SWFL reacts to UNC hiring Bill Belichick Southwest Florida reacts to North Carolina hiring Bill Belichick as its new head football coach and how that could impact the decisions of local recruits.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA Some Floridians want more alone time during the holidays The holidays are all about spending time with family and friends, but nearly half of Americans say they really want more alone time during the holiday.
LABELLE Hendry County rolls out cameras for school speed zones The Hendry County Sheriff’s Office has rolled out a new way of enforcing school zone speed limits by using cameras that will target drivers traveling over a certain speed in a school zone.
Aggressive driving concerns on the rise in Southwest Florida The arrest of a man who, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office said, killed a motorcyclist after crashing into him on purpose is raising concerns over aggressive driving in Southwest Florida.
SANIBEL Sanibel School students prepare for community Christmas performance The school that has had to claw and fight its way back more than once to reopen is getting the chance to celebrate.
FORT MYERS Rock For Equality: SWFL music scene to hold benefit concert for Palestine A two-venue, eight-band benefit concert is coming to Southwest Florida.
NAPLES Naples man sentenced in deadly bar shooting A man has been sentenced for a deadly shooting that took place at a Naples bar in March 2021.
New ovarian cancer treatments Ovarian cancer is a problematic disease because of symptoms such as nausea, bloating and diarrhea.
Largest Lee County land deal closes, $100M for 1,745 acres in northwest Cape Coral The most lucrative land deal in Lee County history just closed at a price of $100 million for 1,745 acres in northwest Cape Coral, where building up to 3,500 homes and commercial property to support it has been in the planning stages for almost two years.
CHARLOTTE HARBOR Crash between RV and semi temporarily shuts down NB lanes of U.S. 41 in Charlotte A major collision near Sunseeker Resort in Charlotte County temporarily closed all northbound lanes of U.S. 41, according to the Charlotte County Sherriff’s Office.
FORT MYERS Apple AirPods lead LCSO to an arrest; over $100,000 worth of stolen items recovered Through the use of Apple Airpods, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office was able to locate nearly $100,000 worth of stolen items, leading to an arrest.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral officials approve replacement funding for hurricane-damaged stop signs The Cape Coral City Council has approved funding to replace stop signs damaged during Hurricane Milton, resulting in an emergency purchase.
Holiday events happening in Southwest Florida Southwest Florida is embracing the holiday spirit with a variety of festive events this Christmas season.
Collier man accused of supplying fentanyl-laced pills, enough to kill 531,500 people The Collier County Sheriff’s Office has arrested a man accused of supplying more than 10,000 fentanyl-laced pills disguised as prescription painkillers.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral council supports construction of I-75 interchange into city The Cape Coral City Council has approved a resolution requesting support from Lee and Charlotte counties to prioritize state and federal funding for the Interstate 75 Interchange at Slater Road.
SWFL reacts to UNC hiring Bill Belichick Southwest Florida reacts to North Carolina hiring Bill Belichick as its new head football coach and how that could impact the decisions of local recruits.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA Some Floridians want more alone time during the holidays The holidays are all about spending time with family and friends, but nearly half of Americans say they really want more alone time during the holiday.
LABELLE Hendry County rolls out cameras for school speed zones The Hendry County Sheriff’s Office has rolled out a new way of enforcing school zone speed limits by using cameras that will target drivers traveling over a certain speed in a school zone.
Aggressive driving concerns on the rise in Southwest Florida The arrest of a man who, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office said, killed a motorcyclist after crashing into him on purpose is raising concerns over aggressive driving in Southwest Florida.
SANIBEL Sanibel School students prepare for community Christmas performance The school that has had to claw and fight its way back more than once to reopen is getting the chance to celebrate.
FORT MYERS Rock For Equality: SWFL music scene to hold benefit concert for Palestine A two-venue, eight-band benefit concert is coming to Southwest Florida.
NAPLES Naples man sentenced in deadly bar shooting A man has been sentenced for a deadly shooting that took place at a Naples bar in March 2021.
New ovarian cancer treatments Ovarian cancer is a problematic disease because of symptoms such as nausea, bloating and diarrhea.
Largest Lee County land deal closes, $100M for 1,745 acres in northwest Cape Coral The most lucrative land deal in Lee County history just closed at a price of $100 million for 1,745 acres in northwest Cape Coral, where building up to 3,500 homes and commercial property to support it has been in the planning stages for almost two years.
CHARLOTTE HARBOR Crash between RV and semi temporarily shuts down NB lanes of U.S. 41 in Charlotte A major collision near Sunseeker Resort in Charlotte County temporarily closed all northbound lanes of U.S. 41, according to the Charlotte County Sherriff’s Office.
FORT MYERS Apple AirPods lead LCSO to an arrest; over $100,000 worth of stolen items recovered Through the use of Apple Airpods, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office was able to locate nearly $100,000 worth of stolen items, leading to an arrest.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral officials approve replacement funding for hurricane-damaged stop signs The Cape Coral City Council has approved funding to replace stop signs damaged during Hurricane Milton, resulting in an emergency purchase.
Holiday events happening in Southwest Florida Southwest Florida is embracing the holiday spirit with a variety of festive events this Christmas season.
Collier man accused of supplying fentanyl-laced pills, enough to kill 531,500 people The Collier County Sheriff’s Office has arrested a man accused of supplying more than 10,000 fentanyl-laced pills disguised as prescription painkillers.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral council supports construction of I-75 interchange into city The Cape Coral City Council has approved a resolution requesting support from Lee and Charlotte counties to prioritize state and federal funding for the Interstate 75 Interchange at Slater Road.
Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody. Credit: CBS Attorney General Ashley Moody’s office said late Tuesday that it thinks the Florida Supreme Court should reverse a decades-old position that a privacy clause in the state Constitution protects abortion rights. Lawyers in Moody’s office addressed the issue in a 44-page document arguing that the Supreme Court should reject an effort by abortion clinics and a doctor to block a new law that prevents abortions after 15 weeks. The privacy clause has played a crucial role in bolstering abortion rights in Florida since a 1989 Supreme Court ruling. Abortion opponents have long argued that the clause was not meant to protect abortion rights – a position that Moody’s office took in Tuesday’s filing. The filing said the 1989 decision, in a case known as In re: T.W., was wrong “from the start.” “It ignored that the (constitutional) provision’s plain text says nothing of abortion, that its drafters publicly disavowed guaranteeing abortion rights and that the provision was ratified in response to decisions restricting informational privacy,” said the document, filed by the state Solicitor General Henry Whitaker and other lawyers in Moody’s office. “Were this (Supreme) Court to address the meaning of the Privacy Clause here, it should therefore recede from its precedents and clarify that the original meaning of the clause has nothing to say about abortion- and certainly that the Privacy Clause is not so clear as to pry the abortion debate from the hands of voters.” At another point in the document, Moody’s office expressed confidence that the court “is likely to hold that the Privacy Clause of the Florida Constitution does not limit the Legislature from regulating abortion.” Such a ruling would be a seismic legal shift in abortion rights in Florida after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade decision in June. The Florida Supreme Court has become significantly more conservative since Gov. Ron DeSantis took office in early 2019. Three longtime justices who consistently ruled in favor of abortion rights, Justices Barbara Pariente, R. Fred Lewis and Peggy Quince, left the court in 2019 because of mandatory retirement age and were replaced by DeSantis appointees. Another DeSantis appointee, Renatha Francis, joined the seven-member court last week. Tuesday’s filing by Moody’s office came after attorneys for seven abortion clinics and a doctor, Shelly Hsiao-Ying Tien, went to the Supreme Court to try to block the 15-week abortion limit, which DeSantis signed April 14. The law took effect July 1. The clinics and the doctor filed a lawsuit on June 1, and Leon County Circuit Judge John Cooper on July 5 issued a temporary injunction against the law, ruling that it violated the Constitution’s privacy clause. The state immediately appealed, which, under legal rules, placed an automatic stay on Cooper’s ruling – keeping the 15-week limit in effect. A panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal rejected a request to vacate the stay and later overturned the temporary injunction. Attorneys for the clinics and the doctor ask the Supreme Court to remove the stay and reject the appeals court’s decision on the underlying temporary injunction. The privacy clause in the Constitution plays a crucial role in their arguments. “Vacating the stay will ensure that, while proceedings in this (Supreme) Court continue, Floridians will be able to exercise their constitutional right to decide for themselves whether to have a pre-viability abortion or to carry a pregnancy to term – a right that, for decades, this court has repeatedly recognized the Florida Constitution confers,” the plaintiffs’ attorneys wrote in an Aug. 19 motion to vacate the stay. The Supreme Court could decide the issues on more-narrow legal grounds than addressing the subject of the privacy clause. The appeals-court panel, for example, ruled that the plaintiffs could not show “irreparable harm” from the 15-week limit and, as a result, were not entitled to a temporary injunction. The plaintiffs’ attorneys are disputing that conclusion at the Supreme Court, while Moody’s office contends the appeals court ruled correctly.