Neighbors react to chaos at Barefoot LakeThe story of Ollie’s Pub and what kept it open through years of hardships
BAREFOOT LAKE Neighbors react to chaos at Barefoot Lake Imagine being scared to leave your home on the weekends. Ana and Anrik understand the feeling all too well.
CAPE CORAL The story of Ollie’s Pub and what kept it open through years of hardships Before Ollie’s housed weekly events, packed to the brim with artwork and home to many, it was a simple dream and an empty space.
Most Wanted Wednesday: Southwest Florida’s most wanted suspects for May 1, 2024 Here are some of Southwest Florida’s most wanted suspects for May 1, 2024.
FORT MYERS BEACH Remembering Fort Myers Beach ‘Mayor’ Brad Benson To know Brad Benson was to know a legend. He recently passed away at the age of 71 after battling health issues.
CAPE CORAL Proposed Cape Coral City Council meeting time change fails In a 4 to 4 vote, the motion to move Cape Coral meeting times from 4:30 to 9 a.m. failed.
Greater Dunbar initiative begins A duplex that has been around since the 1960s and is filled with generations of memories is being demolished.
Caught on camera: funnel clouds, hail and more during thunderstorm Wednesday’s thunderstorms storms have produced hail and funnel clouds.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA New mammography guidelines Breast cancer is much easier to treat when it’s caught early.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral church picking up the pieces after massive fire Calvary Connection ministries is unrecognizable after a massive fire swept through a Cape Coral Complex on Monday.
CAPE CORAL Day Two of FEMA code compliance hearings in Cape Coral Another 50 people were summoned Wednesday for the second day of code compliance hearings before the special magistrate.
PUNTA GORDA Cracking down on vapes in Charlotte County schools Vaping is taking over, and that’s why three Charlotte County High schools are testing out vape sensors.
State lawmakers want to hear your opinion on voting in Lee County Right now, everyone votes for or against all five of the Lee Commissioners, but they’re talking about changing the system so that each commissioner represents a specific part of the county.
FORT MYERS Migrants entering Florida under controversial parole program The House Committee on Homeland Security has released documents, which show a surge in migrants entering the United States through a parole program, sparking debate over immigration policies and border security.
North Collier firefighter beats cancer, educates others on safety He’s a father, son, friend and mentor, but for the last four years, he’s been in a battle for his life.
CAPE CORAL Man arrested in connection to brother’s death in Cape Coral A man wanted for questioning in the death of his brother at his Cape Coral home has been arrested in Pennsylvania.
BAREFOOT LAKE Neighbors react to chaos at Barefoot Lake Imagine being scared to leave your home on the weekends. Ana and Anrik understand the feeling all too well.
CAPE CORAL The story of Ollie’s Pub and what kept it open through years of hardships Before Ollie’s housed weekly events, packed to the brim with artwork and home to many, it was a simple dream and an empty space.
Most Wanted Wednesday: Southwest Florida’s most wanted suspects for May 1, 2024 Here are some of Southwest Florida’s most wanted suspects for May 1, 2024.
FORT MYERS BEACH Remembering Fort Myers Beach ‘Mayor’ Brad Benson To know Brad Benson was to know a legend. He recently passed away at the age of 71 after battling health issues.
CAPE CORAL Proposed Cape Coral City Council meeting time change fails In a 4 to 4 vote, the motion to move Cape Coral meeting times from 4:30 to 9 a.m. failed.
Greater Dunbar initiative begins A duplex that has been around since the 1960s and is filled with generations of memories is being demolished.
Caught on camera: funnel clouds, hail and more during thunderstorm Wednesday’s thunderstorms storms have produced hail and funnel clouds.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA New mammography guidelines Breast cancer is much easier to treat when it’s caught early.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral church picking up the pieces after massive fire Calvary Connection ministries is unrecognizable after a massive fire swept through a Cape Coral Complex on Monday.
CAPE CORAL Day Two of FEMA code compliance hearings in Cape Coral Another 50 people were summoned Wednesday for the second day of code compliance hearings before the special magistrate.
PUNTA GORDA Cracking down on vapes in Charlotte County schools Vaping is taking over, and that’s why three Charlotte County High schools are testing out vape sensors.
State lawmakers want to hear your opinion on voting in Lee County Right now, everyone votes for or against all five of the Lee Commissioners, but they’re talking about changing the system so that each commissioner represents a specific part of the county.
FORT MYERS Migrants entering Florida under controversial parole program The House Committee on Homeland Security has released documents, which show a surge in migrants entering the United States through a parole program, sparking debate over immigration policies and border security.
North Collier firefighter beats cancer, educates others on safety He’s a father, son, friend and mentor, but for the last four years, he’s been in a battle for his life.
CAPE CORAL Man arrested in connection to brother’s death in Cape Coral A man wanted for questioning in the death of his brother at his Cape Coral home has been arrested in Pennsylvania.
FILE – In this May 14, 2013, file photo, the Department of Justice headquarters building in Washington is photographed early in the morning. (AP Photo/J. David Ake, File) The Department of Justice announced on Thursday that it is seeking $9.9 million from a Montana man who has allegedly made nearly 5,000 robocalls, many of which were xenophobic, racist and threatening, to people across several states. The massive fine was first imposed by the Federal Communications Commission on January 14. The agency said at the time that the man, 52-year-old Scott Rhodes from Libby, Montana, had targeted specific communities with “harmful pre-recorded messages” starting in 2017. “The robocalls included xenophobic fearmongering (including to a victim’s family), racist attacks on political candidates, an apparent attempt to influence the jury in a domestic terrorism case, and threatening language toward a local journalist,” the FCC said in January. The Justice Department said that hundreds of the calls targeted people in Brooklyn, Iowa after local college student Mollie Tibbetts was murdered. Rhodes allegedly told people that she had been murdered by a “biological hybrid of white and savage Aztec ancestors,” and that if she “could be brought back to life for just one moment,” she would ask the person Rhodes called to “kill them all.” Officials said more than 2,000 of the robocalls targeted residents of Charlottesville, Virginia during the jury selection for James Alex Fields Jr., the man who killed Heather Heyer and injured dozens of others when he drove a car through a crowd during the 2017 “Unite the Right” rally. The DOJ said that these calls included anti-Semitic and racist messages about the city’s Jewish mayor and Black police chief, and used fat shaming language about the woman killed during the rally. “It is unlawful to spoof caller ID numbers to trick consumers into answering unwanted phone calls with the intent to defraud, cause harm or wrongfully obtain anything of value,” the Justice Department’s Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian Boynton said in a statement. “The department will work with its agency partners to vigorously enforce the telemarketing laws that prohibit these practices.” The DOJ said its criminal complaint is to recover the fine issued by the FCC and “obtain an injunction that would prevent Rhodes from committing any further violations of the Truth in Caller ID Act.” Rhodes had made the calls using an online calling platform that manipulates caller ID information to make it look like he was calling people from local numbers, the FCC said, a method called “neighbor spoofing.” The FCC said that along with wanting to cause harm, Rhodes wanted to “gain media notoriety and publicity for his website and personal brand.” In its forfeiture order, the FCC said that Rhodes promoted an entity called “The Road to Power” as part of his calls. Along with the harassing messages, they said, he directed people to the entity’s website The entity is believed to have paid for racist phone calls to Florida Democratic gubernatorial nominee Andrew Gillum in 2018. In the calls, someone falsely representing themselves as Gillum speaks in a racist, minstrel dialect while asking for voter support. “The Road to Power” has also taken credit for anti-Semitic robocalls targeting Democratic U.S. Representative Mark DeSaulnier earlier that year. The forfeiture order came a year after Rhodes had been served with a Notice of Apparent Liability, which gave him an opportunity to dispute the allegations, the FCC said. In Rhodes’ response, he said that the notice represents a “politically motivated gross overreach of FCC authority” that showcases the “corruption” of “minority in-groups” within the commission, an FCC report shows. The commission said it was not convinced of the majority of Rhodes’ argument, but was persuaded by his right to use one of the many caller IDs used during his series of robocalls. Given that right, they said, they reduced his original forfeiture amount from $12.9 million. He had 30 days to pay the amount, and his failure to do so prompted the Department of Justice’s involvement.