FORT MYERS Students make goodie bags for kids fighting Cancer A special delivery, straight from the heart, to Galisano’s Children’s Hospital. Three 8th graders from Lexington Middle School delivered 100 goodie bags to bring smiles to kids fighting cancer.
TICE Large police presence at park in Tice Deputies and K9s are investigating Schandler Hall Community Park on Palm Beach Boulevard in Tice.
CAPE CORAL Lee County superintendent candidates face off in debate These three people, Denise Carlin, Morgan Wright and Sheridan Chester, are making it clear that they want the job.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA DEA to reclassify Marijuana as Schedule Three drug When you think of marijuana in Florida, You might think of an illegal drug seized by law enforcement. Kim Rivers, the CEO of Florida-based cannabis retailer Trulieve, says when used medicinally, it can help a lot of people.
FORT MYERS Expect more delays on Colonial and Fowler due to intersection project Work on the Colonial Fowler intersection in Fort Myers is underway, and there are many moving parts.
FORT MYERS Possible pay-by-text scam in downtown Fort Myers may have cost woman nearly $1,000 Pay-by-text parking may have cost one woman nearly a thousand dollars after her credit card was hacked.
FORT MYERS Lee County STET team protecting our schools with cameras There are cameras in our kid’s schools, dozens of them, but did you know that Lee County Schools sends those live video feeds to the sheriff’s office, and it’s someone’s job to watch them?
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA Six-week abortion ban to take effect soon A stricter abortion ban will take effect in Florida on Wednesday.
Estero’s Golf Coast Driving Range shuts down, visitors devastated A place to relax, let loose and hit a few drives, has come to the end of an era for this community. “This is the first place we came to,” said Roxanne Henningsen, a Bonita Springs resident. “And it like became our second home. The people are wonderful. It’s just a great atmosphere. And we’ve […]
CAPE CORAL Business owners reeling after massive fire in Cape Coral “Very scary” are the words Denise Creacy used to describe what she felt when she saw plumes of black smoke, firefighters, and police fill her neighborhood.
LEHIGH ACRES Changing how you are represented in Lee County Leaders want to hear your thoughts this week at a town hall on how you elect county commissioners.
FORT MYERS Frontier Airlines announces nonstop flights from RSW to San Juan, PR These flights will take off on June 2 and run 3 times a week.
NAPLES Fight to save the trees in Naples neighborhood When Sue Canfield looks up in her front yard she sees light shining through the sprawling branches of a 25-year-old Oak towering above her. The trees, which line every road in the waterways of naples, is why she choose this neighborhood but soon those very trees will be taken down.
City of Naples hosts open house workshop for Naples road projects The City of Naples is hosting an open house workshop to hear from the public regarding road improvements.
CAPE CORAL Ollie’s Pub, the home of SWFL’s local music scene, closes after 4 memorable years Ollie’s Pub, once the center of local original music in Southwest Florida, is closing after a prosperous yet arduous four years.
FORT MYERS Students make goodie bags for kids fighting Cancer A special delivery, straight from the heart, to Galisano’s Children’s Hospital. Three 8th graders from Lexington Middle School delivered 100 goodie bags to bring smiles to kids fighting cancer.
TICE Large police presence at park in Tice Deputies and K9s are investigating Schandler Hall Community Park on Palm Beach Boulevard in Tice.
CAPE CORAL Lee County superintendent candidates face off in debate These three people, Denise Carlin, Morgan Wright and Sheridan Chester, are making it clear that they want the job.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA DEA to reclassify Marijuana as Schedule Three drug When you think of marijuana in Florida, You might think of an illegal drug seized by law enforcement. Kim Rivers, the CEO of Florida-based cannabis retailer Trulieve, says when used medicinally, it can help a lot of people.
FORT MYERS Expect more delays on Colonial and Fowler due to intersection project Work on the Colonial Fowler intersection in Fort Myers is underway, and there are many moving parts.
FORT MYERS Possible pay-by-text scam in downtown Fort Myers may have cost woman nearly $1,000 Pay-by-text parking may have cost one woman nearly a thousand dollars after her credit card was hacked.
FORT MYERS Lee County STET team protecting our schools with cameras There are cameras in our kid’s schools, dozens of them, but did you know that Lee County Schools sends those live video feeds to the sheriff’s office, and it’s someone’s job to watch them?
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA Six-week abortion ban to take effect soon A stricter abortion ban will take effect in Florida on Wednesday.
Estero’s Golf Coast Driving Range shuts down, visitors devastated A place to relax, let loose and hit a few drives, has come to the end of an era for this community. “This is the first place we came to,” said Roxanne Henningsen, a Bonita Springs resident. “And it like became our second home. The people are wonderful. It’s just a great atmosphere. And we’ve […]
CAPE CORAL Business owners reeling after massive fire in Cape Coral “Very scary” are the words Denise Creacy used to describe what she felt when she saw plumes of black smoke, firefighters, and police fill her neighborhood.
LEHIGH ACRES Changing how you are represented in Lee County Leaders want to hear your thoughts this week at a town hall on how you elect county commissioners.
FORT MYERS Frontier Airlines announces nonstop flights from RSW to San Juan, PR These flights will take off on June 2 and run 3 times a week.
NAPLES Fight to save the trees in Naples neighborhood When Sue Canfield looks up in her front yard she sees light shining through the sprawling branches of a 25-year-old Oak towering above her. The trees, which line every road in the waterways of naples, is why she choose this neighborhood but soon those very trees will be taken down.
City of Naples hosts open house workshop for Naples road projects The City of Naples is hosting an open house workshop to hear from the public regarding road improvements.
CAPE CORAL Ollie’s Pub, the home of SWFL’s local music scene, closes after 4 memorable years Ollie’s Pub, once the center of local original music in Southwest Florida, is closing after a prosperous yet arduous four years.
Members of the rescued soccer team attend a press conference discussing their experience of being trapped in the cave in Chiang Rai, northern Thailand, Wednesday, July 18, 2018. The 12 boys and their soccer coach rescued after being trapped in a flooded cave in northern Thailand are recovering well and are eager to eat their favorite comfort foods after their expected to go home soon. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian) The 12 members of a soccer team and their coach rescued from a flooded cave in northern Thailand finally regained their full freedom on Wednesday, walking out of a hospital a week after they emerged from 18 days trapped underground. The Wild Boars team members, who range in age from 11 to 16, and their 25-year-old assistant coach spent at least eight days at the hospital in Chiang Rai being tested and treated for relatively minor ailments, given their ordeal. They were brought to the hospital over the course of a dramatic three-day rescue operation. The team left the hospital just after 5:50 a.m. Eastern on Wednesday and was transported to a conference center in Chiang Rai, where they’re to give a news conference — their first opportunity to present their own first-hand account of the story which has captivated a global audience for almost a month. The conference hall was decorated as a soccer field. Government spokesman Lt. Gen. Sansern Kaewkamnerd said doctors, social workers and psychologists would participate in the news conference to filter questions and ensure the boys’ well-being. The media would not be allowed to interview the boys after the news conference. “Didn’t think it was real” The first question for the Wild Boars was about the moment they were rescued, and how they communicated with the British diver who first found them. “We didn’t think it was real,” one of the team members said, explaining that they first heard the rescuer’s voice but couldn’t see him. When they realized that help had actually arrived, the player, who was the only English speaker among the team members, said he “didn’t know what to say to him so I just said ‘hello.'” “I was shocked. Then he asked if I was okay, so I said I was okay.” Assistant coach Ekkapol “Ake” Chantawong said in the initial confusion and excitement he had to try and calm down his player so he could concentrate on communicating for the team. “My brain was very slow, as we had been in the cave for 10 days,” said the English speaking player. “Hungry, hungry,” he told the diver. “Ready to go home” The Wild Boars were jovial as they walked into the conference center and onto a waiting stage. A man who described himself as a media representative introduced the team and said all 100 questions for the team had been screened beforehand, “for sensitivity.” He said any additional questions could be submitted for screening by the medical experts who have screened the players. The director of the hospital in Chiang Rai, where the boys have recuperated for the last week, was first to speak. “They are ready to go home,” he said, as the boys smiled. He said they were no longer showing any signs of mental trauma, and they “seem fine to go ahead with their regular lives.” “They’ve been ready to go home since they were in the cave!” said one of the Thai military officers who led the rescue effort, adding that they had spoken a lot since being trapped about what they were most looking forward to eating. A medical worker from the hospital agreed that they were “quite ready” to go home. “They are quite strong.” The boys then stood one by one, after their assistant coach Ekkapol “Ake” Chantawong, and introduced themselves, each giving a traditional Thai greeting with hands clasped in prayer fashion and a slight bow. Wild Boars to speak The entire soccer team, with rows of relieved parents sitting behind them, gathered at the conference center in Chiang Rai on Wednesday to tell the world, for the first time in their own words, about their 18 days trapped underground in a flooded cave. The boys were seen smiling and talking to each other before the carefully orchestrated news conference began. A cadre of social workers and mental health experts were on hand to deflect any questions from the media deemed too sensitive for the boys to answer this soon after their ordeal. Before the news conference began the boys and their coach all posed for a team photo in their uniforms. They were then led into the room, smiling and waving to gathered media on the way, to a separate building to give the news conference. On their way Cameras were outside the hospital in Chiang Rai to catch the first images of the boys, all of whom appeared happy and relaxed as dozens of adults shepherded them onto waiting vans. A woman who came to the hospital just to see the now-revered soccer team emerge told a television crew she was “very happy” to see the boys walk out. She was emotional after watching the team members leave smiling. All 12 team members and their assistant coach were on their way to the conference center to address a gaggle of journalists from around the world. “Whatever he wants” The family of one of the boys was preparing their home for his return Wednesday night. Banphot Konkum, an uncle who has raised 13-year-old Duangpetch Promthep, said he’ll have a renovated bedroom and gifts awaiting him. “We’ll do whatever he wants. If he wants anything we’ll buy it for him as a present as we promised that when he gets out, whatever he wants we’ll do it for him,” Banphot said.