Naples community unites, raises over $360,000 at annual breast cancer walkCollier County chase on I-75 ends in arrest after PIT maneuver
NAPLES Naples community unites, raises over $360,000 at annual breast cancer walk The annual fundraiser that’s been making strides in Southwest Florida toward fighting breast cancer is happening.
Collier County chase on I-75 ends in arrest after PIT maneuver A high-speed chase on Interstate 75 ended when Florida Highway Patrol troopers arrested a driver following a PIT maneuver near Mile Marker 101 in Collier County.
THE WEATHER AUTHORITY Clouds and sun with seasonal temperatures for your Saturday plans The Weather Authority is tracking clouds and sun on Saturday with only a chance for a few showers.
WINK NEWS SWFL Scoreboard: High School Football Week 9 Check out southwest Florida high school football teams in action with several district titles on the line in week nine.
CLEWISTON Remembering Ja’yhanna Johnson; Loved ones pay final respects to teen killed at party A family is paying their final respects to a teen, gone too soon. Sixteen year old Ja’yhanna Johnson was a cheerleader, and had a strong sense of faith.
Former FBI agent speaks on deadly deputy-involved shooting A former FBI agent said that deputies appeared to take the steps they could before jumping to lethal force.
BONITA SPRINGS Bonita Springs residents petitioning to stop demolition of school Bonita Springs residents have a little more than 200 signatures on their online petition to prevent the demolition of Bonita Springs Elementary School.
Nicotine pouch trend grows amongst teens The number of teens using tobacco products is at a 25-year low, but at the same time, kids are ditching cigarettes, and many are picking up another habit: nicotine pouches.
PUNTA GORDA Punta Gorda funeral home supports community during Milton Two years ago, Hurricane Ian came and turned the Johnson Funeral Home in Punta Gorda into rubble.
FORT MYERS Drive-thru-only Starbucks enters construction phase while traffic concerns grow It looks like a construction zone for the time being, but soon it will be a one-of-a-kind Starbucks in Fort Myers.
Charlotte County releases body-cam footage of fatal deputy-involved shooting Charlotte County has released the body and dashcam video of the deputy-involved shooting incident that occurred on Wednesday afternoon on Sandy Pine Drive.
PORT CHARLOTTE Port Charlotte teen arrested accused of posting threat to school According to the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office, a Port Charlotte middle school student has been arrested following a school shooting threat made on TikTok.
Amendment 6: Repeal of public campaign financing Florida helps to fund the campaigns of all statewide office candidates. That includes governor, attorney general, chief financial officer and agriculture commissioner. If passed, amendment six will take away that funding.
PGD seeks restaurant operator for Air Center, offers incentives After plans fell through to open a Rosati’s Pizza franchise at PGD Air Center at Punta Gorda Airport, Charlotte County Airport Authority is seeking bids for a full-service restaurant and bar that also provides catering.
FORT MYERS BEACH Margaritaville on Fort Myers Beach to reopen after Milton shutdown Just in time for the weekend, we’ve got some exciting news from Margaritaville Beach Resort in Fort Myers Beach.
NAPLES Naples community unites, raises over $360,000 at annual breast cancer walk The annual fundraiser that’s been making strides in Southwest Florida toward fighting breast cancer is happening.
Collier County chase on I-75 ends in arrest after PIT maneuver A high-speed chase on Interstate 75 ended when Florida Highway Patrol troopers arrested a driver following a PIT maneuver near Mile Marker 101 in Collier County.
THE WEATHER AUTHORITY Clouds and sun with seasonal temperatures for your Saturday plans The Weather Authority is tracking clouds and sun on Saturday with only a chance for a few showers.
WINK NEWS SWFL Scoreboard: High School Football Week 9 Check out southwest Florida high school football teams in action with several district titles on the line in week nine.
CLEWISTON Remembering Ja’yhanna Johnson; Loved ones pay final respects to teen killed at party A family is paying their final respects to a teen, gone too soon. Sixteen year old Ja’yhanna Johnson was a cheerleader, and had a strong sense of faith.
Former FBI agent speaks on deadly deputy-involved shooting A former FBI agent said that deputies appeared to take the steps they could before jumping to lethal force.
BONITA SPRINGS Bonita Springs residents petitioning to stop demolition of school Bonita Springs residents have a little more than 200 signatures on their online petition to prevent the demolition of Bonita Springs Elementary School.
Nicotine pouch trend grows amongst teens The number of teens using tobacco products is at a 25-year low, but at the same time, kids are ditching cigarettes, and many are picking up another habit: nicotine pouches.
PUNTA GORDA Punta Gorda funeral home supports community during Milton Two years ago, Hurricane Ian came and turned the Johnson Funeral Home in Punta Gorda into rubble.
FORT MYERS Drive-thru-only Starbucks enters construction phase while traffic concerns grow It looks like a construction zone for the time being, but soon it will be a one-of-a-kind Starbucks in Fort Myers.
Charlotte County releases body-cam footage of fatal deputy-involved shooting Charlotte County has released the body and dashcam video of the deputy-involved shooting incident that occurred on Wednesday afternoon on Sandy Pine Drive.
PORT CHARLOTTE Port Charlotte teen arrested accused of posting threat to school According to the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office, a Port Charlotte middle school student has been arrested following a school shooting threat made on TikTok.
Amendment 6: Repeal of public campaign financing Florida helps to fund the campaigns of all statewide office candidates. That includes governor, attorney general, chief financial officer and agriculture commissioner. If passed, amendment six will take away that funding.
PGD seeks restaurant operator for Air Center, offers incentives After plans fell through to open a Rosati’s Pizza franchise at PGD Air Center at Punta Gorda Airport, Charlotte County Airport Authority is seeking bids for a full-service restaurant and bar that also provides catering.
FORT MYERS BEACH Margaritaville on Fort Myers Beach to reopen after Milton shutdown Just in time for the weekend, we’ve got some exciting news from Margaritaville Beach Resort in Fort Myers Beach.
Pedro Deschamps helps workers hired by FEMA to carry out the installation of a temporary awning roof at his house, which suffered damage during Hurricane Maria, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2017. A newly created Florida company with an unproven record won more than $30 million in contracts from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide emergency tarps and plastic sheeting for repairs to hurricane victims in Puerto Rico. Bronze Star LLC never delivered those urgently needed supplies, which even months later remain in demand on the island. (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti) Generators are still humming. Candles are still flickering. Homes are still being repaired. Puerto Rico was hit by Hurricane Maria exactly six months ago, and the U.S. territory is still struggling to recover from the strongest storm to hit the island in nearly a century. “There are a lot of people with needs,” said Levid Ortiz, operating director of PR4PR, a local nonprofit that helps impoverished communities across the island. “It shouldn’t be like this. We should already be back on our feet.” Some 250 Puerto Ricans formed a line around him on a recent weekday, standing for more than two hours to receive bottles of water and a box of food at a public basketball court in the mountain town of Corozal. Many of those waiting were still without power, including 23-year-old Keishla Quiles, a single mother with a 4-year-old son who still buys ice every day to fill a cooler to keep milk and other goods cold amid rising temperatures. “Since we’re a family of few resources, we have not been able to afford a generator,” she said. “It’s been hard living like this.” Crews already have restored water to 99 percent of clients and power to 93 percent of customers, but more than 100,000 of them still remain in the dark and there are frequent power outages. Justo Gonzalez, interim director for Puerto Rico’s Electric Power Authority, said he expects the entire island to have power by May, eight months after the Category 4 storm destroyed two-thirds of the island’s power distribution system – and just as the 2018 Atlantic hurricane season is about to start. Gonzalez also pledged to inspect dozens of wooden and cement poles still leaning haphazardly across the island after a wooden telephone pole fell on a car. It killed an elderly couple on Sunday as they returned from a town fair in the mountains of western Puerto Rico. The deaths of Luis Beltran, 62, and Rosa Bosque, 60, have angered Puerto Ricans and raised concerns about the safety of people as they recover from the hurricane. “It worries me because … it can happen anywhere,” Mayor Edwin Soto told The Associated Press, adding that crews were going to inspect poles across the mountain town of Las Marias to ensure they are in good condition. Beltran’s youngest sister, Migdalia Beltran, said her brother was living in New Jersey when Hurricane Maria hit, but that he moved back three months ago to be with family. “He was No. 1,” she said as her voice cracked and she began to cry. “He was the one who gave me support to keep going.” The storm caused an estimated $100 billion in damage, killed dozens of people and damaged or destroyed nearly 400,000 homes, according to Puerto Rico’s government. In the six months since the hurricane, more than 135,000 people have fled to the U.S. mainland, according to a recent estimate by the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College in New York. More than 40 percent of them settled in Florida, followed by Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York and Pennsylvania, the study found. Meanwhile, those who stayed behind say they need more help. The AP recently found that of the $23 billion pledged for Puerto Rico, only $1.27 billion for a nutritional assistance program has been disbursed, along with more than $430 million to repair public infrastructure. The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency also has spent more than $6 billion from its standing emergency fund. Tom Bossert, U.S. President Donald Trump’s homeland security adviser, said Tuesday that Puerto Rico would soon receive another $10 billion for various restoration efforts. “We’re going to redouble our efforts to work as fast as we can on their behalf,” he said of Puerto Ricans during a three-day visit to the island. However, he said the administration of Gov. Ricardo Rossello needs to come up with a plan on how to rebuild a stronger power grid and create financial accounting methods to ensure federal funds are being appropriately spent. “It makes no sense for the people of the United States to continue to pay money for repetitive loss in these disasters.” He also said federal hurricane recovery efforts in Puerto Rico have exceeded his expectations. “That doesn’t mean I’m satisfied. It doesn’t mean the president is satisfied,” Bossert said. “We still have some challenges.” Meanwhile, the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources issued a letter on Friday demanding that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers explain why it is reducing the number of crews helping restore power when there are still people who remain in the dark. “While we recognize that much progress has been made in restoring power to the majority of customers, the job is not done,” the letter stated. Col. Jason Kirk, who is overseeing power restoration efforts for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said Tuesday that Puerto Rico’s power company will be primarily responsible for restoring electricity to remaining customers.