Hendry County rolls out cameras for school speed zonesAggressive driving concerns on the rise in Southwest Florida
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.
FORT MYERS Rock For Equality: SWFL music scene to hold benefit concert for Palestine A two-venue, eight-band benefit concert is coming to Southwest Florida.
NAPLES Naples man sentenced in deadly bar shooting A man has been sentenced for a deadly shooting that took place at a Naples bar in March 2021.
New ovarian cancer treatments Ovarian cancer is a problematic disease because of symptoms such as nausea, bloating and diarrhea.
Largest Lee County land deal closes, $100M for 1,745 acres in northwest Cape Coral The most lucrative land deal in Lee County history just closed at a price of $100 million for 1,745 acres in northwest Cape Coral, where building up to 3,500 homes and commercial property to support it has been in the planning stages for almost two years.
CHARLOTTE HARBOR Crash between RV and semi temporarily shuts down NB lanes of U.S. 41 in Charlotte A major collision near Sunseeker Resort in Charlotte County temporarily closed all northbound lanes of U.S. 41, according to the Charlotte County Sherriff’s Office.
FORT MYERS Apple AirPods lead LCSO to an arrest; over $100,000 worth of stolen items recovered Through the use of Apple Airpods, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office was able to locate nearly $100,000 worth of stolen items, leading to an arrest.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral officials approve replacement funding for hurricane-damaged stop signs The Cape Coral City Council has approved funding to replace stop signs damaged during Hurricane Milton, resulting in an emergency purchase.
Holiday events happening in Southwest Florida Southwest Florida is embracing the holiday spirit with a variety of festive events this Christmas season.
Collier man accused of supplying fentanyl-laced pills, enough to kill 531,500 people The Collier County Sheriff’s Office has arrested a man accused of supplying more than 10,000 fentanyl-laced pills disguised as prescription painkillers.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral council supports construction of I-75 interchange into city The Cape Coral City Council has approved a resolution requesting support from Lee and Charlotte counties to prioritize state and federal funding for the Interstate 75 Interchange at Slater Road.
PUNTA GORDA Crews removing derelict boats from Gilchrist Park Crews are working to remove derelict boats from Gilchrist Park after several of them washed ashore during Hurricane Milton in October.
33rd endangered Florida panther death of 2024; killed by vehicle in Hardee County Another Florida panther has been killed by a vehicle, this time in Hardee County, increasing the death toll of the endangered species to 33 for 2024.
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.
FORT MYERS Rock For Equality: SWFL music scene to hold benefit concert for Palestine A two-venue, eight-band benefit concert is coming to Southwest Florida.
NAPLES Naples man sentenced in deadly bar shooting A man has been sentenced for a deadly shooting that took place at a Naples bar in March 2021.
New ovarian cancer treatments Ovarian cancer is a problematic disease because of symptoms such as nausea, bloating and diarrhea.
Largest Lee County land deal closes, $100M for 1,745 acres in northwest Cape Coral The most lucrative land deal in Lee County history just closed at a price of $100 million for 1,745 acres in northwest Cape Coral, where building up to 3,500 homes and commercial property to support it has been in the planning stages for almost two years.
CHARLOTTE HARBOR Crash between RV and semi temporarily shuts down NB lanes of U.S. 41 in Charlotte A major collision near Sunseeker Resort in Charlotte County temporarily closed all northbound lanes of U.S. 41, according to the Charlotte County Sherriff’s Office.
FORT MYERS Apple AirPods lead LCSO to an arrest; over $100,000 worth of stolen items recovered Through the use of Apple Airpods, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office was able to locate nearly $100,000 worth of stolen items, leading to an arrest.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral officials approve replacement funding for hurricane-damaged stop signs The Cape Coral City Council has approved funding to replace stop signs damaged during Hurricane Milton, resulting in an emergency purchase.
Holiday events happening in Southwest Florida Southwest Florida is embracing the holiday spirit with a variety of festive events this Christmas season.
Collier man accused of supplying fentanyl-laced pills, enough to kill 531,500 people The Collier County Sheriff’s Office has arrested a man accused of supplying more than 10,000 fentanyl-laced pills disguised as prescription painkillers.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral council supports construction of I-75 interchange into city The Cape Coral City Council has approved a resolution requesting support from Lee and Charlotte counties to prioritize state and federal funding for the Interstate 75 Interchange at Slater Road.
PUNTA GORDA Crews removing derelict boats from Gilchrist Park Crews are working to remove derelict boats from Gilchrist Park after several of them washed ashore during Hurricane Milton in October.
33rd endangered Florida panther death of 2024; killed by vehicle in Hardee County Another Florida panther has been killed by a vehicle, this time in Hardee County, increasing the death toll of the endangered species to 33 for 2024.
New York Yankees pitcher Cale Coshow prepares to pitch as the pitching clock winds down during a spring training baseball game against the Boston Red Sox in Fort Myers, Fla., Saturday, Feb. 23, 2019. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) Baseball is on the clock. The traditionally timeless sport implemented a pitch clock all around major league spring training for the first time Saturday in an attempt to hurry up both pitchers and hitters and keep the modern fan from tuning out the increasingly lengthy games. Sixteen games across Florida and Arizona were played under the new rules, which were being phased in without threat of penalty for the first few days or more. There were no notable incidents in the afternoon, when three of the six games approached or surpassed 3 hours. “I hope it gets the tempo up,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said after the St. Louis Cardinals beat Miami 11-1 in 3 hours, 15 minutes. “It sounds like at the minor league level they get used to it, and that’s the way you go.” Baseball has long billed itself as a timeless sport, but as average game times creeped over 3 hours that has become less a badge of honor and more a reason for some young or short-attention-span fans to turn to other forms of entertainment. Since taking over as commissioner, Rob Manfred has made speeding up games one of his primary goals. Last year, the average length of a nine-inning game fell to 3 hours — five minutes shorter than the previous season, but still 36 minutes longer than a typical game in 1976. After pushing for an agreement with players last season, baseball management decided on its own to experiment with pitch clocks during spring training this year. Owners have the right to implement them for the regular season but would prefer to reach an agreement with the union. “I don’t think there’s negotiation here. As players, it just shouldn’t be in the game. Having a pitch clock, if you have ball-strike implications, that’s messing with the fabric of the game. There’s no clock in baseball and there’s no clock in baseball for a reason,” said Washington Nationals ace Max Scherzer, a newly elected member of the Major League Baseball Players Association’s executive board. “I’m not going to put my name next to this clock.” Los Angeles Dodgers veteran Rich Hill threw seven pitches in the first inning and retired the Chicago White Sox in order. “I didn’t notice the pitch clock,” he said. “I’m against it, but I think it’s just really a fundamental thing for me. That’s it, period. It’s there, great, maybe we can be aware of it. But if it’s going to dictate the outcome of the game, I would hope everybody who loves the game and watches baseball would be against it for that reason only.” “If it’s out there and it’s, ‘Hey, we have to pick it up, we’re using the clock to use as a warning or a guideline,’ that would be fine. But I didn’t really notice the clock. I usually pitch with pretty decent pace anyways,” he said. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, who has two of the slowest pitchers in the game in Joe Kelly and Pedro Baez, said he thinks they will figure it out. “They have to adjust,” he said. “That’s just the way it goes. We’ll have those conversations with those guys. I think with spring training, it’s a good opportunity for these guys to make an adjustment.” They’ll need to hurry. Of the six early games on Saturday, three finished at 2:30 and under and three were at 2:56 or more. The Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees — a rivalry that has repeatedly resulted in four-hour regular season games ending at or near midnight — finished in 3:06 in 85-degree heat in front of a half-empty ballpark. Each team scored two runs and used two relievers to get through the eighth inning. As the Yankees drew two walks and sent the tying run to the plate in the ninth, a boy in a Dustin Pedroia T-shirt in the front row near the Boston dugout lazily threw a ball against the protective netting. “In spring training, the game is going to slow down,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. Many players around the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues said they talked about the clocks in their pregame meetings, but didn’t pay much attention to them on the field. “Now having to actually throw to it, I think it’s more of a distraction than anything,” Scherzer said after his outing. “I get that there are parts of the game that we can clean up and I think that there can be meaningful changes. I’m fundamentally against this.” Boston Red Sox pitcher Travis Lakins prepares to pitch as the pitching clock winds down during a spring training baseball game against the New York Yankees in Fort Myers, Fla., Saturday, Feb. 23, 2019. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) At Boston’s spring training ballpark in Fort Myers, there is a clock behind home plate, one near third base and one in center field. It counted down the time between innings, or when a relief pitcher entered the game, and switched to a pitch clock starting with the second pitch to a batter. Yankees center fielder Aaron Hicks, one of the few regulars to play on Saturday, said he was aware of the clock but it didn’t make him feel rushed. “I’m looking, I’m looking. I just wanted to make sure I was on time,” he said swiveling his head around in the visitor’s clubhouse after leaving the game. “Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed it a couple of times but it was still pretty early” in the countdown. Under the phase-in designed to allow teams to get used to the concept without fear of penalty, pitchers and batters who were taking too long in Saturday’s games were merely warned to hurry up. (When the policy, which has been used in some minor leagues since 2015, is phased in, a ball will be charged to pitchers who do not begin their motion in time.) “In the minors, we had a pitch clock like that,” Orioles starter Yefry Ramirez said through a translator. “So I was already used to that rhythm.” Pirates reliever Aaron Slegers delivered a pitch to Phillies shortstop Jean Segura after the clock expired in the fifth inning after catcher Jacob Stallings spent half the time giving defensive signs with runners on base. Other times, the clock nearly ran out after batters stepped out of the box. Yankees starter Nestor Cortes Jr. said he heard home plate umpire Fieldin Culbreth tell one batter to hurry up; The Associated Press requested permission to talk to the umpires, but a spokesman for Major League Baseball declined, saying it was too early in the process to comment. “It’s a work in progress. Everyone is aware of that,” Cardinals manager Mike Shildt said. “That’s what spring training is for. I’ve gone through similar things with instant replay. It’s a good opportunity to provide a litmus test and see where it goes.”