Saint James City man sentenced to 5 years for possessing child sexual abuse materialSword-wielding Cape Coral man accused of threatening person with Molotov Cocktail
SAINT JAMES CITY Saint James City man sentenced to 5 years for possessing child sexual abuse material A St. James City man has been sentenced to five years for possessing images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of children.
CAPE CORAL Sword-wielding Cape Coral man accused of threatening person with Molotov Cocktail The Cape Coral Police Department arrested a man who allegedly threatened another person with a sword and Molotov Cocktail.
PORT CHARLOTTE Tampa Bay Rays announces spring training season in Port Charlotte The Tampa Bay Rays have announced spring training ticket information for the 2025 spring season in Port Charlotte.
Fort Myers Job Fair set to begin; on-site interviews and offers possible The Fort Myes Job Fair is set to begin, with over 100 openings available from various employers.
the weather authority Tracking rain and storms for your Wednesday afternoon The Weather Authority is tracking a strong cold front along with rain and storms throughout your Wednesday afternoon.
Man arrested following intense vehicle pursuit; accused of shooting into pregnant girlfriend’s home The Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office arrested a man accused of shooting into his pregnant girlfriend’s home and leading law enforcement through a multi-county pursuit.
Vehicle pursuit in Charlotte County ends in crash A pursuit between the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office and a vehicle on Interstate 75 ended in a crash.
Red tide looms off Southwest Florida coastline Beware of the beach! Red tide is making its way towards Southwest Florida once again.
FORT MYERS BEACH $1.2 million approved for repairs for FMB and Sanibel schools This hurricane season left an expensive mess at Fort Myers Beach Elementary and the Sanibel school, but who’s paying the $1.2 million price tag?
FORT MYERS Teen carjacks woman after escaping mental health facility A teenager accused of carjacking a woman in a church parking lot on Friday had just escaped from a facility where he was being held under the Baker Act, according to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office.
Teachers union raises issues with Lee County School District after arbitration Being a teacher is just like any other profession. Teachers need to take days off, get sick, and sometimes cover for co-workers.
LABELLE LaBelle Animal Shelter hoping to raise money to avoid property being sold The owner of Animal Rescue Inc. in LaBelle is doing everything she can to prevent the shelter from disappearing in a matter of months.
County settlement allows Links of Naples golf course to redevelop into homes Collier County residents are vocalizing their concerns over the commissioner’s decision to develop housing on the Naples Golf Course.
FORT MYERS Fort Myers mayor weighs in on possible city hall relocation With Lee Memorial Hospital scheduled to close in 2027, discussions over what will replace the building are in full swing and whether Fort Myers City Hall is the right choice.
Toys for Tots: A 77-Year tradition of service and holiday cheer Toys for Tots aims to bring gifts to children and their families who may not be able to afford them for the holidays.
SAINT JAMES CITY Saint James City man sentenced to 5 years for possessing child sexual abuse material A St. James City man has been sentenced to five years for possessing images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of children.
CAPE CORAL Sword-wielding Cape Coral man accused of threatening person with Molotov Cocktail The Cape Coral Police Department arrested a man who allegedly threatened another person with a sword and Molotov Cocktail.
PORT CHARLOTTE Tampa Bay Rays announces spring training season in Port Charlotte The Tampa Bay Rays have announced spring training ticket information for the 2025 spring season in Port Charlotte.
Fort Myers Job Fair set to begin; on-site interviews and offers possible The Fort Myes Job Fair is set to begin, with over 100 openings available from various employers.
the weather authority Tracking rain and storms for your Wednesday afternoon The Weather Authority is tracking a strong cold front along with rain and storms throughout your Wednesday afternoon.
Man arrested following intense vehicle pursuit; accused of shooting into pregnant girlfriend’s home The Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office arrested a man accused of shooting into his pregnant girlfriend’s home and leading law enforcement through a multi-county pursuit.
Vehicle pursuit in Charlotte County ends in crash A pursuit between the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office and a vehicle on Interstate 75 ended in a crash.
Red tide looms off Southwest Florida coastline Beware of the beach! Red tide is making its way towards Southwest Florida once again.
FORT MYERS BEACH $1.2 million approved for repairs for FMB and Sanibel schools This hurricane season left an expensive mess at Fort Myers Beach Elementary and the Sanibel school, but who’s paying the $1.2 million price tag?
FORT MYERS Teen carjacks woman after escaping mental health facility A teenager accused of carjacking a woman in a church parking lot on Friday had just escaped from a facility where he was being held under the Baker Act, according to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office.
Teachers union raises issues with Lee County School District after arbitration Being a teacher is just like any other profession. Teachers need to take days off, get sick, and sometimes cover for co-workers.
LABELLE LaBelle Animal Shelter hoping to raise money to avoid property being sold The owner of Animal Rescue Inc. in LaBelle is doing everything she can to prevent the shelter from disappearing in a matter of months.
County settlement allows Links of Naples golf course to redevelop into homes Collier County residents are vocalizing their concerns over the commissioner’s decision to develop housing on the Naples Golf Course.
FORT MYERS Fort Myers mayor weighs in on possible city hall relocation With Lee Memorial Hospital scheduled to close in 2027, discussions over what will replace the building are in full swing and whether Fort Myers City Hall is the right choice.
Toys for Tots: A 77-Year tradition of service and holiday cheer Toys for Tots aims to bring gifts to children and their families who may not be able to afford them for the holidays.
In this screen grab from video, former Brooklyn Center Police Officer Kim Potter takes questions from the prosecution as she testifies in court, Friday, Dec. 17, 2021 at the Hennepin County Courthouse in Minneapolis, Minn. Potter is charged with first and second-degree manslaughter in the April 11 shooting of Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black motorist, following a traffic stop in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Center. (Court TV, via AP, Pool) Closing arguments are set for Monday in the manslaughter trial of the former Minnesota police officer who says she meant to use her Taser instead of her gun when she shot and killed Daunte Wright as he tried to drive away from a traffic stop. Kim Potter’s case will go to the mostly white jury after Judge Regina Chu gives them final instructions. The judge has already told jurors that she will not make them deliberate on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. They’ll return after the holiday if they haven’t reached a verdict by then. The defense rested Friday after Potter told jurors that she “didn’t want to hurt anybody,” saying during her sometimes tearful testimony that she shouted a warning about using her Taser on Wright after she saw fear in a fellow officer’s face. Potter, 49, testified that she was “sorry it happened.” She said she didn’t remember what she said or everything that happened after the shooting, saying much of her memory of those moments “is missing.” Potter is charged with first-degree and second-degree manslaughter in the April 11 death of Wright, a 20-year-old Black motorist who was pulled over in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Center for having expired license tags and an air freshener hanging from his rearview mirror. Potter, who was training another officer at the time, said she probably wouldn’t have pulled Wright’s car over if she had been on her own that day. After that initial encounter, the traffic stop “just went chaotic,” she testified. “I remember yelling, ‘Taser, Taser, Taser,’ and nothing happened, and then he told me I shot him,” Potter, who is white, said through tears. Her body camera recorded Wright saying, “Ah, he shot me,” after the shooting. Potter’s attorneys argued that she made a mistake but also would have been justified in using deadly force if she had meant to because Sgt. Mychal Johnson was at risk of being dragged by Wright’s car. During cross-examination, prosecutor Erin Eldridge noted that Potter told a defense expert that she didn’t know why she drew her Taser. Quoting from the expert’s report, Eldridge said Potter told him: “I don’t have an answer, my brain said grab the Taser.” Potter testified she didn’t recall saying that. Prosecutors have argued that Potter had extensive training about Taser use and in use of deadly force, including warnings about confusing the two weapons. Eldridge got Potter to agree that her use-of-force training was a “key component” of being an officer. Potter testified that she was trained on when to use force and how much to use, and that there was a department policy that dictated what officers could or could not do. Wright’s death set off angry demonstrations for several days in Brooklyn Center. It happened as another white officer, Derek Chauvin, was standing trial in nearby Minneapolis for the killing of George Floyd. Before Potter took the stand, a defense witness testified that police officers can mistakenly draw their guns instead of their Tasers under high-stress situations because their ingrained training takes over. Laurence Miller, a psychologist who teaches at Florida Atlantic University, said that the more someone repeats the same act, the less they have to think about it and there can be circumstances during a stressful situation in which someone’s normal reactions may be “hijacked.” Some experts are skeptical of the theory. Geoffrey Alpert, a criminology professor at the University of South Carolina who is not involved in Potter’s trial, has said there’s no science behind it. State sentencing guidelines call for just over seven years in prison upon conviction of first-degree manslaughter and four years for second-degree, though prosecutors have said they plan to push for longer sentences. ___ Associated Press writers Tammy Webber in Fenton, Michigan, and Steve Karnowski in Minneapolis contributed to this report.