Naples football set for first state semifinal appearance in six yearsFSW volleyball celebrates history with third straight national title
NAPLES Naples football set for first state semifinal appearance in six years The Naples Golden Eagles are the lone Southwest Florida football team still standing in the drive to the 305.
FSW FSW volleyball celebrates history with third straight national title The FSW volleyball team became the first team ever to win three straight NJCAA national titles at the Division I level.
FORT MYERS Police report reveals how child with autism got out of house before drowning in Fort Myers pond A police report has been released revealing new details on how a 7-year-old boy with autism was able to leave his home before drowning in Fort Myers.
FORT MYERS Fort Myers Firecats 11U team headed to Pop Warner Super Bowl The Fort Myers Firecats 11U football team won the Southeast Region to earn the program’s first trip to the Pop Warner Super Bowl.
NAPLES New details released on former city employee accused of embezzlement More details have been released on purchases made by a former Naples city employee accused of embezzlement.
Hong Kong investor buys former Sears at Edison Mall for $5.8M Edison Florida Real Estate LLC bought the buildings at 4125 Cleveland Ave. on Nov. 18.
FEMA to hold farm recovery events for Lee and Hendry counties FEMA is set to hold a farm recovery event for both Lee and Hendry counties to educate farmers on available government assistance programs.
FEMA approves $4.58 million for Charlotte County debris removal FEMA has approved an additional $114 million to reimburse Florida communities for debris removal after hurricanes Milton, Helene and Debby.
NAPLES Attorney for Naples mayor granted deposition to question officer for DUI arrest The attorney defending the mayor of Naples after she was arrested for DUI has been granted his request to depose a Naples police officer who responded to a call saying she was driving drunk.
HENDRY COUNTY Man dies in construction-related accident in Hendry County A man has died after a construction-related accident early this morning at a South Florida Water Management project area in Hendry County.
FORT MYERS BEACH Precautionary boil water notice in effect for Fort Myers Beach A precautionary boil water notice is in effect for all residents of Fort Myers Beach due to a water main break on Estero Boulevard.
LEE COUNTY Lee Commissioners accept $22.7M state grant for water management project at Larry Kiker Preserve The Lee Board of County Commissioners voted on Tuesday to accept a $22.7 million Resilient Florida Grant for a water management project.
LEE COUNTY Lee Commissioners vote to adopt Lee County Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan The Lee Board of County Commissioners voted Tuesday to approve a resolution adopting the Lee County Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan.
FORT MYERS Accused prowler arrested after deputies find cell phone and ID at Lee County crime scene Deputies have arrested a man after discovering his cell phone and driver’s license at the scene where they responded to calls about a suspicious person.
FORT MYERS Precautionary lockdowns for 2 Fort Myers schools lifted The Lee County School District has lifted its precautionary lockdowns on two Fort Myers schools early Tuesday morning.
NAPLES Naples football set for first state semifinal appearance in six years The Naples Golden Eagles are the lone Southwest Florida football team still standing in the drive to the 305.
FSW FSW volleyball celebrates history with third straight national title The FSW volleyball team became the first team ever to win three straight NJCAA national titles at the Division I level.
FORT MYERS Police report reveals how child with autism got out of house before drowning in Fort Myers pond A police report has been released revealing new details on how a 7-year-old boy with autism was able to leave his home before drowning in Fort Myers.
FORT MYERS Fort Myers Firecats 11U team headed to Pop Warner Super Bowl The Fort Myers Firecats 11U football team won the Southeast Region to earn the program’s first trip to the Pop Warner Super Bowl.
NAPLES New details released on former city employee accused of embezzlement More details have been released on purchases made by a former Naples city employee accused of embezzlement.
Hong Kong investor buys former Sears at Edison Mall for $5.8M Edison Florida Real Estate LLC bought the buildings at 4125 Cleveland Ave. on Nov. 18.
FEMA to hold farm recovery events for Lee and Hendry counties FEMA is set to hold a farm recovery event for both Lee and Hendry counties to educate farmers on available government assistance programs.
FEMA approves $4.58 million for Charlotte County debris removal FEMA has approved an additional $114 million to reimburse Florida communities for debris removal after hurricanes Milton, Helene and Debby.
NAPLES Attorney for Naples mayor granted deposition to question officer for DUI arrest The attorney defending the mayor of Naples after she was arrested for DUI has been granted his request to depose a Naples police officer who responded to a call saying she was driving drunk.
HENDRY COUNTY Man dies in construction-related accident in Hendry County A man has died after a construction-related accident early this morning at a South Florida Water Management project area in Hendry County.
FORT MYERS BEACH Precautionary boil water notice in effect for Fort Myers Beach A precautionary boil water notice is in effect for all residents of Fort Myers Beach due to a water main break on Estero Boulevard.
LEE COUNTY Lee Commissioners accept $22.7M state grant for water management project at Larry Kiker Preserve The Lee Board of County Commissioners voted on Tuesday to accept a $22.7 million Resilient Florida Grant for a water management project.
LEE COUNTY Lee Commissioners vote to adopt Lee County Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan The Lee Board of County Commissioners voted Tuesday to approve a resolution adopting the Lee County Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan.
FORT MYERS Accused prowler arrested after deputies find cell phone and ID at Lee County crime scene Deputies have arrested a man after discovering his cell phone and driver’s license at the scene where they responded to calls about a suspicious person.
FORT MYERS Precautionary lockdowns for 2 Fort Myers schools lifted The Lee County School District has lifted its precautionary lockdowns on two Fort Myers schools early Tuesday morning.
FILE – Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson testifies during her Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, March 23, 2022. The Harvard-educated Jackson is making history, the first Black woman nominated in the court’s 233 years. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File) “Senator,” she said, letting out an audible sigh. In that singular moment, Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson spoke for countless Black women who have had to gather all the patience, strength and grace within to answer insinuating questions about their credentials, qualifications and character. It was Day One of questioning at the Senate Judiciary Committee as the Harvard-educated Jackson, the first Black woman to be nominated for the nation’s highest court, was making history. The federal judge had to endure hours of public scrutiny from skeptics, namely the Republican senators who are erecting a wall of opposition to her landmark nomination, the first in the court’s 233-year history, and may vote en bloc against her confirmation. “It was really traumatizing to watch,” said Melanie L. Campbell, president and CEO of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation and convener of the Black Women’s Roundtable. From questioning of Jackson’s view of books on critical race theory that drew her exasperated sigh — “They don’t come up in my work as a judge,” she said — to the loaded suggestion that the sentences she imposed on child pornography defendants were too lenient, the questions from the Republicans tapped into long-standing American grievances over race, class and public safety. The insinuations that Jackson, a distinguished jurist and mother of two, is a secret radical liberal or poses a danger to the safety of children felt to some supporters as yet another example of highly qualified Black women having to endure indignities and distortions of their credentials, even as they shatter racial barriers in American society. Campbell told The Associated Press that “the othering of her, in a sense, like she’s against our children,” seemed like a tired political tactic. “My spirit feels it was to bring this Black woman down because she’s about to break the glass ceiling that, once broken, opens the door to more.” Democrats praise President Joe Biden’s choice of Jackson as long overdue, a chance to start making the court more reflective of the diverse nation it serves. But they have been slow to bolster the judge’s nomination against the unrelenting attacks and instead allowed them to linger. Over and over during her hearings, Republican Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Josh Hawley of Missouri hammered Jackson on a handful of the many cases she handled as a judge, asking if she regretted having a record that, in their view, is soft on child pornography defendants. No matter how many times Jackson asserted, for example, that the child pornography cases were some of “the most difficult” of her career or tried to explain the particulars of the law, the GOP senators talked over her, past her and pushed onward in their attempt to portray the nominee as they wished. “I can only wonder what’s your hidden agenda,” asked Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., pointing to one of the judge’s earlier writings. “Is it to let violent criminals, cop killers and child predators back to the streets? … Is it your personal hidden agenda to incorporate critical race theory into our legal system?” These senators insisted their questions were not about race. In fact, Graham opened with a warning that the questioners would be framed as racist. “We’re all racists if we ask hard questions. It’s not going to fly with us.” Yet Republicans ignored analysis that shows Jackson’s sentencing record on such cases is on track with other judges appointed by both Democrats and Republican presidents, and that in some cases she went beyond recommendations to come down harder on defendants. “What I regret,” Jackson told the senators, “is that in the hearing about my qualifications to be a justice on the Supreme Court, we’ve spent a lot of time focusing on this small subset of my sentences.” For many supporters of Jackson, the Republicans’ cherry-picking of her record tarnished a momentous occasion. Nina Turner, a former Ohio state senator who was a prominent surrogate for Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2020 Democratic presidential campaign, criticized Democratic members on the committee for not defending Jackson more vigorously. “She should not have had to endure what she endured,” Turner told the AP. “The Democratic senators should have used their authority and positioning to show the requisite outrage necessary for that moment.” Overall, during her time on the district court bench, Jackson presided over 14 total cases of child sexual abuse, interstate travel for child sexual abuse cases and child pornography. The American Bar Association’s standing committee on the federal judiciary said in its survey of some 250 judges, attorneys and academics that words such as “brilliant,” “beyond reproach,” “fair” were used to describe Jackson, who earned the panel’s highest rating. “They uniformly rejected any accusations of bias,” said Jean Veta of the ABA committee. In a letter to the Senate committee, Fred Bowman, a University of Missouri law professor and former federal prosecutor, spoke of his dismay at the thought Jackson was somehow “soft” on these crimes. His letter was signed by other experts in the field. White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates blasted the Republican line of questioning as an “embarrassing conspiracy theory” that “has been conclusively debunked by fact check after fact check.” But alone before the panel, Jackson had difficulty convincing the Republican senators as she worked to explain the rules judges adhere to and the nuances of the wrenching cases they face. The GOP senators rarely accepted the judge’s answers and interjected or just ignored her explanations altogether. At one point, Jackson simply stopped answering: “Senator,” she said to Cruz, “I’ve said what I’m going to say about these cases. No one case can stand in for a judge’s entire record.” By Thursday, as the hearings concluded, Republican leaders in the Senate were using the issue — and her refusal to repeat earlier answers — as justification for opposing her confirmation. Throughout the four days of testimony, Black women filled many of the seats in the committee room. Those women included some of the leading civil rights figures and members of the Congressional Black Caucus, which ran its own “war room” to back up Jackson’s nomination. LaTosha Brown, cofounder of the group Black Voters Matter, said she had received numerous text messages from Black women who were both outraged by Jackson’s treatment from senators and heartened by her clear determination to endure the process. “I just got texts that said, ‘Persevere.’” It was a reference to Jackson’s own words of advice delivered at the hearing to young people who may have watched what the nominee endured and felt discouraged. “Black people in America,” Brown said, “if we don’t know anything else, we know what that word means.”