time he decided to stack a ton of sandbags and fill the cracks with sprayable Styrofoam.
Detecting pancreatic cancer early with AI A pancreatic cancer diagnosis is one of the most dreaded because it carries a very high mortality rate.
Lee County restores solid waste services The process of removing garbage and debris from the streets of Lee County has begun.
Algae bloom research turns into useful storm tool Many of us watched helplessly and waited as hurricanes Helene and Milton sent storm surges onto our roads, into our homes and businesses, altering what we know as home forever. At the same time, one Florida Gulf Coast University student saw the storms as a scientific opportunity.
Amendment 2: Right to fish and hunt Tens of thousands of Floridians, and thousands more visitors that come to our state, enjoy fishing and hunting. We live in a state surrounded by water and wildlife and people have taken advantage of that.
Amendment 1: Establishing partisan school board elections Some school board meetings have become political, with raised voices and the need for security
FORT MYERS Local salon withstands impacts from 3 major hurricanes One hurricane can be devastating; however, three storms will force you to find better ways to prepare for impacts.
Azaleas on the Corner sells plants, paintings, wine in downtown Fort Myers The mother-daughter team of Marie Dyer and Corinne Wimberly already had a business plan in place to start their own shop. They just didn’t have a place to put it.
Woman rescued from Peace River by good Samaritans days after Milton A woman is lucky to be alive after being found two miles off the coast in the Peace River and brought to shore by vigilant good samaritans.
PUNTA GORDA Restaurant in Cape Coral helps another in Punta Gorda recover from Milton Bartenders at the Celtic Ray in Punta Gorda have struggled since Hurricane Milton severely damaged the pub.
Warrior Homes of Collier awards scholarships to local veterans Four Collier County students with military ties are getting a boost toward their education.
Caught on video: Man arrested after leading police on chase in stolen truck Florida troopers say 36-year-old David Alfonso stole the vehicle in Collier County and then led them on a chase through Lee County to Alico Road and Ben Hill Griffin.
Record early voting in SWFL may be linked to recent hurricanes On Monday, thousands of people got in line at their polling places as early voting started for most places in southwest Florida.
FORT MYERS BEACH Milton leaves Fort Myers Beach residents buried in sand and seeking help Hurricane Milton pushed sand onto the streets of Fort Myers Beach, leaving many residents asking for help.
LEHIGH ACRES East Lee County principal uses lemonade to create gameday tradition East Lee County High School principal Tony Allen uses his lemonade recipe to create a new gameday tradition.
NAPLES Naples man defends home from flood waters One Naples man did not mess around when it came to Hurricane Milton prep. Guy Lollino got five feet of water in his home on Vanderbilt Beach during Hurricane Ian. This time he decided to stack a ton of sandbags and fill the cracks with sprayable Styrofoam.
Detecting pancreatic cancer early with AI A pancreatic cancer diagnosis is one of the most dreaded because it carries a very high mortality rate.
Lee County restores solid waste services The process of removing garbage and debris from the streets of Lee County has begun.
Algae bloom research turns into useful storm tool Many of us watched helplessly and waited as hurricanes Helene and Milton sent storm surges onto our roads, into our homes and businesses, altering what we know as home forever. At the same time, one Florida Gulf Coast University student saw the storms as a scientific opportunity.
Amendment 2: Right to fish and hunt Tens of thousands of Floridians, and thousands more visitors that come to our state, enjoy fishing and hunting. We live in a state surrounded by water and wildlife and people have taken advantage of that.
Amendment 1: Establishing partisan school board elections Some school board meetings have become political, with raised voices and the need for security
FORT MYERS Local salon withstands impacts from 3 major hurricanes One hurricane can be devastating; however, three storms will force you to find better ways to prepare for impacts.
Azaleas on the Corner sells plants, paintings, wine in downtown Fort Myers The mother-daughter team of Marie Dyer and Corinne Wimberly already had a business plan in place to start their own shop. They just didn’t have a place to put it.
MGN There are billions of dollars worth of unclaimed assets out there in the form of tax refunds, forgotten paychecks or uncashed savings bonds. Some of this may belong to you. As a recent story highlighted, state regulators are putting more pressure on life insurance companies to locate beneficiaries of old policies. Its beginning to pay off in payments to beneficiaries — but it’s still estimated that life insurers have failed to pay over $1 billion in death benefits. Life insurers say that policy language leaves it up to beneficiaries to notify the insurance company of a death and to then file a claim. This is just one example of the murky world of unclaimed or missing property. LINK: How to find Unclaimed Money from the Government Here are a few examples of how property can become “unclaimed” and what you can do to find it. Own an older life insurance policy? Over a decade ago, some insurers, including MetLife, Prudential and John Hancock, went public and converted their companies into a stock form of ownership. As a result, this turned their policyholders into stockholders. At that time, they were supposed to pay out a certain amount to their customers. But despite their efforts to locate and notify all policyholders, they still haven’t been able to track down thousands of them. If you think you may be the owner or beneficiary of an old life insurance policy issued by an insurance company that has converted to stock ownership, then contact the company directly to see if you’re owed money. Missing a tax refund? The IRS claimed that it was holding on to over $1 billion in tax refunds for folks who failed to file their 2009 tax returns. If you were one of them, all you have to do is file your 2009 tax return before April 15, 2013. If you don’t, then the IRS can keep your tax refund for that year. Even if you didn’t earn money in a particular year, you may still be owed a refund due to certain tax credits and rebates. There’s no penalty for late-filing if you’re entitled to a refund, although you have only three years to do it before you lose the right to your money. Get forms for a prior year at the IRS web site and file your return. Also, if you were owed a refund from a previously file tax return and didn’t receive it, check out the Where’s My Refund tool on the IRS website to track it down. Lost savings bonds? Millions of savings bonds now worth billions of dollars have stopped earning interest but haven’t been redeemed. It’s easy to toss aside and forget about, or lose, paper savings bonds, especially if they were received as a gift when you were a child, which was typical. Since most bonds stop earning interest after 30 years, it’s probably time to cash them in. So dig out your old bonds and see if they’re ready to be redeemed. If you suspect you have bonds and can’t find them, then log on to the Savings Bond web site and follow these steps to track down a lost savings bond. Were you a beneficiary of a pension with a company that went bankrupt? The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. (PBGC) insures pension plans for over 44 million workers and over 1.5 million whose pension was from a failed company. If you once worked for a firm that went out of business, and did not receive a pension that was earned under their plan, then you may have retirement funds waiting to be retrieved. Check out the pension database on the PBGC website to locate a lost pension for you, family or friends. Forget about money in your name? You may be a “parent” to all kinds of orphaned money that gets turned over to state’s property offices after 3-5 years. It can include unclaimed property left in safe deposit boxes, uncashed payroll checks, bank account monies, utility deposits or life insurance proceeds that you’ve forgotten all about. Log onto the website for National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators and click on your state’s link. Plug in your first and last names and, if a search turns up funds, just fill out a claim form.