Drivers react to newly opened intersection on Colonial Blvd.Dinosaur from Shell Factory finds new home in Saint James City marina
FORT MYERS Drivers react to newly opened intersection on Colonial Blvd. The dreaded drive through one of our busiest intersections has been the focus of several construction projects.
Dinosaur from Shell Factory finds new home in Saint James City marina A dinosaur has found a new home at the soon-to-be Nauti-Dolphin Marina in Saint James City, Florida. This prehistoric attraction is already drawing attention even though it’s the only thing currently on the property. Dean Zoner, owner of the Nauti-Dolphin Marina, acquired the dinosaur from the Shell Factory, a local business that was going out […]
Florida lawmakers to vote on revamped Governor backed immigration bill on Thursday The House and Senate are set to vote on a new immigration bill on Thursday. The bill aims to address illegal immigration and support federal mass deportation efforts.
CLEWISTON Community raises concerns about Clewiston Animal Services The Clewiston Animal Shelter has made significant improvements, but there is still work to be done to bring conditions to a more humane level.
Collier County beachgoers react to Gulf of America name change The Gulf of Mexico has been officially renamed the “Gulf of America” following an executive order signed by former President Donald Trump.
ENGLEWOOD Englewood Beach’s closure impacts local economy; businesses seek answers Business owners on Englewood Beach are growing increasingly anxious as they await the reopening of the beach, which has been closed since hurricanes Helene and Milton.
FORT MYERS BEACH Food truck park proposal on Estero Blvd divides Fort Myers Beach locals The Fort Myers Beach Local Planning Agency recently voted on whether to transform a vacant lot on Estero Boulevard into a food truck park.
CCSO works with ICE to catch suspects in Southwest Florida State lawmakers are working on a new immigration bill. Here in Southwest Florida, one county has been following strict guidelines on illegal immigration for quite some time.
Burn ban in effect for Collier County The Board of County Commissioners has authorized a burn ban in Collier County.
FGCU FGCU’s Zavian McLean shares student athlete experience with podcast FGCU men’s basketball guard Zavian McLean shares what its like to be a Division I student athlete in his podcast “Truey Talks.”
Locals react to egg price increase Egg prices continue to soar. In fact, prices have gone up about 37% from where they were just one year ago, and the pricing and supply issues have started to impact Southwest Florida.
FORT MYERS BEACH Trump’s executive order on straws stirs debate in Fort Myers Beach President Donald Trump recently signed an executive order to bring back plastic straws, reversing a previous plan to reduce plastic reliance in the federal government.
Charlotte County official’s usage of racial slur prompts calls for resignation Charlotte County Commissioner Stephen Deutsch is under scrutiny after a complaint surfaced last week alleging he used the N-word during a work meeting.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral woman finds hope with new ALS drug A breakthrough discovery of a drug offers new hope for patients with a genetic form of the disease.
Elevate Florida program to help homeowners strengthen properties against storms The Florida Dept. of Emergency Management announced the launch of its new “Elevate Florida” residential mitigation program.
FORT MYERS Drivers react to newly opened intersection on Colonial Blvd. The dreaded drive through one of our busiest intersections has been the focus of several construction projects.
Dinosaur from Shell Factory finds new home in Saint James City marina A dinosaur has found a new home at the soon-to-be Nauti-Dolphin Marina in Saint James City, Florida. This prehistoric attraction is already drawing attention even though it’s the only thing currently on the property. Dean Zoner, owner of the Nauti-Dolphin Marina, acquired the dinosaur from the Shell Factory, a local business that was going out […]
Florida lawmakers to vote on revamped Governor backed immigration bill on Thursday The House and Senate are set to vote on a new immigration bill on Thursday. The bill aims to address illegal immigration and support federal mass deportation efforts.
CLEWISTON Community raises concerns about Clewiston Animal Services The Clewiston Animal Shelter has made significant improvements, but there is still work to be done to bring conditions to a more humane level.
Collier County beachgoers react to Gulf of America name change The Gulf of Mexico has been officially renamed the “Gulf of America” following an executive order signed by former President Donald Trump.
ENGLEWOOD Englewood Beach’s closure impacts local economy; businesses seek answers Business owners on Englewood Beach are growing increasingly anxious as they await the reopening of the beach, which has been closed since hurricanes Helene and Milton.
FORT MYERS BEACH Food truck park proposal on Estero Blvd divides Fort Myers Beach locals The Fort Myers Beach Local Planning Agency recently voted on whether to transform a vacant lot on Estero Boulevard into a food truck park.
CCSO works with ICE to catch suspects in Southwest Florida State lawmakers are working on a new immigration bill. Here in Southwest Florida, one county has been following strict guidelines on illegal immigration for quite some time.
Burn ban in effect for Collier County The Board of County Commissioners has authorized a burn ban in Collier County.
FGCU FGCU’s Zavian McLean shares student athlete experience with podcast FGCU men’s basketball guard Zavian McLean shares what its like to be a Division I student athlete in his podcast “Truey Talks.”
Locals react to egg price increase Egg prices continue to soar. In fact, prices have gone up about 37% from where they were just one year ago, and the pricing and supply issues have started to impact Southwest Florida.
FORT MYERS BEACH Trump’s executive order on straws stirs debate in Fort Myers Beach President Donald Trump recently signed an executive order to bring back plastic straws, reversing a previous plan to reduce plastic reliance in the federal government.
Charlotte County official’s usage of racial slur prompts calls for resignation Charlotte County Commissioner Stephen Deutsch is under scrutiny after a complaint surfaced last week alleging he used the N-word during a work meeting.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral woman finds hope with new ALS drug A breakthrough discovery of a drug offers new hope for patients with a genetic form of the disease.
Elevate Florida program to help homeowners strengthen properties against storms The Florida Dept. of Emergency Management announced the launch of its new “Elevate Florida” residential mitigation program.
FILE – Judith Krantz, poses in an undated file photo during an interview at her home in the Bel Air section of Los Angeles, Ca. Krantz died Saturday, June 22, 2019 in her Bel Air home od natural causes, said her son Tony Krantz. She was 91. (Deidre Hamill/AP Photo, File) Writer Judith Krantz, whose million-selling novels such as “Scruples” and “Princess Daisy” engrossed readers worldwide with their steamy tales of the rich and beautiful, died Saturday at her Bel-Air home. She was 91. Krantz’s son Tony Krantz, a TV executive, confirmed her death by natural causes on Sunday afternoon. He said he’d hoped to re-create the “Scruples” miniseries before her she died but it is still in the works. “She had this rare combination of commercial and creative,” he said. Krantz wrote for Cosmopolitan and Ladies Home Journal magazines before discovering, at age 50, the talent for fiction that made her rich and famous like the characters she created. Her first novel — “Scruples” in 1978 — became a best-seller, as did the nine that followed. Krantz’s books have been translated into 52 languages and sold more than 85 million copies worldwide. They inspired a series of hit miniseries with the help of her husband, film and television producer Steve Krantz. “I always ask myself if what I’m writing will satisfy a reader who’s in a plane that can’t land because of fog, or who’s recovering from an operation in a hospital or who has to escape to a more delightful world for whatever reason,” Krantz said in 1990. “That is the test.” While her work was decidedly less than highbrow, Krantz made no apologies for the steamy novels with titles like “Princess Daisy,” ″Mistral’s Daughter,” ″Lovers,” ″I’ll Take Manhattan” and “The Jewels of Tessa Kent.” “I write the best books I know how,” she once said. “I can’t write any better than this.” She filled her stories with delicious details about her characters’ lavish lifestyles — designer clothes, luxurious estates — and enviable romances. And she spared no specifics when it came to sex. “If you’re going to write a good erotic scene, you have to go into details,” Krantz told the Los Angeles Times in 1990. “I don’t believe in thunder and lightning and fireworks exploding. I think people want to know what’s happening.” So appealing were her sensational stories of high-powered heroines that each novel was reimagined for television as an episodic miniseries. Steve Krantz, a millionaire in his own right through such productions as the animated film “Fritz the Cat,” helped translate his wife’s work for TV. The author was also famous for living a glamorous life that paralleled that of her characters. Her home in Los Angeles’ exclusive Bel Air community featured a soundproof writing room flanked by an immaculately kept garden. In her closet were many of the same designer-label clothes the characters in her books wore. The eldest of three children, Krantz was born Judith Bluma Tarcher in 1928 in New York City. Her father owned an advertising agency, and her mother worked as an attorney. Her brother, publisher Jeremy Tarcher, married the late ventriloquist Shari Lewis. Growing up, Krantz was a precocious student at New York’s exclusive Birch Wathen school, once describing herself as the youngest, smartest and shortest girl in her class. After skipping two grades, she enrolled at Wellesley College at age 16. She was also by her own account an indifferent college student. She said she only enrolled at Wellesley “to date, read and graduate” and claimed to have set a record for her dorm by once dating 13 different men on 13 consecutive evenings. “I got only one A-plus, and that was in English 101,” she told The Boston Globe in 1982. “I had a B-minus average in English, my major, and made C’s and C-minuses in everything else. But I didn’t come here to get good marks.” When she could earn no better than a B in a short story class, she decided she wasn’t good enough to write fiction. “Just in time for my 50th birthday, I discovered that I could write fiction. My husband had urged me to try fiction for 15 years before I did,” she was quoted in a profile on Wellesley’s website in 2001. “I believed that if I couldn’t write ‘literature,’ I shouldn’t write at all.” “Now, I would say to young women, do something you have a true feeling for, no matter how little talent you may believe you have,” she added. “Let no masterwork be your goal — a modest goal may lead you further than you dream.” Krantz had met her husband through her high school friend Barbara Walters, who introduced the two in 1953. They married the following year. “I fell in love with him the minute I saw him,” she once said. Her husband died in 2007 at age 83. The couple had two sons, Tony and Nick, a stockbroker, and two grandchildren. Krantz’s family requested that donations be given to the Library Foundation of Los Angeles in lieu of flowers. Her memoir, “Sex and Shopping: The Confessions of a Nice Jewish Girl,” was published in 2001 and it reflected on her penchant for telling sex-drenched tales about the pretty and the privileged. “In my opinion, there are two things women will always be interested in — sex and shopping,” she said in 1994. “And if they’re not, they’ve left out a large part of the fun in life.” This story includes biographical material compiled by former AP Entertainment Writer Sandy Cohen.