NORTH FORT MYERS Lee County residents wait hours for D-SNAP assistance The supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP) is at the Lee Civic Center all weekend, ready to help southwest Florida.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA First eaglet hatches in famous SWFL eagle nest Welcome E24! The third eaglet from the nest of M15 and F23 has hatched according to the Southwest Florida eagle camera.
lehigh acres LCSO: Lehigh Acres shooting investigation underway The Lee County Sheriff’s Office responded to a shooting in Lehigh Acres early Saturday morning.
Rock for Equality: SWFL non-profit hosts benefit concert for Palestine A Southwest Florida non-profit hosted a benefit concert on Friday night to help with humanitarian aid in Palestine.
Warm, breezy Saturday with a few showers possible The Weather Authority is forecasting a breezy, warm weekend in store across Southwest Florida, with the chance of a few showers, particularly on Saturday.
CAPE CORAL Active investigation underway in South Cape Coral Cape Coral police are investigating at a home on Southwest 49th Terrace in South Cape Coral early Saturday morning.
16 transported after 2 airboats crash in Collier County According to the Collier County Sheriff’s Office, two airboats crashed south of U.S. 41 east between mile markers 74 and 75, leaving well over a dozen people injured.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA New bill filed: Auto shop and law enforcement must work together to solve hit-and-run crashes There could be new detectives on the block, located in your nearest auto shop. A new state bill aims at trying to stop hit-and-run drivers from getting away.
CAPE CORAL New leash on life; Cape Coral shelter dog beats cancer with drug being tested for humans A drug now being studied in human trials to kill cancerous tumors, is already approved and helping animals.
CAPE CORAL City of Cape Coral planning a new interchange with I-75 The city of Cape Coral is in the early stages of planning a new interchange with I-75, an idea that has been discussed for more than a decade.
Tracking invasive species after hurricanes Hurricanes Helene and Milton didn’t just bring wind and rain, they brought new threats to southwest Florida’s ecosystem.
PUNTA GORDA Woman in Punta Gorda shooting charged with 2nd degree murder A woman in a homicide investigation on Nasturtium Drive in Punta Gorda has been charged with 2nd-degree murder.
Lee County mother continuing fight to get children a bus stop The school district already told her she lives too close to the school to qualify for a bus route but she has not given up.
NORTH NAPLES Grant Thornton Invitational returns to Tiburon Golf Club Stars on the PGA and LPGA Tours are back in Southwest Florida for the Grant Thornton Invitational at Tiburon Golf Club.
FORT MYERS Black Flag brings classic punk energy to The Ranch in Fort Myers Legendary punk band Black Flag made their mark in Southwest Florida during the Fort Myers stop of their “First Four Years” tour.
NORTH FORT MYERS Lee County residents wait hours for D-SNAP assistance The supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP) is at the Lee Civic Center all weekend, ready to help southwest Florida.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA First eaglet hatches in famous SWFL eagle nest Welcome E24! The third eaglet from the nest of M15 and F23 has hatched according to the Southwest Florida eagle camera.
lehigh acres LCSO: Lehigh Acres shooting investigation underway The Lee County Sheriff’s Office responded to a shooting in Lehigh Acres early Saturday morning.
Rock for Equality: SWFL non-profit hosts benefit concert for Palestine A Southwest Florida non-profit hosted a benefit concert on Friday night to help with humanitarian aid in Palestine.
Warm, breezy Saturday with a few showers possible The Weather Authority is forecasting a breezy, warm weekend in store across Southwest Florida, with the chance of a few showers, particularly on Saturday.
CAPE CORAL Active investigation underway in South Cape Coral Cape Coral police are investigating at a home on Southwest 49th Terrace in South Cape Coral early Saturday morning.
16 transported after 2 airboats crash in Collier County According to the Collier County Sheriff’s Office, two airboats crashed south of U.S. 41 east between mile markers 74 and 75, leaving well over a dozen people injured.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA New bill filed: Auto shop and law enforcement must work together to solve hit-and-run crashes There could be new detectives on the block, located in your nearest auto shop. A new state bill aims at trying to stop hit-and-run drivers from getting away.
CAPE CORAL New leash on life; Cape Coral shelter dog beats cancer with drug being tested for humans A drug now being studied in human trials to kill cancerous tumors, is already approved and helping animals.
CAPE CORAL City of Cape Coral planning a new interchange with I-75 The city of Cape Coral is in the early stages of planning a new interchange with I-75, an idea that has been discussed for more than a decade.
Tracking invasive species after hurricanes Hurricanes Helene and Milton didn’t just bring wind and rain, they brought new threats to southwest Florida’s ecosystem.
PUNTA GORDA Woman in Punta Gorda shooting charged with 2nd degree murder A woman in a homicide investigation on Nasturtium Drive in Punta Gorda has been charged with 2nd-degree murder.
Lee County mother continuing fight to get children a bus stop The school district already told her she lives too close to the school to qualify for a bus route but she has not given up.
NORTH NAPLES Grant Thornton Invitational returns to Tiburon Golf Club Stars on the PGA and LPGA Tours are back in Southwest Florida for the Grant Thornton Invitational at Tiburon Golf Club.
FORT MYERS Black Flag brings classic punk energy to The Ranch in Fort Myers Legendary punk band Black Flag made their mark in Southwest Florida during the Fort Myers stop of their “First Four Years” tour.
A sign is posted at a closed entrance to the beach during the new coronavirus pandemic, Friday, July 3, 2020, in the South Beach neighborhood of Miami Beach, Florida. LYNNE SLADKY / AP Florida’s most populous county instituted an overnight curfew, and beaches and businesses began closing down again as the state’s number of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations keep rising. The grim trend threatened a further spread during the festive Fourth of July weekend. “Right now, we are heading a million miles an hour in the wrong direction,” Dr. Aileen Marty told “CBS This Morning” lead national correspondent David Begnaud. Marty is an infectious disease expert who helped Miami-Dade write its reopening rules but she says not enough people are following them “it’s absolutely the saddest thing, the most unnecessary situation that we’re finding ourselves in,” Dr. Marty said. “And it’s behaviorally driven.” Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez said the 10 p.m.to 6 a.m. curfew begins Friday and will be in place indefinitely. The order closes casinos, strip clubs, movie theaters and other entertainment venues a month after they were allowed to reopen. “This curfew is meant to stop people from venturing out and hanging out with friends in groups, which has shown to be spreading the virus rapidly,” Gimenez said in a statement. On Friday, Florida reported 9,488 new confirmed cases and 67 deaths, a day after setting a new daily record with more than 10,000 cases. The state’s health department’s tally of hospitalizations was higher Friday at 341 new admissions in Florida, one of the biggest daily jumps since the pandemic began. Gimenez cited staffing shortages at local hospitals in announcing the curfew. “I met with our medical experts this afternoon to discuss what other steps we can take to stop the spread of virus infection and ensure that our hospitals have sufficient capacity,” he said Thursday. “At this time, we have plenty of beds, but some hospitals are experiencing staffing shortages.” The mayor’s order also tightens mask rules at restaurants, requiring customers to wear facial coverings at all times unless eating or drinking. Under the previous order, customers were allowed to remove masks when they sat down. Last week officials in Miami-Dade and other counties, including the Florida Keys, announced that beaches would be closed during the long Fourth of July weekend. Gimenez said Miami-Dade police will be checking businesses throughout the holiday weekend to enforce mask and capacity rules, and closing establishments in violation. “I do not want to go back to closing all but essential businesses, but the only way to avoid that is for everyone to take COVID-19 seriously,” Gimenez said in a statement. “That means every generation – every one of us, no exceptions.” The latest county statistics show more than 1,300 COVID patients in Miami hospitals. Of those, 281 are in intensive-care beds, occupying about 63% of the ICU beds that would be otherwise available. The state’s health department releases a daily cumulative tally of new hospitalizations of people who test positive for the virus, but does not provide statewide numbers of COVID-19 patients currently in hospitals, ICU beds or on ventilators. Ventilator use and ICU occupancy are key indicators of the severity of the outbreak because not everyone who becomes infected with the coronavirus develops serious symptoms. The state releases daily reports on available ICU beds, statewide, by county and by individual hospital — but those numbers don’t include how many are occupied by COVID-19 patients. Statewide, about 20 percent of ICU beds are currently available, though some hospitals have additional capacity that can be turned into ICU units if need be. Meanwhile, a group of legislators urged Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Friday to require Floridians wear masks. The group of 10 Democratic lawmakers includes state Representative Shevrin Jones, a South Florida lawmaker who announced Tuesday that he had been infected by the coronavirus. They want the governor to make it mandatory for Floridians to wear masks to cover their noses and mouths while in public spaces, indoors and outdoors, when social distancing isn’t possible. The governor has thus far resisted those calls, even as Texas Governor Greg Abbott, another Republican, moved to do so Thursday. “This is not a partisan issue; this is an issue of life and death,” the legislators said in a letter to DeSantis. “This small but important gesture will have big consequences for the greater good.” On Wednesday, Florida recorded its youngest death from the coronavirus — 11-year-old Daequan Wimberly, who died after 12 days in the hospital. His adoptive father, Pastor Jerry Wimberly, was hospitalized with the virus when Daequan died. “No one could be with him because of the coronavirus,” Wimberly told Begnaud. “So the doctors and the nurses were there, but family couldn’t be there because of the coronavirus.”