Crews battle 2.5-acre brush fire near Alico and Eagle Village DriveJake’s story: A mother’s mission to share her son’s story and help other young people
ESTERO Crews battle 2.5-acre brush fire near Alico and Eagle Village Drive San Carlos Park Fire District is on the scene fighting a 2.5-acre brushfire near Alico and Eagle Village Drive.
FORT MYERS Jake’s story: A mother’s mission to share her son’s story and help other young people One Fort Myers mom is turning her pain into purpose after her son, who she refers to as her “heavenly Angel,” took his own life.
CAPE CORAL New renderings for the Cape Coral Yacht Club promise a bright future The Cape Coral Yacht Club, which has been part of this community since the 1960s, will now have a new look after Hurricane Ian’s devastating effects.
LEHIGH ACRES Owner bars public from Barefoot Lake, LCSO installs Watch Tower Every weekend, roughly 200 people go to Barefoot Lake in Lehigh Acres to relax, fish, swim and have a good time.
CAPE CORAL Concern over water shortage in Cape Coral Concern is flowing through Cape Coral as neighbors are seeing their canal levels low and their wells run dry.
FORT MYERS FSW softball swinging for success in the postseason Now their focus shifts to states which means the newbies are looking to the experienced sophomores for advice.
BONITA SPRINGS Young SWFL tennis player competing with professionals You may not know her name now, but you might want remember it because 16-year-old Cookie Jarvis-Tredgett is already competing with professionals.
NORTH NAPLES ‘It’s all about connection,’ Statement Peace makes jewelry with sustainability in mind The brand Statement Peace, once started inside founder Jessica Lee’s home, is now in 2,700 stores across the country
Pine Manor 2 arrested for firing gun at birthday party in Pine Manor A party ended with two people behind bars.
FORT MYERS Shooting investigation on busy Fort Myers street Police are conducting a shooting investigation that involves a traffic crash near Michigan Avenue and Dr. Martin Luther King Boulevard.
FGCU New FGCU athletic director Colin Hargis ready to build on department’s success New FGCU athletic director Colin Hargis talks about the department’s future amid the age of NIL and the transfer portal.
FORT MYERS More middle-aged women being treated for acne You probably thought you broke up with it after high school, but acne is rearing it’s ugly blackheads in adult women.
Lee County student ran up and hit teacher in head, report shows The report says a 13-year-old student ran up and smacked a teacher in the head because multiple classmates offered him money to do so.
NAPLES Collier Planning Commission continues discussion for apartments near Fiddler’s Creek The developer of Fiddler’s Creek wants to build hundreds of luxury apartments on a slice of a 600 acre-plus property known as section 29.
CAPE CORAL Fatigue sets in for third day of FEMA hearings Flying several hours to come to a FEMA code compliance hearing in Cape Coral is the reality for John Gasparini from Maryland.
ESTERO Crews battle 2.5-acre brush fire near Alico and Eagle Village Drive San Carlos Park Fire District is on the scene fighting a 2.5-acre brushfire near Alico and Eagle Village Drive.
FORT MYERS Jake’s story: A mother’s mission to share her son’s story and help other young people One Fort Myers mom is turning her pain into purpose after her son, who she refers to as her “heavenly Angel,” took his own life.
CAPE CORAL New renderings for the Cape Coral Yacht Club promise a bright future The Cape Coral Yacht Club, which has been part of this community since the 1960s, will now have a new look after Hurricane Ian’s devastating effects.
LEHIGH ACRES Owner bars public from Barefoot Lake, LCSO installs Watch Tower Every weekend, roughly 200 people go to Barefoot Lake in Lehigh Acres to relax, fish, swim and have a good time.
CAPE CORAL Concern over water shortage in Cape Coral Concern is flowing through Cape Coral as neighbors are seeing their canal levels low and their wells run dry.
FORT MYERS FSW softball swinging for success in the postseason Now their focus shifts to states which means the newbies are looking to the experienced sophomores for advice.
BONITA SPRINGS Young SWFL tennis player competing with professionals You may not know her name now, but you might want remember it because 16-year-old Cookie Jarvis-Tredgett is already competing with professionals.
NORTH NAPLES ‘It’s all about connection,’ Statement Peace makes jewelry with sustainability in mind The brand Statement Peace, once started inside founder Jessica Lee’s home, is now in 2,700 stores across the country
Pine Manor 2 arrested for firing gun at birthday party in Pine Manor A party ended with two people behind bars.
FORT MYERS Shooting investigation on busy Fort Myers street Police are conducting a shooting investigation that involves a traffic crash near Michigan Avenue and Dr. Martin Luther King Boulevard.
FGCU New FGCU athletic director Colin Hargis ready to build on department’s success New FGCU athletic director Colin Hargis talks about the department’s future amid the age of NIL and the transfer portal.
FORT MYERS More middle-aged women being treated for acne You probably thought you broke up with it after high school, but acne is rearing it’s ugly blackheads in adult women.
Lee County student ran up and hit teacher in head, report shows The report says a 13-year-old student ran up and smacked a teacher in the head because multiple classmates offered him money to do so.
NAPLES Collier Planning Commission continues discussion for apartments near Fiddler’s Creek The developer of Fiddler’s Creek wants to build hundreds of luxury apartments on a slice of a 600 acre-plus property known as section 29.
CAPE CORAL Fatigue sets in for third day of FEMA hearings Flying several hours to come to a FEMA code compliance hearing in Cape Coral is the reality for John Gasparini from Maryland.
This photo provided by the U.S. Coast Guard shows three Cuban nationals being rescued from a deserted island between Florida and Cuba, Monday, Feb. 9, 2021. They waved flags to catch the attention of a Coast Guard helicopter crew that flew over the island while on a routine mission Monday. (U.S. Coast Guard via AP) Three Cubans who capsized and survived 33 days on coconut water, shellfish and rats atop a deserted rocky islet south of Florida were in U.S. immigration custody Thursday, and legal experts said they may be allowed to stay under current federal policies. A Coast Guard helicopter earlier this week spotted the two men and one woman and hoisted them in baskets from a rocky cliff in Anguilla Cay, a Bahamian islet close to Cuba. The three were flown to a Key West hospital and then taken Wednesday by U.S. Border Patrol officials to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Pompano Beach, Florida. Officials said the Cubans had no serious injuries. The Associated Press requested interviews with the survivors, but Coast Guard and immigration officials have not released their identities and did not grant access for interviews. “They will receive comprehensive medical care from the moment of their arrival and throughout the entirety of their stay,” said ICE spokesman Nestor Yglesias. “The three individuals will be afforded access to all legal processes available to them under the laws of the United States.” Because their names have not been released, it is not clear who their lawyers are. Attorneys familiar with the Cuban Adjustment Act, which has given Cubans a virtually guaranteed path to legal residency and eventual citizenship, said the Cubans could have permission to stay on humanitarian grounds. Because they were brought ashore by the Coast Guard, they could benefit from the 55-year-old law, which allows Cubans to apply for legal permanent residency a year after their arrival and released into the community, lawyers say. “Sooner or later ICE will have to release these people to the community. They did not come here illegally,” said Lorenzo Palomares, an immigration lawyer. The U.S. Coast Guard did not respond to requests clarifying what considerations were made before the group was flown into the United States. It was unclear whether the group was originally bound for the U.S. or simply lost at sea, and the Coast Guard has said it focused merely on rescuing them. However, the rocky, uninhabited island is routinely monitored by the Coast Guard for strandings of migrants hoping to reach U.S. soil. Lt. Riley Beecher, a Coast Guard pilot, said that while on a routine mission they saw on Monday what looked like flags waving in the usually brown and light green topography. “I thought ‘let’s take a closer look.’ I had never seen anything on that island.” Lt. Beecher said. “Then I saw two people were frantically waving their hands trying to get us to come down.” The crew dropped fresh water and a radio to the three before another crew flew in additional supplies Monday prior to the three being pulled out Tuesday. The Coast Guard said the three told of drinking from coconuts to stay hydrated and eating rats and the meat of conchs, a sea mollusk. David Abraham, a professor of immigration and citizenship law at the University of Miami school of law, said the migrants’ status could be in limbo because it’s unclear if they were considered to have been detained at sea. Abraham said it will be interesting to see how Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration will handle this case, considering that former Democratic President Barack Obama – in thawing relations with Cuba – had halted the “wet foot, dry foot” policy that in effect considered any Cuban who set foot on dry land to be automatically a legal arrival. Thereafter, authorities were able to turn back Cuban migrants who were seeking to enter the country illegally, even after they had set foot on land, though many continued to come and seek protection under asylum laws. Republican President Donald Trump reversed Obama’s thaw and reinstated economic sanctions on Cuba but did not revert to the “wet foot, dry foot” policy, and his administration also took a harder line on asylum applications. Some Cubans have been detained for months at ICE detention centers without being able to obtain parole that would allow them to apply for residency in a year. “This may provide the Biden administration an opportunity,” Abraham said. “The Trump administration, as part of its general crackdown, did not honor that exception for Cubans. In the past ICE would have without question released these folks, paroled them from detention into the community. It would be interesting to see if they do that now.”