Collier commissioners consider guesthouse rentals in Urban EstatesMatthew Perry’s death under investigation over ketamine level found in actor’s blood
Collier commissioners consider guesthouse rentals in Urban Estates Collier commissioners moved forward with a plan to allow urban estates homeowners to rent guesthouses to address a critical shortage of workforce housing.
LOS ANGELES (AP) Matthew Perry’s death under investigation over ketamine level found in actor’s blood An investigation has been opened into the death of Matthew Perry and how the “Friends” actor received the anesthetic ketamine, which was ruled a contributing factor in his death.
FORT MYERS What you need to know about the Caloosahatchee Bridge closure The Florida Department of Transportation has made the decision to close the Caloosahatchee Bridge for 10 weeks while crews work on the bridge. Here’s what you need to know.
Lee County allocates $41.6M in federal money for affordable housing The money comes from the federal government’s Department of Housing and Urban Development. Lee County commissioners voted 5-0 in allocating the money, part of a $1.1 billion Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery fund.
Poached closing longtime restaurant in North Naples Poached soon is going to be toast—as in defunct. The local breakfast-lunch restaurant is permanently closing next week in Galleria Shoppes at Vanderbilt in North Naples.
PINE ISLAND ‘We’re Pine Island proud,’ Pine Island artists paint power poles Relaunching 20 years later, Pine Island artists have been painting power poles up and down Stringfellow Road to bring back color and vibrancy after Hurricane Ian.
Naples Airport presented with 4 site options in eastern Collier County Environmental Science Associates conducted an exploratory study and met with landowners interested in selling land. ESA whittled that to a list of four sites for a general airport.
Expert: Buying or renting depends on your situation Shelton Weeks, Lucas professor of real estate and director of the Lucas Institute for Real Estate Development and Finance, is asked a lot by students whether they should rent or buy.
Attorneys offer update on Bonita Estero Rail Trail project The proposed project hit a milestone in February when the Trust for Public Land secured a purchase and sale agreement for $82 million with the Seminole Gulf Railway on a 14.9-mile segment stretching from Alico Road to Collier County for conversion to a hiking and biking trail.
NAPLES Woman arrested for stealing over $150K from Naples Ballet The Naples Police Department arrested a woman for allegedly stealing over $150,000 from the Naples Ballet, a non-profit organization.
NORTH FORT MYERS Duo accused of stealing from North Fort Myers store Southwest Florida Crime Stoppers is seeking information on two people accused of stealing from a North Fort Myers store.
WINK NEWS Lee Commissioners award over $41.6M for rehabilitation of affordable housing units The Lee Board of County Commissioners voted to award more than $41.6 million in Community Development Block Grants-Disaster Recovery funds.
New York (AP) Defense rests without Trump testifying in hush money case The defense rests its case without ex-President Donald Trump taking the witness stand in his New York hush money case. Closing arguments are expected next Tuesday.
IMMOKALEE Immokalee girls robotics team competes at VEX Worlds The Immokalee High School girls robotics team got to compete and learn at the VEX Robotics World Championships in Dallas.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral Police Department launches drone program The Cape Coral Police Department has officially launched its Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Program.
Collier commissioners consider guesthouse rentals in Urban Estates Collier commissioners moved forward with a plan to allow urban estates homeowners to rent guesthouses to address a critical shortage of workforce housing.
LOS ANGELES (AP) Matthew Perry’s death under investigation over ketamine level found in actor’s blood An investigation has been opened into the death of Matthew Perry and how the “Friends” actor received the anesthetic ketamine, which was ruled a contributing factor in his death.
FORT MYERS What you need to know about the Caloosahatchee Bridge closure The Florida Department of Transportation has made the decision to close the Caloosahatchee Bridge for 10 weeks while crews work on the bridge. Here’s what you need to know.
Lee County allocates $41.6M in federal money for affordable housing The money comes from the federal government’s Department of Housing and Urban Development. Lee County commissioners voted 5-0 in allocating the money, part of a $1.1 billion Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery fund.
Poached closing longtime restaurant in North Naples Poached soon is going to be toast—as in defunct. The local breakfast-lunch restaurant is permanently closing next week in Galleria Shoppes at Vanderbilt in North Naples.
PINE ISLAND ‘We’re Pine Island proud,’ Pine Island artists paint power poles Relaunching 20 years later, Pine Island artists have been painting power poles up and down Stringfellow Road to bring back color and vibrancy after Hurricane Ian.
Naples Airport presented with 4 site options in eastern Collier County Environmental Science Associates conducted an exploratory study and met with landowners interested in selling land. ESA whittled that to a list of four sites for a general airport.
Expert: Buying or renting depends on your situation Shelton Weeks, Lucas professor of real estate and director of the Lucas Institute for Real Estate Development and Finance, is asked a lot by students whether they should rent or buy.
Attorneys offer update on Bonita Estero Rail Trail project The proposed project hit a milestone in February when the Trust for Public Land secured a purchase and sale agreement for $82 million with the Seminole Gulf Railway on a 14.9-mile segment stretching from Alico Road to Collier County for conversion to a hiking and biking trail.
NAPLES Woman arrested for stealing over $150K from Naples Ballet The Naples Police Department arrested a woman for allegedly stealing over $150,000 from the Naples Ballet, a non-profit organization.
NORTH FORT MYERS Duo accused of stealing from North Fort Myers store Southwest Florida Crime Stoppers is seeking information on two people accused of stealing from a North Fort Myers store.
WINK NEWS Lee Commissioners award over $41.6M for rehabilitation of affordable housing units The Lee Board of County Commissioners voted to award more than $41.6 million in Community Development Block Grants-Disaster Recovery funds.
New York (AP) Defense rests without Trump testifying in hush money case The defense rests its case without ex-President Donald Trump taking the witness stand in his New York hush money case. Closing arguments are expected next Tuesday.
IMMOKALEE Immokalee girls robotics team competes at VEX Worlds The Immokalee High School girls robotics team got to compete and learn at the VEX Robotics World Championships in Dallas.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral Police Department launches drone program The Cape Coral Police Department has officially launched its Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Program.
A building destroyed in the Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip is seen in Rafah on Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023. (AP Photo/Hatem Ali) Rapidly expanding Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip killed more than 700 people in the past day as medical facilities across the territory were forced to close because of bombing damage and a lack of power, health officials said Tuesday. The soaring death toll from Israel’s escalating bombardment was unprecedented in the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It could signal an even greater loss of life in Gaza once Israeli ground forces backed by tanks and artillery launch an expected offensive into the territory aimed at crushing Hamas. Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been under increasing bombardment and running out of food, water and medicine since Israel sealed off the territory following the devastating Oct. 7 attack by Hamas militants on towns in southern Israel. Related: Hamas frees two Israeli women as US advises delaying ground war to allow talks on captives On Tuesday, Israel said it had launched 400 airstrikes over the past day, killing Hamas commanders, hitting militants as they were preparing to launch rockets into Israel and striking command centers and a Hamas tunnel shaft. The previous day, Israel reported 320 strikes. Witnesses and health officials said many of the airstrikes hit residential buildings, some of them in southern Gaza where Israel had told civilians to take shelter. An overnight strike hit a four-story residential building in the southern city of Khan Younis, killing at least 32 people and wounding scores of others, according to survivors. The fatalities included 13 from the Saqallah family, said Ammar al-Butta, a relative who survived the airstrike. He said there were about 100 people there, including many who had come from Gaza City, which Israel has ordered civilians to evacuate. “They were sheltering at our home because we thought that our area would be safe. But apparently there is no safe place in Gaza,” he said. Fifteen members of another family were among at least 33 Palestinians buried Monday in a shallow, sandy mass grave at a Gaza hospital after being killed in Israeli airstrikes. Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry said the attacks killed at least 704 people over the past day, including 305 children and 173 women. More than 5,700 Palestinians have been killed in the war, including some 2,300 minors, the ministry said. That includes the disputed toll from an explosion at a hospital last week. Read More: Family trapped in Gaza as Israel prepares for ground invasion The fighting has killed more than 1,400 people in Israel — mostly civilians slain during the initial Hamas attack. As the death toll in Gaza spiraled, facilities to deal with the casualties were dwindling. A total of 46 out of 72 health care facilities — including 12 out of 35 hospitals — stopped functioning, the World Health Organization said. Palestinian health officials said the lack of electricity and fuel to power generators from the Israeli blockade, as well as damage from airstrikes, has forced many of the facilities to close. While Israel has allowed a small number of trucks filled with aid to enter, it has barred deliveries of fuel to Gaza. Israel says it does not target civilians and that Hamas militants are using them as cover for their attacks. Palestinian militants have fired over 7,000 rockets at Israel since the start of the war, Israel said, and Hamas said it fired a new barrage Tuesday morning. “We continue to attack forcefully in Gaza City and its environs, where Hamas is building up its terrorist infrastructure, where Hamas is arraying its troops,” said Israeli military spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari. He again told Palestinians to head south “for your personal safety.” The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees said six of its staff were killed in bombings, bringing to 35 the death toll of its workers since the war started. Amid fears the fighting to spiral into a wider regional war, French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Tel Aviv on Tuesday and told top Israeli officials that he came “to express our support and solidarity and share your pain” as well as to assure Israel it is “not left alone in the war against terrorism.” In a joint news conference with Macron, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would make every effort to fight the war quickly, “but it could be a long war.” On Monday, Hamas released two elderly Israeli women who were among the more than 200 people Israel says were taken to Gaza during the attack. Appearing weak in a wheelchair and speaking softly, 85-year-old Yocheved Lifshitz told reporters Tuesday that the militants beat her with sticks, bruising her ribs and making it hard to breathe as they kidnapped her. They drove her into Gaza, then forced her to walk several kilometers (miles) on wet ground to reach a network of tunnels that looked like a spider web, she said. Once there, though, her treatment improved, she said. The people assigned to guard her “told us they are people who believe in the Quran and wouldn’t hurt us.” Lifshitz, whose husband remains a hostage, said conditions were kept clean, she received medical care, including medication, and was given the same one meal a day of cheese and cucumber that her captors had. Lifshitz and 79-year-old Nurit Cooper were freed days after an American woman and her teenage daughter were released. Hamas and other militants in Gaza are believed to have taken roughly 220 people, including an unconfirmed number of foreigners and dual citizens. On Monday, Hamas released a video showing the handover, with militants giving drinks and snacks to the dazed but composed women, and holding their hands as they are walked to Red Cross officials. Just before the video ends, Lifshitz reaches back to shake one militant’s hand. Around the same time, Israel’s internal security service, Shin Bet, released a recording showing Hamas prisoners — most in clean prison uniforms, but one in a bloody T-shirt and at least one wincing in pain — sitting handcuffed in drab offices talking about the Oct. 7 attack. The men said they were under orders to kill young men, and kidnap women, children and the elderly, and that they’d been promised financial rewards. The Associated Press could not independently verify either video, and both the hostages and the prisoners could have been acting under duress. The Israeli military later dropped leaflets in Gaza asking Palestinians to reveal information on the hostages’ whereabouts. In exchange, the military promised a reward and protection for the informant’s home. Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas. Iranian-backed fighters around the region are warning of possible escalation, including the targeting of U.S. forces deployed in the Mideast, if a ground offensive is launched. The U.S. has told Iranian-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon and other groups not to join the fight. Israel and Hezbollah have traded fire almost daily across the Israel-Lebanon border, and Israeli warplanes have struck targets in Syria, Lebanon and the occupied West Bank in recent days. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said there has been an uptick in rocket and drone attacks by Iranian-backed militias on U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria, and the U.S. was “deeply concerned about the possibility for any significant escalation” in the coming days. He said U.S. officials were having “active conversations” with Israeli counterparts about the potential ramifications of escalated military action. The U.S. advised Israeli officials that delaying a ground offensive would give Washington more time to work with regional mediators on the release of more hostages, according to a U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to reveal sensitive negotiations.