Stem donor meets recipient at Florida Gulf Coast UniversityCCSO ‘Shop with a Cop’ event spreads holiday cheer
FORT MYERS Stem donor meets recipient at Florida Gulf Coast University An FGCU student is giving the gift of life this holiday season. FGCU senior Zoe Horowitz met the person who received her stem cell donation.
PORT CHARLOTTE CCSO ‘Shop with a Cop’ event spreads holiday cheer Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office deputies spent time helping kids pick out gifts for their families during the annual Shop with a Cop event.
CLEWISTON Caught on camera: Explosion in hotel parking lot in Clewiston There was an explosion in the parking lot of a Holiday Inn in Clewiston on Wednesday.
PUNTA GORDA Punta Gorda leaders outline plans for Gilchrist Park repairs Gilchrist Park is closed, and Punta Gorda city leaders have been discussing possibly restoring the park.
NORTH NAPLES Airman surprises 6-year-old daughter at school for the holidays after ten months of service in Kuwait After almost a year of service in Kuwait, one airman came home for the holidays and surprised his daughter.
FORT MYERS Breaking down the Lee County Sheriff’s Office budget The Lee County Sheriff’s Office and Sheriff Carmine Marceno have been under scrutiny since a federal investigation on potential money laundering began. Many have questioned LCSO’s spending, so we broke down the budget.
How to protect yourself from thieves this holiday season On Cyber Monday, Americans spent $13 billion, which will translate into many packages on doorsteps this holiday season.
FORT MYERS Bishop Verot QB Carter Smith signs with Wisconsin Bishop Verot quarterback Carter Smith signs to play college football for the Wisconsin Badgers on early Signing Day.
WINK NEWS SWFL stars ink with Power 4 programs during Early Signing Period Several Southwest Florida football standouts are taking their talents to the Power 4 gridirons after signing during the Early Signing Period.
Beloved Charlotte County man killed outside home, investigation ongoing A man loved by his peers and his community was taken away from them in the middle of the night at his own home.
FORT MYERS BEACH The Lani Kai Resort reopens on Fort Myers Beach An iconic spot on Fort Myers Beach is back open and taking reservations for the first time since Hurricane Ian.
Gov. DeSantis being considered for defense secretary Will Ron DeSantis be your governor in 2025, or is he headed to Washington?
NAPLES Naples votes to remove fluoride from tap water The Naples City Council has voted to remove fluoride from its tap water.
Red meat linked to health complications Doctors with the Cleveland Clinic are researching a link between eating red meat and increased risk of heart attack and stroke.
LEHIGH ACRES Lehigh Acres man arrested on 10 counts of possession of child sexual abuse material The Florida Department of Law Enforcement has arrested a 71-year-old Lehigh Acres man on 10 counts of possession of child sexual abuse material.
FORT MYERS Stem donor meets recipient at Florida Gulf Coast University An FGCU student is giving the gift of life this holiday season. FGCU senior Zoe Horowitz met the person who received her stem cell donation.
PORT CHARLOTTE CCSO ‘Shop with a Cop’ event spreads holiday cheer Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office deputies spent time helping kids pick out gifts for their families during the annual Shop with a Cop event.
CLEWISTON Caught on camera: Explosion in hotel parking lot in Clewiston There was an explosion in the parking lot of a Holiday Inn in Clewiston on Wednesday.
PUNTA GORDA Punta Gorda leaders outline plans for Gilchrist Park repairs Gilchrist Park is closed, and Punta Gorda city leaders have been discussing possibly restoring the park.
NORTH NAPLES Airman surprises 6-year-old daughter at school for the holidays after ten months of service in Kuwait After almost a year of service in Kuwait, one airman came home for the holidays and surprised his daughter.
FORT MYERS Breaking down the Lee County Sheriff’s Office budget The Lee County Sheriff’s Office and Sheriff Carmine Marceno have been under scrutiny since a federal investigation on potential money laundering began. Many have questioned LCSO’s spending, so we broke down the budget.
How to protect yourself from thieves this holiday season On Cyber Monday, Americans spent $13 billion, which will translate into many packages on doorsteps this holiday season.
FORT MYERS Bishop Verot QB Carter Smith signs with Wisconsin Bishop Verot quarterback Carter Smith signs to play college football for the Wisconsin Badgers on early Signing Day.
WINK NEWS SWFL stars ink with Power 4 programs during Early Signing Period Several Southwest Florida football standouts are taking their talents to the Power 4 gridirons after signing during the Early Signing Period.
Beloved Charlotte County man killed outside home, investigation ongoing A man loved by his peers and his community was taken away from them in the middle of the night at his own home.
FORT MYERS BEACH The Lani Kai Resort reopens on Fort Myers Beach An iconic spot on Fort Myers Beach is back open and taking reservations for the first time since Hurricane Ian.
Gov. DeSantis being considered for defense secretary Will Ron DeSantis be your governor in 2025, or is he headed to Washington?
NAPLES Naples votes to remove fluoride from tap water The Naples City Council has voted to remove fluoride from its tap water.
Red meat linked to health complications Doctors with the Cleveland Clinic are researching a link between eating red meat and increased risk of heart attack and stroke.
LEHIGH ACRES Lehigh Acres man arrested on 10 counts of possession of child sexual abuse material The Florida Department of Law Enforcement has arrested a 71-year-old Lehigh Acres man on 10 counts of possession of child sexual abuse material.
Musk tweeted an image of the new Starship prototype with the caption “Droid Junkyard, Tatooine,” a joke about the test site’s resemblance to a fictional Star Wars location. (Credit: Elon Musk/Twitter) A year ago, there was little evidence beyond a few tweets, engine tests, and slideshows to indicate that SpaceX was building a massive spaceship capable of traveling to other planets. But the past 12 months have shredded all doubt about whether Elon Musk’s rocket company is planning to aggressively go after its goal. Development of Starship is underway, and one prototype has already completed a few short hop tests, which bring the vehicle a short distance into the air before softly landing it back on the ground. SpaceX is now ready to move to a more powerful test vehicle that could be capable of flying into Earth’s orbit. CEO Elon Musk teased a few images this week of the new prototype under construction at a SpaceX testing site in Boca Chica, Texas. The peek comes ahead of an event that Musk will host at that location on September 28. He’s expected to give the most detailed presentation in two years about SpaceX’s plans for interplanetary travel. The first prototype SpaceX built was nicknamed “Starhopper.” It was used to conduct the hop flights over the past few months. Those tests in Boca Chica were designed to check the spacecraft’s ability to make controlled landings, an important task if Starship will one day land on Mars, like Musk hopes. Starhopper passed a key final test last month, when it executed a precise landing after soaring about 150 meters in the air. The new prototype is expected to be a significant upgrade, adding two or more rocket engines. Musk said in a tweet last month that SpaceX will conduct one hop test with the new vehicle in October. Then, the company will attempt to send the craft into Earth’s orbit. The latter feat will be by far the most intense test yet for the technology. Spacecraft need to reach speeds of about 17,000 miles per hour to reach orbit. Musk’s ultimate goal is to establish a human settlement on Mars. To accomplish that, Musk has said Starship would need to fly into Earth’s orbit atop a gargantuan rocket booster, which Musk dubbed Super Heavy. Starship would break off from Super Heavy after reaching space, allowing the spaceship to use its entire tank of fuel to make the six-month trek to the Red Planet. Escaping the grip of Earth’s gravity requires a rocket to reach “escape velocity” — which means topping 25,000 miles per hour, or 33 times the speed of sound. Musk also tweeted a photo of workers in Boca Chica working to assemble the new Starship prototype. SpaceX fans will be listening closely to Musk’s talk in Boca Chica next week for updates on how the specifics of Starship and Super Heavy’s design may have changed since Musk gave his last in-depth talk about colonizing Mars in September 2017. Since then, Musk has relied on Twitter to give sporadic updates about the rocket’s development. Notably, in late 2018, Musk announced the names Starship and Super Heavy would replace the previous nomenclature of “BFR” — “Big F—ing Rocket,” or, in family-friendly terms, “Big Falcon Rocket.” Editor’s note: This article has been updated to more clearly describe the speeds required for spacecraft to reach orbit.