Boundary changes vote for Collier County schoolsStars shine in 36th annual Rotary South All-Star Football Classic
Boundary changes vote for Collier County schools The Collier County School Board is set to vote on the proposed boundary changes.
Warmer weather continues this Tuesday afternoon The Weather Authority is tracking a warm afternoon with temperatures in the lower to mid-80s.
FORT MYERS Stars shine in 36th annual Rotary South All-Star Football Classic Blue beats Gold 27-7 in the 36th annual Rotary South Football Classic, which brings the top senior high school football players in Lee County.
CAPE CORAL Purring and persevering: Neighborhood cat survives bullet wound Purring and persevering through the pain, a neighborhood cat named Tommy survived being shot in the leg.
FORT MYERS BEACH Fort Myers Beach lights up with resilience and Christmas spirit The poinsettia tree in Times Square is now shining bright; the community joined together Monday evening for the second annual tree lighting ceremony.
Miracle Moment: Two kids celebrating being cancer-free It’s time for a miracle moment. Two kids are celebrating being cancer-free this holiday season.
FORT MYERS Street name dedicated to Fort Myers Civil Rights Activist Reverend Isadore Edwards may be gone but his legacy will be forever tied to the city of Fort Myers.
ESTERO Several motorcycles stolen near Florida Gulf Coast University There is a trend of motorcycles being taken from parking lots. In Estero, two men unlocked a bike and then loaded it in the back of a van.
FORT MYERS Suntex provides update on Fort Myers Yacht Basin makeover The City of Fort Myers has promised that the Yacht Basin downtown will get a makeover, and the company running the show gave an update at the city council meeting.
BOKEELIA Popular Bokeelia restaurant demolished following damage from Milton There was hope for Capt’n Con’s Fish House in Bokeelia after the damage from Hurricane Helene in September.
NAPLES Grace Place raises more than $1.8 million at gala An organization dedicated to helping children and families just raised a whole lot of money.
NAPLES Naples parking problems frustrating residents Naples has a parking problem, but city leaders are stuck between a rock and a hard place trying to find a solution. The city’s rapid growth makes it harder every day to find a place for everyone to park.
NORTH FORT MYERS LCSO deputies use Taser to de-escalate armed standoff in North Fort Myers Lee County Sheriff’s Office deputies de-escalated a dangerous situation by using a Taser to save lives.
Trump’s comments bring hope for Dreamers President-elect Donald Trump said he wants to work out a plan for Dreamers to stay in America.
World War II veteran celebrates 100th birthday A World War II veteran just turned 100 years old and celebrated with his community.
Boundary changes vote for Collier County schools The Collier County School Board is set to vote on the proposed boundary changes.
Warmer weather continues this Tuesday afternoon The Weather Authority is tracking a warm afternoon with temperatures in the lower to mid-80s.
FORT MYERS Stars shine in 36th annual Rotary South All-Star Football Classic Blue beats Gold 27-7 in the 36th annual Rotary South Football Classic, which brings the top senior high school football players in Lee County.
CAPE CORAL Purring and persevering: Neighborhood cat survives bullet wound Purring and persevering through the pain, a neighborhood cat named Tommy survived being shot in the leg.
FORT MYERS BEACH Fort Myers Beach lights up with resilience and Christmas spirit The poinsettia tree in Times Square is now shining bright; the community joined together Monday evening for the second annual tree lighting ceremony.
Miracle Moment: Two kids celebrating being cancer-free It’s time for a miracle moment. Two kids are celebrating being cancer-free this holiday season.
FORT MYERS Street name dedicated to Fort Myers Civil Rights Activist Reverend Isadore Edwards may be gone but his legacy will be forever tied to the city of Fort Myers.
ESTERO Several motorcycles stolen near Florida Gulf Coast University There is a trend of motorcycles being taken from parking lots. In Estero, two men unlocked a bike and then loaded it in the back of a van.
FORT MYERS Suntex provides update on Fort Myers Yacht Basin makeover The City of Fort Myers has promised that the Yacht Basin downtown will get a makeover, and the company running the show gave an update at the city council meeting.
BOKEELIA Popular Bokeelia restaurant demolished following damage from Milton There was hope for Capt’n Con’s Fish House in Bokeelia after the damage from Hurricane Helene in September.
NAPLES Grace Place raises more than $1.8 million at gala An organization dedicated to helping children and families just raised a whole lot of money.
NAPLES Naples parking problems frustrating residents Naples has a parking problem, but city leaders are stuck between a rock and a hard place trying to find a solution. The city’s rapid growth makes it harder every day to find a place for everyone to park.
NORTH FORT MYERS LCSO deputies use Taser to de-escalate armed standoff in North Fort Myers Lee County Sheriff’s Office deputies de-escalated a dangerous situation by using a Taser to save lives.
Trump’s comments bring hope for Dreamers President-elect Donald Trump said he wants to work out a plan for Dreamers to stay in America.
World War II veteran celebrates 100th birthday A World War II veteran just turned 100 years old and celebrated with his community.
FILE – A migrant woman carries a child on her back while looking at the line of fellow migrants attempting to enter into El Paso, Texas, after crossing the Rio Grande from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Dec. 21, 2022. Texas and Florida are being led by tough-talking Republican governors weighing presidential runs as their state lawmakers debate especially strict legislation on border security. (AP Photo/Andres Leighton, File) Led by tough-talking Republican governors weighing presidential runs, Texas and Florida are debating especially strict legislation on border security as the GOP tests federal authority over immigration. The moves in the two GOP-controlled statehouses come against a backdrop of polarization in Congress that makes any national immigration legislation seem unlikely as President Joe Biden tries to drive down migrant arrivals at the border while eyeing his own reelection bid. Republican proposals in Texas build on Gov. Greg Abbott’s $4 billion project Operation Lone Star, constructing more barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border and busing migrants to Democratic-led cities, including Washington, D.C., and New York. Abbott’s aides confirm he’s considering running for president. Operation Lone Star has already added more officers along Texas’ border with Mexico to detain migrants who trespass on private property. Now, Texas lawmakers have proposed creating a new border police force that could deputize private citizens and make it a state felony to enter the state without authorization, punishable by up to 10 years in prison. “Texas is taking historic action to secure the border and stop guns, drugs, and cartel gangs from assailing our state,” Abbott said in a tweet this week. “As President Biden abandons his constitutional duty, Texas continues to step up.” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, considered Donald Trump’s strongest possible GOP competitor so far in next year’s presidential primary, has proposed making human smuggling in the state a felony punishable by up to five years in prison. Hospitals would be required to collect data on patients’ immigration status and people in the U.S. illegally would be denied state government ID cards. “Texas and Florida are places with politically ambitious governors who are hoping to use immigrants in the furtherance of their agendas,” said attorney Tanya Broder of the National Immigration Law Center, which promotes immigrant rights. Despite the hardline rhetoric, Broder said advancements in immigrant rights have been quietly made in recent years. State-level organization has improved immigrants’ access to health care, higher education, professional licenses and driver’s licenses, according to a recent study Broder co-authored. The study noted Colorado became the first state to enact an alternative to unemployment insurance for excluded workers. Arizona voters last year approved in-state tuition for all students who attended high school in the state, regardless of their immigration status. Abbott and DeSantis blame Biden for a big increase last year in illegal crossings into the U.S. But a plunge this year in illegal crossing numbers could throw cold water on the GOP’s attacks against Biden’s handling of border issues. The sharp drop along the Southwest border followed the Biden administration’s announcement of stricter immigration measures. The U.S. Border Patrol said it encountered migrants 128,877 times trying to cross the border between the legal ports of entry in February, the lowest monthly number since February 2021. Agents detained migrants more than 2.5 million times at the southern border in 2022, including more than 250,000 in December, the highest on record. “Florida will not turn a blind eye to the dangers of Biden’s Border Crisis,” DeSantis said in a tweet last month announcing Florida’s legislation. “We are proposing additional steps to protect Floridians from these reckless federal policies, including mandatory E-Verify and prohibiting local government from issuing ID cards to illegal aliens.” While Texas and Florida officials ballyhoo their border-tightening efforts, no major immigration legislation has emerged this year in Arizona, where some of the nation’s toughest laws targeting immigrants have been devised. Arizona’s “show me your papers” law, passed in 2010, required law enforcement officers to determine the immigration status of a person stopped or arrested if the officers suspected the person may be in the U.S. unlawfully, a practice detractors said encouraged racial profiling. Courts eventually struck down several of the law’s provisions. Arizona’s Republican lawmakers are up against Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs, who this year has vetoed a GOP-backed budget and a bill that bans teaching public schoolchildren subject matter its authors describe as “critical race theory.” New Mexico, which also shares a border with Mexico, has since 2021 steadily removed barriers for migrants without legal status to access public benefits, student financial aid and licensure in credentialed professions. After taking office in 2019, Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham withdrew the majority of National Guard troops her Republican predecessor sent to the border, denouncing a “charade of border fear-mongering.” Democrats also control New Mexico’s Legislature. Nevertheless, legislators this week rejected a proposal to bar state and local government agencies from contracting with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to detain immigrants as they seek asylum. In North Carolina, Republican lawmakers last month launched a new attempt to require sheriffs to cooperate with federal immigration agents interested in picking up certain jail inmates believed to be in the U.S. unlawfully. Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper twice vetoed earlier versions of the measure, but Republican majorities in the General Assembly have since increased. A similar Idaho effort so far has failed to make it beyond its legislative introduction. Immigration-related legislation in other states includes: — A Georgia bill that failed to advance that would give in-state college tuition to immigrant students who arrived in the U.S. as children and who are protected under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. Bills are advancing that would ban companies and some people from certain foreign countries from buying farmland within 25 miles (40 kilometers) of any military base. — A Colorado bill aimed at allowing immigrants who arrived in the U.S. as children and are protected from deportation to own a firearm so they can become law enforcement officers. Associated Press writers Acacia Coronado in Austin, Texas; Brendan Farrington in Tallahassee, Florida: Morgan Lee in Santa Fe, New Mexico; Gary D. Robertson in Raleigh, North Carolina; Jeff Amy in Atlanta; Jesse Bedayn in Denver; and Rebecca Boone in Boise, Idaho, contributed to this report.