Pastrami Dan’s reopens in Naples after SUV crash Pastrami Dan’s in Naples welcomed customers once again, with people waiting at the door.
FORT MYERS Fort Myers family blessed with new home In about sixty days, Myrtle Dillard’s home on Lincoln Boulevard went from being run-down and unlivable to brand new.
PORT CHARLOTTE Port Charlotte woman’s student loans forgiveness after consolidation One Port Charlotte woman was skeptical of her student loan consolidation and potential forgiveness but an email over the weekend changed her life.
IRVING, Texas (AP) Boy Scouts of America changing name to more inclusive Scouting America after years of woes The Boy Scouts of America is changing its name for the first time in its 114-year history and will become Scouting America.
CAPE CORAL Man arrested after police allege he threatened to stab 7-Eleven workers Police have arrested a man who threatened to stab two 7-Eleven gas station employees with a knife.
NEW YORK (AP) Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial Stormy Daniels took the witness stand Tuesday at Donald Trump’s hush money trial, describing for jurors a sexual encounter the porn actor says she had with him in 2006
Despite SUV crash into Pastrami Dan’s, plans for 50th continue The popular local eatery reopened May 7 after being temporarily closed since a woman drove a Toyota Rav4 SUV into the side of the restaurant on the morning of May 3.
CCSO deputies reminding you not to leave valuables inside the car The Collier County Sheriff’s Office said there were 30 vehicle burglaries in Collier County in April.
NORTH FORT MYERS Heavy police presence on Capitol Street home in North Fort Myers Several Lee County Sheriff’s Office and Fort Myers Fire Department units were seen outside of a home in North Fort Myers.
BONITA SPRINGS Deputies investigating death at Bonita Springs home Lee County Sheriff’s Office deputies are investigating a death at a home in Bonita Springs.
Fifth Third Bank branch to be built on former SunTrust Punta Gorda site According to project plans sent to the city, the current building will be demolished, and a single-story Fifth Third Bank branch will stand in its place. Assuming approval, the branch is expected to open in the second half of 2025, a banks spokesperson said.
WINK NEWS Gov. DeSantis signs tax relief package for Floridians Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has renewed the Disaster Preparedness Sales Tax Holiday among other tax-free incentives for Floridians.
Fort Myers debates future of police review board A new law signed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis will change oversight with local police departments and the citizens they protect.
FORT MYERS Lifting weights brings Bishop Verot’s football team together Football teams are spending their days in the iron paradise as spring practice is on for high school football.
LEHIGH ACRES Traffic signal for Lee Blvd. and Joan Ave. North approved The Lee Board of County Commissioners approved measures to install a traffic signal, new lighting, upgraded drainage, and more.
Pastrami Dan’s reopens in Naples after SUV crash Pastrami Dan’s in Naples welcomed customers once again, with people waiting at the door.
FORT MYERS Fort Myers family blessed with new home In about sixty days, Myrtle Dillard’s home on Lincoln Boulevard went from being run-down and unlivable to brand new.
PORT CHARLOTTE Port Charlotte woman’s student loans forgiveness after consolidation One Port Charlotte woman was skeptical of her student loan consolidation and potential forgiveness but an email over the weekend changed her life.
IRVING, Texas (AP) Boy Scouts of America changing name to more inclusive Scouting America after years of woes The Boy Scouts of America is changing its name for the first time in its 114-year history and will become Scouting America.
CAPE CORAL Man arrested after police allege he threatened to stab 7-Eleven workers Police have arrested a man who threatened to stab two 7-Eleven gas station employees with a knife.
NEW YORK (AP) Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial Stormy Daniels took the witness stand Tuesday at Donald Trump’s hush money trial, describing for jurors a sexual encounter the porn actor says she had with him in 2006
Despite SUV crash into Pastrami Dan’s, plans for 50th continue The popular local eatery reopened May 7 after being temporarily closed since a woman drove a Toyota Rav4 SUV into the side of the restaurant on the morning of May 3.
CCSO deputies reminding you not to leave valuables inside the car The Collier County Sheriff’s Office said there were 30 vehicle burglaries in Collier County in April.
NORTH FORT MYERS Heavy police presence on Capitol Street home in North Fort Myers Several Lee County Sheriff’s Office and Fort Myers Fire Department units were seen outside of a home in North Fort Myers.
BONITA SPRINGS Deputies investigating death at Bonita Springs home Lee County Sheriff’s Office deputies are investigating a death at a home in Bonita Springs.
Fifth Third Bank branch to be built on former SunTrust Punta Gorda site According to project plans sent to the city, the current building will be demolished, and a single-story Fifth Third Bank branch will stand in its place. Assuming approval, the branch is expected to open in the second half of 2025, a banks spokesperson said.
WINK NEWS Gov. DeSantis signs tax relief package for Floridians Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has renewed the Disaster Preparedness Sales Tax Holiday among other tax-free incentives for Floridians.
Fort Myers debates future of police review board A new law signed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis will change oversight with local police departments and the citizens they protect.
FORT MYERS Lifting weights brings Bishop Verot’s football team together Football teams are spending their days in the iron paradise as spring practice is on for high school football.
LEHIGH ACRES Traffic signal for Lee Blvd. and Joan Ave. North approved The Lee Board of County Commissioners approved measures to install a traffic signal, new lighting, upgraded drainage, and more.
Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at the University of Florida in Gainesville. (File/AP) The accrediting organization for the University of Florida has taken preliminary steps that could lead to a probe into whether the university faces “non-compliance issues” over its decision to block three professors from serving as expert witnesses in a high-profile voting rights lawsuit. With an investigation looming, the university clarified that the political science professors would be allowed to testify as plaintiffs’ witnesses if they don’t get paid or use school resources. Professors Daniel Smith, Michael McDonald and Sharon Austin were set to testify as plaintiffs’ witnesses in a federal lawsuit challenging a new Florida election law that, in part, makes it harder for people to vote by mail. Florida’s Republican-controlled Legislature passed the measure (SB 90) during the 2021 legislative session this spring, fulfilling a priority of Gov. Ron DeSantis. The lawsuit filed in May on behalf of the groups Florida Rising Together, Faith in Florida, UnidosUS, the Equal Ground Education Fund, the Hispanic Federation and Poder Latinx, contends that the changes dealing with issues such as voting by mail could curtail voting by Black and Latino residents. A document filed by the plaintiffs on Friday said the university notified the professors that they would be prohibited from testifying in the case. According to the court document, the university told the professors that “outside activities that may pose a conflict of interest to the executive branch of the state of Florida create a conflict” for the university. The university’s stance garnered national headlines over the weekend. Belle Wheelan, president of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, said Monday her organization is asking University of Florida President Kent Fuchs for an explanation. “We are following our ‘unsolicited information policy’ and investigating the issue. It involves a letter to the president asking for information to verify or clarify the news media’s account of what happened. From there, we will decide if there are any non-compliance issues,” Wheelan told The News Service of Florida in an email. The University of Florida issued a statement over the weekend saying that the school “has a long track record of supporting free speech and our faculty’s academic freedom.” The university disputed that the professors’ First Amendment rights were being violated. “Rather, the university denied requests of these full-time employees to undertake outside paid work that is adverse to the university’s interests as a state of Florida institution. ” the statement said. The university later clarified its position. “It is worth noting, the university views the professors’ request as a request to be paid to testify against the state, and the university, as a public institution, is part of the state — therefore, that would be adverse to the university’s interests. However, to be clear, if the professors wish to do so pro bono on their own time without using university resources, they would be free to do so,” university officials said in a statement provided to the News Service Monday. But McDonald indicated that the university’s objections to the professors acting as expert witnesses was not related to their compensation. “Lots of folks asking what if we do the work pro bono? Our compensation was not given as a reason in the original disapproval from UF. That is new language the university added in its PR statement,” McDonald tweeted Saturday. The document filed by the plaintiffs Friday noted that University of Florida professors have “historically been approved to serve as experts in numerous other cases both on behalf of and adverse to the state of Florida before” and alleged that the university’s objections were specifically related to the 2021 election law. Higher-education advocacy group The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education is backing the professors. “The profound civic importance of fair trials requires the ability of fact and expert witnesses to come forward to testify truthfully without fear that their government employer might retaliate against them. Public university faculty are no exception. We call on UF to reverse course immediately,” the organization said in a statement Saturday. A coalition of 36 academic political scientists from across the nation penned an open letter calling on the university to reverse its decision, saying that the school displayed “a fundamental misunderstanding of the role of expert witnesses in election-related litigation.” “In denying these professors the ability to offer evidence and testimony to a federal court and prohibiting them from answering empirical questions about the effects of voting law changes, the university is acting as if faculty are agents of the current leadership of Florida state government,” the letter said.