Punta Gorda church celebrates Pastor’s 45 years of serviceShift Coffee Bar in Fort Myers hosts annual Valentine’s Day Party
PUNTA GORDA Punta Gorda church celebrates Pastor’s 45 years of service The First Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church in Punta Gorda is alive with celebration as they honor a legacy of leadership.
FORT MYERS Shift Coffee Bar in Fort Myers hosts annual Valentine’s Day Party Shift Coffee Bar in Fort Myers held their annual Valentine’s Day pop-up/anniversary event on Sunday morning.
PUNTA GORDA Road rage leads to gunfire near US 41 bridge in Punta Gorda A road rage incident near the Gilchrist Bridge in Punta Gorda led to shots being fired, according to the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office.
the weather authority Warm, breezy day with evening rain ahead of a slight cold front The Weather Authority says Sunday is starting off warm across Southwest Florida with overnight lows in the upper 60s and 70s, staying warm throughout the day before a cold front sweeps south later this evening.
FORT MYERS Edison Festival parade lights up Fort Myers with floats and bands The Edison Festival parade was a spectacle of lights and sounds, drawing crowds to celebrate the legacy of Thomas Edison.
CAPE CORAL Goth Gala for the Forlorn; How the alt scene honored Valentine’s Day Love Your Rebellion hosted the Goth Gala for the Forlorn at Nice Guys Pizza in Cape Coral on Friday night.
FORT MYERS Fort Myers gears up for Edison Festival parade; road closures in place Downtown Fort Myers is buzzing with excitement as the Edison Festival of Light Parade is set to begin.
the weather authority Near-record heat with sun and clouds for your Saturday The Weather Authority says the above-normal temperatures that Southwest Florida has been experiencing will stick around yet again for Saturday.
LEE COUNTY Savannah Bananas bring fun on the diamond at JetBlue Park The Savannah Bananas amazed and entertained a sold out JetBlue Park Friday night for the first time in Southwest Florida.
CAPE CORAL Caught on Camera: Cape Coral mailbox hit by drifting car A Cape Coral homeowner was left in shock after a car sent her mailbox flying through the air and left tire tracks next to her home.
ARCADIA DeSoto County man sentenced for deadly DUI crash Justice for a mother and son killed by a man driving under the influence.
NAPLES Oldest Black-owned business in SWFL continues to serve community Cleveland Bass Movers, founded in 1969, stands as the oldest Black-owned business in Southwest Florida.
FORT MYERS BEACH Broken gate on Lovers Key Beach Resort frustrating residents Residents of Lover’s Key Beach Club in Fort Myers Beach are frustrated with a gate that remains wide open, despite “No Trespassing” signs, since Hurricane Ian struck two years ago.
St. James City Church plans $700k flood-proofing project for future safety Hurricanes have caused flood after flood, and one island church, The First Baptist Church of Saint James City, wants to build higher.
Romance scams rise in the US, AARP warns residents to beware Romance scams are on the rise, with the Federal Trade Commission reporting over 64,000 cases in the U.S. in 2023.
PUNTA GORDA Punta Gorda church celebrates Pastor’s 45 years of service The First Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church in Punta Gorda is alive with celebration as they honor a legacy of leadership.
FORT MYERS Shift Coffee Bar in Fort Myers hosts annual Valentine’s Day Party Shift Coffee Bar in Fort Myers held their annual Valentine’s Day pop-up/anniversary event on Sunday morning.
PUNTA GORDA Road rage leads to gunfire near US 41 bridge in Punta Gorda A road rage incident near the Gilchrist Bridge in Punta Gorda led to shots being fired, according to the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office.
the weather authority Warm, breezy day with evening rain ahead of a slight cold front The Weather Authority says Sunday is starting off warm across Southwest Florida with overnight lows in the upper 60s and 70s, staying warm throughout the day before a cold front sweeps south later this evening.
FORT MYERS Edison Festival parade lights up Fort Myers with floats and bands The Edison Festival parade was a spectacle of lights and sounds, drawing crowds to celebrate the legacy of Thomas Edison.
CAPE CORAL Goth Gala for the Forlorn; How the alt scene honored Valentine’s Day Love Your Rebellion hosted the Goth Gala for the Forlorn at Nice Guys Pizza in Cape Coral on Friday night.
FORT MYERS Fort Myers gears up for Edison Festival parade; road closures in place Downtown Fort Myers is buzzing with excitement as the Edison Festival of Light Parade is set to begin.
the weather authority Near-record heat with sun and clouds for your Saturday The Weather Authority says the above-normal temperatures that Southwest Florida has been experiencing will stick around yet again for Saturday.
LEE COUNTY Savannah Bananas bring fun on the diamond at JetBlue Park The Savannah Bananas amazed and entertained a sold out JetBlue Park Friday night for the first time in Southwest Florida.
CAPE CORAL Caught on Camera: Cape Coral mailbox hit by drifting car A Cape Coral homeowner was left in shock after a car sent her mailbox flying through the air and left tire tracks next to her home.
ARCADIA DeSoto County man sentenced for deadly DUI crash Justice for a mother and son killed by a man driving under the influence.
NAPLES Oldest Black-owned business in SWFL continues to serve community Cleveland Bass Movers, founded in 1969, stands as the oldest Black-owned business in Southwest Florida.
FORT MYERS BEACH Broken gate on Lovers Key Beach Resort frustrating residents Residents of Lover’s Key Beach Club in Fort Myers Beach are frustrated with a gate that remains wide open, despite “No Trespassing” signs, since Hurricane Ian struck two years ago.
St. James City Church plans $700k flood-proofing project for future safety Hurricanes have caused flood after flood, and one island church, The First Baptist Church of Saint James City, wants to build higher.
Romance scams rise in the US, AARP warns residents to beware Romance scams are on the rise, with the Federal Trade Commission reporting over 64,000 cases in the U.S. in 2023.
Half a world away at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, engineers are readying a Progress cargo craft for a second station launch Friday to deliver another load of supplies and equipment. ROSCOSMOS U.S. and Russian engineers are readying a trio of rockets for launches from Virginia, Florida and Kazakhstan Thursday and Friday, two to send a combined 6.5 tons of cargo to the International Space Station and one from SpaceX to boost a Qatari communications satellite into orbit. Continuing a rapid-fire launch pace, China plans to launch a pair of Beidou navigation satellites Monday followed by another SpaceX flight, this one from California, to put more than 60 small satellites from 17 nations into orbit. At the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, SpaceX engineers are readying a Falcon 9 rocket for launch from historic pad 39A on Thursday to boost Qatar’s Es’hail 2 satellite into orbit, a powerful relay station intended to carry direct-to-home television across the Middle East and to provide amateur radio services for Brazil and India. The California rocket builder test fired the Falcon 9’s first-stage engines Monday night, clearing way for liftoff Thursday at 3:46 p.m., the opening of a one-hour 43-minute window. Forecasters predicted a 60 percent chance of favorable weather after a cold front moves through the area. The outlook improves to 90 percent “go” on Friday. At the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport — MARS — at NASA’s Wallops Island, Virginia, flight test facility, Northrop Grumman is readying an Antares rocket for launch early Friday to send a Cygnus cargo ship to the International Space Station. The automated spacecraft is packed with 7,385 pounds of equipment and supplies, including fresh fruit and ice cream. Launch originally was planned for Thursday, but a 90 percent “no-go” forecast prompted a 24-hour delay. Liftoff now is targeted for 4:23:55 a.m. Friday, roughly the moment Earth’s rotation carries MARS pad 0A into the plane of the space station’s orbit. Forecasters expect a 45 percent chance of good weather, improving to 90 percent “go” on Saturday. Half a world away at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, engineers are readying a Russian Progress cargo craft for a second launch to the International Space Station Friday afternoon. Loaded with 5,654 pounds of propellant, air, water and supplies, the Progress’ Soyuz FG booster is scheduled for liftoff at 1:14:08 p.m. (12:14 a.m. Saturday local time). If all goes well, the Cygnus cargo craft will reach the station around 4:35 a.m. Sunday, pulling up to within about 30 feet and then standing by while astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor uses the lab’s robot arm to lock on to a grapple fixture. From there, flight controllers at the Johnson Space Center in Houston will take over, pulling the supply ship in for berthing at the Earth-facing port of the central Unity module. Ten hours later, the Progress is expected to arrive, guiding itself to an automated docking at the aft port of the Russian Zvezda service module around 2:30 p.m. It will be the first time two cargo ships have reached the station on the same day. Cosmonaut Sergey Prokopyev and Expedition 57 commander Alexander Gerst will be standing by in the Russian segment of the station to take over by remote control if any problems develop. “Alexander Gerst is going to be helping out his Russian colleague for the Progress vehicle,” said Joel Montalbano, deputy manager of the space station program at the Johnson Space Center. “Normally, it’s an automated docking, but they need to be prepared to go ahead and do a remote controlled docking (if necessary). We’ve worked with our Russian colleagues to … give him some refresher training.” The Progress launch Friday will be the first station flight with a Soyuz FG booster since a dramatic launch abort Oct. 11 that forced vehicle commander Alexey Ovchinin and NASA flight engineer Nick Hague to execute a dramatic-but-safe emergency abort. Russian engineers concluded the mishap was caused by the failure of a strap-on booster to separate cleanly two minutes after liftoff. The booster, one of four making up the first stage, crashed into the rocket’s central core stage, throwing the it out of control and triggering the abort. Since then, the Russians have launched three Soyuz boosters without incident for non-station flights. The Progress MS-10/71P launch Friday will be the fourth since the abort and if all goes well, the Russians will press ahead with plans to launch a fresh crew — Soyuz MS-11/57S commander Oleg Kononenko, Canadian flight engineer David Saint-Jacques and NASA astronaut Anne McClain — on Dec. 3. They will join Gerst, Auñón-Chancellor and Prokopyev aboard the station, boosting the lab’s crew back to six for the first time since Oct. 4 when three other station fliers returned to Earth. The day after the new crew’s arrival, SpaceX is scheduled to launch a Dragon cargo ship that is expected to reach the space station on Dec. 6. Gerst and his crewmates will return to Earth on Dec. 20, closing out a 196-day mission. Kononenko, Saint-Jacques and McClain will have the lab to themselves until early April when the next Soyuz is launched from Kazakhstan with fresh crew members.