CCSO ‘Shop with a Cop’ event spreads holiday cheerCaught on camera: Explosion in hotel parking lot in Clewiston
PORT CHARLOTTE CCSO ‘Shop with a Cop’ event spreads holiday cheer Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office deputies spent time helping kids pick out gifts for their families during the annual Shop with a Cop event.
CLEWISTON Caught on camera: Explosion in hotel parking lot in Clewiston There was an explosion in the parking lot of a Holiday Inn in Clewiston on Wednesday.
PUNTA GORDA Punta Gorda leaders outline plans for Gilchrist Park repairs Gilchrist Park is closed, and Punta Gorda city leaders have been discussing possibly restoring the park.
NORTH NAPLES Airman surprises 6-year-old daughter at school for the holidays after ten months of service in Kuwait After almost a year of service in Kuwait, one airman came home for the holidays and surprised his daughter.
FORT MYERS Breaking down the Lee County Sheriff’s Office budget The Lee County Sheriff’s Office and Sheriff Carmine Marceno have been under scrutiny since a federal investigation on potential money laundering began. Many have questioned LCSO’s spending, so we broke down the budget.
How to protect yourself from thieves this holiday season On Cyber Monday, Americans spent $13 billion, which will translate into many packages on doorsteps this holiday season.
FORT MYERS Bishop Verot QB Carter Smith signs with Wisconsin Bishop Verot quarterback Carter Smith signs to play college football for the Wisconsin Badgers on early Signing Day.
WINK NEWS SWFL stars ink with Power 4 programs during Early Signing Period Several Southwest Florida football standouts are taking their talents to the Power 4 gridirons after signing during the Early Signing Period.
Beloved Charlotte County man killed outside home, investigation ongoing A man loved by his peers and his community was taken away from them in the middle of the night at his own home.
FORT MYERS BEACH The Lani Kai Resort reopens on Fort Myers Beach An iconic spot on Fort Myers Beach is back open and taking reservations for the first time since Hurricane Ian.
Gov. DeSantis being considered for defense secretary Will Ron DeSantis be your governor in 2025, or is he headed to Washington?
NAPLES Naples votes to remove fluoride from tap water The Naples City Council has voted to remove fluoride from its tap water.
Red meat linked to health complications Doctors with the Cleveland Clinic are researching a link between eating red meat and increased risk of heart attack and stroke.
LEHIGH ACRES Lehigh Acres man arrested on 10 counts of possession of child sexual abuse material The Florida Department of Law Enforcement has arrested a 71-year-old Lehigh Acres man on 10 counts of possession of child sexual abuse material.
WASHINGTON (AP) Trump considers DeSantis for the Pentagon with Hegseth under pressure over allegations: AP sources Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump’s Pentagon pick, was fighting to hold on to his Cabinet nomination amid growing questions Wednesday about his personal conduct as the president-elect’s team considers alternatives, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
PORT CHARLOTTE CCSO ‘Shop with a Cop’ event spreads holiday cheer Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office deputies spent time helping kids pick out gifts for their families during the annual Shop with a Cop event.
CLEWISTON Caught on camera: Explosion in hotel parking lot in Clewiston There was an explosion in the parking lot of a Holiday Inn in Clewiston on Wednesday.
PUNTA GORDA Punta Gorda leaders outline plans for Gilchrist Park repairs Gilchrist Park is closed, and Punta Gorda city leaders have been discussing possibly restoring the park.
NORTH NAPLES Airman surprises 6-year-old daughter at school for the holidays after ten months of service in Kuwait After almost a year of service in Kuwait, one airman came home for the holidays and surprised his daughter.
FORT MYERS Breaking down the Lee County Sheriff’s Office budget The Lee County Sheriff’s Office and Sheriff Carmine Marceno have been under scrutiny since a federal investigation on potential money laundering began. Many have questioned LCSO’s spending, so we broke down the budget.
How to protect yourself from thieves this holiday season On Cyber Monday, Americans spent $13 billion, which will translate into many packages on doorsteps this holiday season.
FORT MYERS Bishop Verot QB Carter Smith signs with Wisconsin Bishop Verot quarterback Carter Smith signs to play college football for the Wisconsin Badgers on early Signing Day.
WINK NEWS SWFL stars ink with Power 4 programs during Early Signing Period Several Southwest Florida football standouts are taking their talents to the Power 4 gridirons after signing during the Early Signing Period.
Beloved Charlotte County man killed outside home, investigation ongoing A man loved by his peers and his community was taken away from them in the middle of the night at his own home.
FORT MYERS BEACH The Lani Kai Resort reopens on Fort Myers Beach An iconic spot on Fort Myers Beach is back open and taking reservations for the first time since Hurricane Ian.
Gov. DeSantis being considered for defense secretary Will Ron DeSantis be your governor in 2025, or is he headed to Washington?
NAPLES Naples votes to remove fluoride from tap water The Naples City Council has voted to remove fluoride from its tap water.
Red meat linked to health complications Doctors with the Cleveland Clinic are researching a link between eating red meat and increased risk of heart attack and stroke.
LEHIGH ACRES Lehigh Acres man arrested on 10 counts of possession of child sexual abuse material The Florida Department of Law Enforcement has arrested a 71-year-old Lehigh Acres man on 10 counts of possession of child sexual abuse material.
WASHINGTON (AP) Trump considers DeSantis for the Pentagon with Hegseth under pressure over allegations: AP sources Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump’s Pentagon pick, was fighting to hold on to his Cabinet nomination amid growing questions Wednesday about his personal conduct as the president-elect’s team considers alternatives, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
FILE – Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey gets ready to spin his popular “Wheel of Fugitive” in July 2017, in Titusville, Fla. A man has filed a defamation lawsuit last week against Ivey who posts weekly “Wheel of Fugitive” videos on social media. David Gays says that he wasn’t a fugitive when his name and image appeared several times in 2021 on the sheriff’s posts inspired by the long-running TV game show “Wheel of Fortune.” (Malcolm Denemark/Florida Today via AP, File) A man has filed a defamation lawsuit against a Florida sheriff who posts weekly “Wheel of Fugitive” videos on social media, saying that he wasn’t a fugitive when his name and image appeared several times in 2021 in the sheriff’s posts inspired by the long-running TV game show “Wheel of Fortune.” Because of the sheriff’s posts, David Gay lost a job and suffered emotional distress, according to the lawsuit seeking more than $50,000 in damages. The lawsuit was filed last week in state court in Brevard County, along Florida’s Space Coast. Gay’s prospective boss called him as he drove to his first day of work and told him not to bother showing up as he had seen Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey’s “Wheel of Fugitive” videos, the lawsuit said. A spokesman for the sheriff’s office on Monday didn’t respond to an emailed inquiry seeking comment about the lawsuit. In the videos posted to social media, Ivey spins a wheel with photos of what are described as 10 of the county’s most wanted fugitives. “Everybody watches it. Even the fugitives watch it” to see who becomes “fugitive of the week,” The Associated Press reported Ivey said. Gay was involved in the court system for an undisclosed offense and was sentenced in November 2020 to three years of probation for a withhold of adjudication, a special sentence in which a defendant is not formally convicted of an offense, the lawsuit said. Gay was taken into custody for violation of probation in January 2021 after he had been arrested several weeks earlier on a misdemeanor domestic battery charge. He says he believed his father had gotten into a physical altercation with his mother, and the case was dismissed eventually. However, while Gay was in jail for the violation of probation arrest, Ivey said in a “Wheel of Fugitive” video that Gay was a fugitive when in reality he was already in the Brevard County Jail, according to the lawsuit. Gay was featured in three more episodes of “Wheel of Fugitive,” including on the day after he was sentenced to probation under the same terms that previously had been imposed and was released from custody, the lawsuit said.