CAPE CORAL Understanding water restriction in Cape Coral The city of Canals has water problems again!
SANIBEL Future of the Sanibel Pier Sanibel Island is looking much better since Hurricane Ian, but while the lighthouse is standing tall, the pier isn’t doing too well.
downtown fort myers Large crowds expected for Fort Myers Seafood & Music Festival Downtown Fort Myers is on higher alert as this weekend’s 4th Annual Fort Myers Seafood & Music Festival is expected to draw large crowds.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral neighborhood growing frustrated over debris piles Pounds of trash and debris are blowing through a Cape Coral neighborhood, through the streets, into canals and every which way.
Inside a Lee County special corrections program More than 3,000 bags of trash, 19 interstate projects, nearly 100 citizen requests and over one hundred truckloads of trash—that’s the work done by nonviolent offenders in Lee County, who are doing their part to make our county more beautiful.
FGCU NCAA implements rules for checking pitchers for foreign substances The NCAA will soon send out an instructional video on in-game foreign substance checks for pitchers.
Surgeon General calls for cancer warnings on alcohol In the new year, there’s a new call to warn Americans about the negative effects of alcohol.
Family of Charlotte deputy killed during traffic stop releases statement The family of Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Sgt. Elio Diaz is breaking their silence.
Southwest Florida battles the Flu Flu cases are skyrocketing in Southwest Florida, making this busy season even more challenging.
FORT MYERS SWFL 19-year-old hurt in New Orleans terrorist attack releases statement One of the young women from Fort Myers hurt during the New Orleans New Year’s Eve attack is speaking out for the first time.
Bonita Bill’s to close Jan. 5 prior to pending $5.5M sale HM Restaurant Group, owners the adjacent Doc Ford’s Rum Bar and Grille and Dixie Fish Co. restaurants, has been named as the buyer.
naples Beloved Naples Zoo giant anteater, Dee Gee, passes away The Naples Zoo is mourning the loss of a beloved male giant anteater who had given nearly 10 years of joy to visitors.
Charlotte County Property Appraiser accepting applications for partial property tax refunds The Charlotte County Property Appraiser is now accepting applications for partial 2024 property tax refunds.
FORT MYERS 2 wanted for stealing an e-bike from Fort Myers business parking lot Southwest Florida Crime Stoppers is asking for the public’s help identifying two men who stole an electric bike.
Hurricane Ian damages in Punta Gorda exceed $6M Multiple city-owned properties were either destroyed or damaged by Category 4 winds.
CAPE CORAL Understanding water restriction in Cape Coral The city of Canals has water problems again!
SANIBEL Future of the Sanibel Pier Sanibel Island is looking much better since Hurricane Ian, but while the lighthouse is standing tall, the pier isn’t doing too well.
downtown fort myers Large crowds expected for Fort Myers Seafood & Music Festival Downtown Fort Myers is on higher alert as this weekend’s 4th Annual Fort Myers Seafood & Music Festival is expected to draw large crowds.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral neighborhood growing frustrated over debris piles Pounds of trash and debris are blowing through a Cape Coral neighborhood, through the streets, into canals and every which way.
Inside a Lee County special corrections program More than 3,000 bags of trash, 19 interstate projects, nearly 100 citizen requests and over one hundred truckloads of trash—that’s the work done by nonviolent offenders in Lee County, who are doing their part to make our county more beautiful.
FGCU NCAA implements rules for checking pitchers for foreign substances The NCAA will soon send out an instructional video on in-game foreign substance checks for pitchers.
Surgeon General calls for cancer warnings on alcohol In the new year, there’s a new call to warn Americans about the negative effects of alcohol.
Family of Charlotte deputy killed during traffic stop releases statement The family of Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Sgt. Elio Diaz is breaking their silence.
Southwest Florida battles the Flu Flu cases are skyrocketing in Southwest Florida, making this busy season even more challenging.
FORT MYERS SWFL 19-year-old hurt in New Orleans terrorist attack releases statement One of the young women from Fort Myers hurt during the New Orleans New Year’s Eve attack is speaking out for the first time.
Bonita Bill’s to close Jan. 5 prior to pending $5.5M sale HM Restaurant Group, owners the adjacent Doc Ford’s Rum Bar and Grille and Dixie Fish Co. restaurants, has been named as the buyer.
naples Beloved Naples Zoo giant anteater, Dee Gee, passes away The Naples Zoo is mourning the loss of a beloved male giant anteater who had given nearly 10 years of joy to visitors.
Charlotte County Property Appraiser accepting applications for partial property tax refunds The Charlotte County Property Appraiser is now accepting applications for partial 2024 property tax refunds.
FORT MYERS 2 wanted for stealing an e-bike from Fort Myers business parking lot Southwest Florida Crime Stoppers is asking for the public’s help identifying two men who stole an electric bike.
Hurricane Ian damages in Punta Gorda exceed $6M Multiple city-owned properties were either destroyed or damaged by Category 4 winds.
Bradley Despaigne, 36, and Joseph Benson, 30, show off Despaigne’s 1981 DeLorean which they have made into a time machine replica DeLorean modeled off of the original Back To The Future movie, while pictured at Edgewater Drive Park, on Monday, Nov. 16, 2020 in Clearwater. Despaigne purchased the DeLorean in September 2019 and the two have been working on it for a little over a year. (Dirk Shadd/Tampa Bay Times via AP) After watching “Back to the Future” “hundreds of times” since he “was in Pampers,” Clearwater’s Bradley Despaigne claims he can recite the movie verbatim from start to finish. His favorite quote? When Marty McFly incredulously asks Doc Brown, “Are you telling me that you built a time machine out of a DeLorean?” It is a question now posed to him. “I hear it a lot,” Despaigne, 36, said. Despaigne purchased a DeLorean a little more than a year ago. He and friend Joe Benson have since converted it into a near-exact replica of the famed cinematic time machine, right down to the Flux Capacitor. “This is what makes time travel possible: the Flux Capacitor,” Despaigne said with a laugh, quoting Doc Brown’s explanation to Marty McFly in the popular 1985 film. There are only two differences between his time machine and the cinematic one. His is still missing the ceiling console, but that will be added in the coming months. And, of course, his does not go back in time when it hits 88 miles per hour “yet,” Despaigne said with a wink. Some of the time machine’s parts are sold online — the flux capacitor and the digital “time circuit” that displays the destination time, present time and last time departed. Despaigne recently had the destination set for 6:30 a.m. on August 29, 1984, the day and time of his birth. “I want to run into the hospital room and tell my mom, ’What are you doing? Push harder,” he chuckled. Other parts had to be fabricated. The “plutonium chamber” lid on the back of the car is a 1976 Dodge Polara hubcap and the time circuit lever is a double-sided wire brush handle. Benson said those were the materials used to create the cinematic prop, too. “We wanted everything to be as authentic as possible,” Benson, 30, said. “We made this just like the movie made theirs.” If real, how would such a time machine work? “According to the movie, it requires 1.21 gigawatts of power for the flux capacitor, which is where the plutonium comes into play,” Despaigne said. “Once the car hits 88 mph, it pulls the required power that then activates the wormhole emitter, which transports the DeLorean through time.” Bradley Despaigne, left, and Joseph Benson, 30, show off Despaigne’s 1981 DeLorean which they have made into a time machine replica DeLorean modeled off of the original Back To The Future movie, at Edgewater Drive Park, on Monday, Nov. 16, 2020 in Clearwater. Despaigne purchased the DeLorean in September 2019 and the two have been working on it for a little over a year. (Dirk Shadd/Tampa Bay Times via AP) He agrees that the DeLorean is the perfect car for a time machine. “The way I see it, if you’re gonna build a time machine into a car, why not do it with some style,” said Despaigne, again quoting Doc Brown. The DeLorean was only produced from 1981 to 1983. Despaigne paid $20,000 for a 1981 DeLorean that had 23,000 miles on it. He has since driven it 1,000 miles. The rare car needed thousands of dollars in repairs before it was road ready, Benson said. “You can’t exactly go to an auto parts store and ask for parts for a 1981 DeLorean. A lot of what we needed had to be custom made, some in Australia, some in Europe.” Thousands more were spent creating the replica time machine. “This is just something I wanted for myself,” Despaigne said. “I love the movie, obviously.” He is not alone in his obsession. Fans around the world own similar replica time machines, the most famous being Jay Leno. Despaigne’s is for rent, but for event display only, not for drives. Inquiries should go through his Instagram page — @81DMC_CLW. The first time he took his time machine on the highway and watched the odometer hit 88, Despaigne laughed that he wondered if he’d “soon see sparks, enter a wormhole and run into dinosaurs. When I didn’t, I wondered if the car would hold together at that speed. I don’t go that fast anymore.”