FORT MYERS The future of the Fort Myers yacht basin The Fort Myers yacht basin is lacking in the “yacht” part right now, or any boat for that matter. It’s been that way since Hurricane Ian hit.
VENICE BEACH Diving duo makes prehistoric discovery Half a mile off Venice Beach, deep below the surface of the water, two divers, Blair Morrow and Alex Lundberg, found a sign of prehistoric times buried in the sand.
Commissioner reacts to state attorney ruling in death of Christopher Jordan On Monday, the detective who fired the fatal shot that killed Christopher Jordan in his Fort Myers home went back to work.
PORT CHARLOTTE Is Sunseeker Resort losing money? It’s a place designed to bring in people and a lot of money to Charlotte County. The Sunseeker Resort opened on December 15 and features 785 rooms, 20 different food and beverage places, and 60,000 square feet of convention space.
NORTH PORT North and SB lanes shut down near Mile Marker 195 due to brush fire North Port Fire Rescue said to expect significant delays. They recommended drivers take an alternate route.
FORT MYERS Roundabout incoming for Winkler and Challenger intersection A new roundabout is coming to the City of Fort Myers at the intersection of Challenger Boulevard and Winkler Avenue.
FORT MYERS BEACH Fort Myers Beach church selling two acres of land Pastor Sean Critser’s congregation voted unanimously on Sunday to sell the front two acres of the church’s property for $4 million.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA Boaters at a loss with boat ramp closed There have been no boats coming out of the Punta Rassa boat ramp since 2022, after Hurricane Ian hit southwest Florida.
Realtor stops thief trying to steal and sell land Imagine someone pretends to be you and sells your home or land right from underneath you. Deed or property fraud happens more often than you think.
NORTH FORT MYERS Body cam footage of woman and her dog rescued from Prairie Preserve Pines A woman and her exhausted dog fight to survive while trapped in the elements and oppressive Florida heat.
NAPLES Local surgeon removing cancer through the mouth Surgery to remove cancers in the head and neck can sometimes leave patients with negative impacts long after the cancer is gone. But a new approach is cutting back on damage.
CAPE CORAL Byron Donalds holds town hall in Cape Coral From flood insurance to pythons and rebuilding from Ian nearly two years later, Southwest Florida has a lot on its plate.
Naples Airport move study finds 4 possible sites There’s a study looking at the possibility of moving the Naples Airport.
NAPLES Playing like a girl in Naples flag football league Through having a positive outlet and strong role models commissioner Lorna McLain hopes flag football makes a difference in the community.
FORT MYERS Caloosahatchee River Bridge to close for 10 weeks to speed up bridge project The Florida Department of Transportation announced a busy Fort Myers bridge is closing for more than two months.
FORT MYERS The future of the Fort Myers yacht basin The Fort Myers yacht basin is lacking in the “yacht” part right now, or any boat for that matter. It’s been that way since Hurricane Ian hit.
VENICE BEACH Diving duo makes prehistoric discovery Half a mile off Venice Beach, deep below the surface of the water, two divers, Blair Morrow and Alex Lundberg, found a sign of prehistoric times buried in the sand.
Commissioner reacts to state attorney ruling in death of Christopher Jordan On Monday, the detective who fired the fatal shot that killed Christopher Jordan in his Fort Myers home went back to work.
PORT CHARLOTTE Is Sunseeker Resort losing money? It’s a place designed to bring in people and a lot of money to Charlotte County. The Sunseeker Resort opened on December 15 and features 785 rooms, 20 different food and beverage places, and 60,000 square feet of convention space.
NORTH PORT North and SB lanes shut down near Mile Marker 195 due to brush fire North Port Fire Rescue said to expect significant delays. They recommended drivers take an alternate route.
FORT MYERS Roundabout incoming for Winkler and Challenger intersection A new roundabout is coming to the City of Fort Myers at the intersection of Challenger Boulevard and Winkler Avenue.
FORT MYERS BEACH Fort Myers Beach church selling two acres of land Pastor Sean Critser’s congregation voted unanimously on Sunday to sell the front two acres of the church’s property for $4 million.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA Boaters at a loss with boat ramp closed There have been no boats coming out of the Punta Rassa boat ramp since 2022, after Hurricane Ian hit southwest Florida.
Realtor stops thief trying to steal and sell land Imagine someone pretends to be you and sells your home or land right from underneath you. Deed or property fraud happens more often than you think.
NORTH FORT MYERS Body cam footage of woman and her dog rescued from Prairie Preserve Pines A woman and her exhausted dog fight to survive while trapped in the elements and oppressive Florida heat.
NAPLES Local surgeon removing cancer through the mouth Surgery to remove cancers in the head and neck can sometimes leave patients with negative impacts long after the cancer is gone. But a new approach is cutting back on damage.
CAPE CORAL Byron Donalds holds town hall in Cape Coral From flood insurance to pythons and rebuilding from Ian nearly two years later, Southwest Florida has a lot on its plate.
Naples Airport move study finds 4 possible sites There’s a study looking at the possibility of moving the Naples Airport.
NAPLES Playing like a girl in Naples flag football league Through having a positive outlet and strong role models commissioner Lorna McLain hopes flag football makes a difference in the community.
FORT MYERS Caloosahatchee River Bridge to close for 10 weeks to speed up bridge project The Florida Department of Transportation announced a busy Fort Myers bridge is closing for more than two months.
FILE – In this May 7, 2020, file photo, a person looks inside the closed doors of the Pasadena Community Job Center in Pasadena, Calif., during the coronavirus outbreak. While most Americans have weathered the pandemic financially, about 38 million say they are worse off now than before the outbreak began in the U.S. According to a new poll from Impact Genome and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research 55% of Americans say their financial circumstances are about the same now as a year ago, and 30% say their finances have improved. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File) The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits tumbled last week to 576,000, a post-COVID low and a hopeful sign that layoffs are easing as the economy recovers from the pandemic recession. The Labor Department said Thursday that applications plummeted by 193,000 from a revised 769,000 a week earlier. Jobless claims are now down sharply from a peak of 900,000 in early January. For the week ending March 27, 16.9 million people were continuing to collect jobless benefits, down from 18.2 million in the previous week. Those figures make clear that even as the economy has strengthened in recent weeks, millions are facing a loss of a job or income and have been struggling to pay bills or rent. The drop in claims comes after employers adding 916,000 jobs in March, the most since August, in a sign that a sustained recovery is taking hold as vaccinations accelerate, pandemic business restrictions are lifted in many states and Americans appear increasingly willing to travel, shop, eat out and otherwise spend again. The unemployment rate fell to 6%, from 6.2%, less than half the pandemic peak of nearly 15%. The nation’s unemployment rate has declined steadily, from a high of 14.8% a year ago to 6%. The last time the jobless rate was this low, weekly claims were around 350,000, still well below their current level. Economists point to a range of potential explanations for the discrepancy. For one thing, many states are still struggling to clear backlogs of applications from previous weeks. As a result, jobless claims being reported now may stem from layoffs that occurred weeks ago. Some states are also facing what they suspect is a sizable number of fraudulent claims for unemployment aid. Another possible factor is that under President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion rescue package, the federal government is now supplementing weekly jobless benefits by $300 a week — on top of the average state unemployment payment of about $340 — through September. That extra money may be encouraging more people to request unemployment aid. Still, not all unemployment applications are approved. The government reports each week on how many people have applied for aid — but not how many have actually received it. Claims are rejected if the applicants hadn’t earned enough money to qualify or had been fired or quit their jobs. Unemployment aid is intended for people who have been laid off through no fault of their own. Most analysts have grown bullish about the economy’s prospects for the coming months. They include Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who expressed his belief in an appearance last Sunday on “60 Minutes” that the economy is at “an inflection point” appears poised for a boom. “We feel like we’re at a place where the economy’s about to start growing much more quickly and job creation coming in much more quickly,” Powell said. “This growth that we’re expecting in the second half of this year is going to be very strong. And job creation, I would expect to be very strong.” Many economists, in fact, are concerned more about a potential burst of inflation stemming from the unleashing of pent-up consumer demand. Prices for lumber, copper, oil and other raw materials have already risen as demand for gas, homes and electronic equipment has jumped. Consumer prices rose 0.6% in March, the most since 2012, the government reported Tuesday, and are up 2.6% in the past year. Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, though, prices rose by a more benign 1.6% year over year. Powell has said that while inflation will likely pick up in the coming months, the price increases will probably ease as the pandemic-induced disruptions in many industries’ supply chains are worked out.