American Sand Sculpting Competition returns to Fort Myers BeachEnglewood nonprofit gives hope to residents amid hurricane recovery
FORT MYERS BEACH American Sand Sculpting Competition returns to Fort Myers Beach After a year’s long wait, the American Sand Sculpting Competition on Fort Myers Beach returned on Thursday.
ENGLEWOOD Englewood nonprofit gives hope to residents amid hurricane recovery Many people in Charlotte County were hit hard by storms this hurricane season, but that won’t stop them from giving back to their community.
NAPLES CSN’s Jayvian Tanelus and offensive line erupt in round one Community School of Naples’ offensive line and Jayvian Tanelus put on a show in round one of the playoffs earning them player of the week.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral family opens home up for the holidays A Cape Coral family has gotten over 1,000 interactions on a Facebook post after opening up their home for the holidays.
SANIBEL Sanibel police trained and certified to catch alligators by FWC Pinning an apex predator down with little more than bare hands and tape: That’s what the Sanibel Police Department went through during alligator-catching certification training.
Southwest Florida welcomes first proton beam therapy center This is a big week in cancer care for patients in Southwest Florida and beyond.
PUNTA GORDA Whats next after Punta Gorda city manager’s resignation? Punta Gorda city manager Greg Murray said he resigned Monday but told the council on Wednesday. Now, Melissa Reichert is the interim city manager.
FORT MYERS BEACH 34th annual American Sand Sculpting Championship begins on Fort Myers Beach After a years long wait, the American Sand Sculpting Competition on Fort Myers Beach returned on Thursday.
CAPE CORAL City council members talk about decision to repeal stipend ordinance A vote of 5 to 3 ends the saga over the Cape Coral City Council stipend and new members of the city council are sending a message they’re doing things differently.
FORT MYERS Fort Myers food pantry provides Thanksgiving meals to neighbors Dozens of people stopped by Sunshine Health’s food pantry one week before Thanksgiving. Sunshine Health is delivering hope.
FORT MYERS BEACH Fort Myers Beach loses FEMA insurance discount The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) has placed Fort Myers Beach (FMB) on probation.
FORT MYERS WINK News Game of the Week: Riverdale at Fort Myers Our WINK News Game of the Week is the regional semifinal matchup between Fort Myers and Riverdale, a rematch from the regular season finale two weeks ago.
NAPLES Hope for the Holidays turkey distribution event in Collier County A Naples nonprofit is expected to feed nearly 2,000 families.
Parts of Lee County to keep FEMA discount According to the Lee County Government, residents in parts of Lee County will keep their FEMA discount.
New blue-light system to be implemented to flag red-light runners Green means go, red means stop and blue means you just ran a red light.
FORT MYERS BEACH American Sand Sculpting Competition returns to Fort Myers Beach After a year’s long wait, the American Sand Sculpting Competition on Fort Myers Beach returned on Thursday.
ENGLEWOOD Englewood nonprofit gives hope to residents amid hurricane recovery Many people in Charlotte County were hit hard by storms this hurricane season, but that won’t stop them from giving back to their community.
NAPLES CSN’s Jayvian Tanelus and offensive line erupt in round one Community School of Naples’ offensive line and Jayvian Tanelus put on a show in round one of the playoffs earning them player of the week.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral family opens home up for the holidays A Cape Coral family has gotten over 1,000 interactions on a Facebook post after opening up their home for the holidays.
SANIBEL Sanibel police trained and certified to catch alligators by FWC Pinning an apex predator down with little more than bare hands and tape: That’s what the Sanibel Police Department went through during alligator-catching certification training.
Southwest Florida welcomes first proton beam therapy center This is a big week in cancer care for patients in Southwest Florida and beyond.
PUNTA GORDA Whats next after Punta Gorda city manager’s resignation? Punta Gorda city manager Greg Murray said he resigned Monday but told the council on Wednesday. Now, Melissa Reichert is the interim city manager.
FORT MYERS BEACH 34th annual American Sand Sculpting Championship begins on Fort Myers Beach After a years long wait, the American Sand Sculpting Competition on Fort Myers Beach returned on Thursday.
CAPE CORAL City council members talk about decision to repeal stipend ordinance A vote of 5 to 3 ends the saga over the Cape Coral City Council stipend and new members of the city council are sending a message they’re doing things differently.
FORT MYERS Fort Myers food pantry provides Thanksgiving meals to neighbors Dozens of people stopped by Sunshine Health’s food pantry one week before Thanksgiving. Sunshine Health is delivering hope.
FORT MYERS BEACH Fort Myers Beach loses FEMA insurance discount The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) has placed Fort Myers Beach (FMB) on probation.
FORT MYERS WINK News Game of the Week: Riverdale at Fort Myers Our WINK News Game of the Week is the regional semifinal matchup between Fort Myers and Riverdale, a rematch from the regular season finale two weeks ago.
NAPLES Hope for the Holidays turkey distribution event in Collier County A Naples nonprofit is expected to feed nearly 2,000 families.
Parts of Lee County to keep FEMA discount According to the Lee County Government, residents in parts of Lee County will keep their FEMA discount.
New blue-light system to be implemented to flag red-light runners Green means go, red means stop and blue means you just ran a red light.
Law enforcement officer looking through confiscated money. Credit: CBS The U.S. is the top destination for stashing money illegally, according to a new report from a pro-tax advocacy group. This year marks the first time the U.S. placed No. 1 on FACT Coalition’s Financial Secrecy Index, said the D.C.-based organization Tuesday. The U.S. ranked above traditional tax havens Singapore, Switzerland and Luxembourg, which rounded out the top four nations. The Cayman Islands, which many Americans associate with offshore bank accounts, ranks No. 14 on the group’s list. “The U.S. often says ‘We’re No. 1’ but this is one thing we don’t want to be No.1 in,” said Ian Gary, FACT Coalition’s executive director. The findings come as the U.S. cracks down on Russian oligarch wealth following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The U.S. has imposed financial sanctions on some oligarchs, including billionaires Alisher Usmanov and Igor Shuvalov, but that task has been made more difficult by the fact that much of that wealth is hidden within an intricate web of real estate assets, private investment accounts and anonymous shell companies, Quartz reported. The Department of Justice has created a new KleptoCapture task force aimed specifically at finding the hidden Russian wealth. The FACT coalition examined financial rules from about 100 countries, including laws that make it easier for criminals to hide and launder money. The main reason the U.S. jumped to the top of the list, according to experts: a lack of funding for the Treasury Department to enforce a new anti-money laundering law. In December 2020, Congress passed the Corporate Transparency Act, which requires anyone who forms a shell company in the U.S. to list an owner’s name. Under the act, the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, is in charge of enforcing the rules. But experts said FinCEN needs additional funding, staff and technology to take on this new task and investigate who’s illegally stashing money. Biden administration officials are asking Congress to send $210 million to FinCEN under the U.S. government’s proposed 2023 budget, which marks a roughly 30% increase from its current funding. Stricter laws needed FACT concluded that nearly every developed nation should pass stricter financial laws, particularly around the ownership of shell companies. Not doing so allows terrorism groups to secretly fund their operations and oligarchs to evade taxation, coalition officials said. It’s unclear how much money is illegally stashed within U.S. borders, experts in anti-money laundering say. But the U.S. Treasury Department has previously pegged the figure around 2% of the nation’s GDP, which today would amount to $480 billion. U.S. officials have long been aware of money laundering activities within the U.S. More recently, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in December that “the best place to hide and launder ill-gotten gains is actually the United States.” It takes less effort to set up a shell corporation in the U.S. than it does to get a library card, said Lakshmi Kumar, a terrorist-financing expert at Washington think tank Global Financial Integrity. That’s because an applicant must verify their identification to use the library, but that’s not the case for a shell corporation, he said.