Biden and Trump agree to 2 presidential debates, in June and in SeptemberDeleon Street closed after dump truck knocks down power wires
WASHINGTON (AP) Biden and Trump agree to 2 presidential debates, in June and in September President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump on Wednesday agreed to hold two campaign debates — the first on June 27 hosted by CNN and the second on Sept. 10 hosted by ABC — setting the stage for the first presidential face-off in just weeks.
FORT MYERS Deleon Street closed after dump truck knocks down power wires A dump truck has knocked down power wires on Deleon Street, causing a road closure and temporary outages in the surrounding area in Fort Myers.
clearwater Gov. DeSantis cancels news conference in Clearwater due to weather Due to severe weather in Northern Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis had to cancel a news conference in Clearwater.
Tableside American-Romanian restaurant launches in North Naples Tableside Restaurant opened in the 2,225-square-foot space that most recently was Alpine Restaurant for more than 10 years and, initially, was Bajio Mexican Grill in the Galleria Shoppes at Vanderbilt on the corner of Airport-Pulling and Vanderbilt Beach roads.
WINK NEWS Man accused of causing bus crash that killed 8 held without bond; 6 victims identified The man accused of causing a bus crash that killed eight people and injured 40 others in Marion County is being held without bond.
Charlotte tourism revenue to help fund Waterfest To help launch the event in prior years, the county gave in-kind funding of $50,000, thinking that eventually it would be self-sustaining.
WINK NEWS Tractor-trailer overturned on I-75N, traffic moved off-shoulder A tractor-trailer has overturned on I-75 North near mile marker 135, closing all lanes of traffic in Lee County.
PRAGUE (AP) Slovakian prime minister in life-threatening condition after being shot, his Facebook profile says Slovakia’s populist Prime Minister Robert Fico is in life-threatening condition after being wounded in a shooting after a political event.
MARCO ISLAND Scheduled bridge work on Marco Island to reduce lanes An evaluation on a bridge will impact Marco Island’s traffic beginning Thursday, closing down one lane.
PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. (AP) Punxsutawney Phil’s babies are named Shadow and Sunny. Just don’t call them the heirs apparent Punxsutawney Phil’s offspring now have names that just might help the famed weather-forecasting groundhog to predict when spring will begin.
lehigh acres Vehicle crash involving deputy car in Lehigh Acres A vehicle crash involving a Lee County deputy and another car has occurred in Lehigh Acres.
the weather authority Hot and breezy with scattered rain and storms this afternoon and evening The Weather Authority is tracking a warm and humid Wednesday morning with isolated storms expected for the afternoon.
WINK NEWS Deadline arrives for Hurricane Ian assistance through LeeCares Wednesday is the final day for Lee Cares Hurricane Housing Recovery Program applications.
CAPE CORAL Neighbors stuck with previous homeowners’ bill A Cape Coral woman says the city is trying to make her pay for someone else’s mistake after she received a utility bill meant for the home’s previous owner.
NAPLES Teenager denied entrance to prom for wearing a suit Prom is a rite of passage for many teenagers, but one teen had her prom dreams ruined after wasn’t allowed in because of what she was wearing.
WASHINGTON (AP) Biden and Trump agree to 2 presidential debates, in June and in September President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump on Wednesday agreed to hold two campaign debates — the first on June 27 hosted by CNN and the second on Sept. 10 hosted by ABC — setting the stage for the first presidential face-off in just weeks.
FORT MYERS Deleon Street closed after dump truck knocks down power wires A dump truck has knocked down power wires on Deleon Street, causing a road closure and temporary outages in the surrounding area in Fort Myers.
clearwater Gov. DeSantis cancels news conference in Clearwater due to weather Due to severe weather in Northern Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis had to cancel a news conference in Clearwater.
Tableside American-Romanian restaurant launches in North Naples Tableside Restaurant opened in the 2,225-square-foot space that most recently was Alpine Restaurant for more than 10 years and, initially, was Bajio Mexican Grill in the Galleria Shoppes at Vanderbilt on the corner of Airport-Pulling and Vanderbilt Beach roads.
WINK NEWS Man accused of causing bus crash that killed 8 held without bond; 6 victims identified The man accused of causing a bus crash that killed eight people and injured 40 others in Marion County is being held without bond.
Charlotte tourism revenue to help fund Waterfest To help launch the event in prior years, the county gave in-kind funding of $50,000, thinking that eventually it would be self-sustaining.
WINK NEWS Tractor-trailer overturned on I-75N, traffic moved off-shoulder A tractor-trailer has overturned on I-75 North near mile marker 135, closing all lanes of traffic in Lee County.
PRAGUE (AP) Slovakian prime minister in life-threatening condition after being shot, his Facebook profile says Slovakia’s populist Prime Minister Robert Fico is in life-threatening condition after being wounded in a shooting after a political event.
MARCO ISLAND Scheduled bridge work on Marco Island to reduce lanes An evaluation on a bridge will impact Marco Island’s traffic beginning Thursday, closing down one lane.
PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. (AP) Punxsutawney Phil’s babies are named Shadow and Sunny. Just don’t call them the heirs apparent Punxsutawney Phil’s offspring now have names that just might help the famed weather-forecasting groundhog to predict when spring will begin.
lehigh acres Vehicle crash involving deputy car in Lehigh Acres A vehicle crash involving a Lee County deputy and another car has occurred in Lehigh Acres.
the weather authority Hot and breezy with scattered rain and storms this afternoon and evening The Weather Authority is tracking a warm and humid Wednesday morning with isolated storms expected for the afternoon.
WINK NEWS Deadline arrives for Hurricane Ian assistance through LeeCares Wednesday is the final day for Lee Cares Hurricane Housing Recovery Program applications.
CAPE CORAL Neighbors stuck with previous homeowners’ bill A Cape Coral woman says the city is trying to make her pay for someone else’s mistake after she received a utility bill meant for the home’s previous owner.
NAPLES Teenager denied entrance to prom for wearing a suit Prom is a rite of passage for many teenagers, but one teen had her prom dreams ruined after wasn’t allowed in because of what she was wearing.
Palestinians stand by a building destroyed in Israeli bombardment overnight in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Friday, Nov. 24, 2023. Credit: (AP/ Photo/ Hatem Ali) A four-day cease-fire between Israel and Hamas began Friday, setting the stage for the release of dozens of hostages held by militants and Palestinians imprisoned by Israel as well as allowing sorely needed aid to start flowing into Gaza. There were no reports of fighting in the hours after the truce began. That promised some relief for Gaza’s 2.3 million people, who have endured weeks of Israeli bombardment and dwindling supplies of basic necessities, as well as families in Israel fearful for the fate of loved ones taken captive during Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, which triggered the war. The deal raised hopes of eventually winding down the war, which has flattened vast swaths of Gaza, fueled a surge of violence in the occupied West Bank and stirred fears of a wider conflagration across the Middle East. Israel has pushed back on such speculation, saying it was determined to resume its massive offensive once the truce ends. Not long after the truce took effect, four fuel tankers and four tankers with cooking gas entered the Gaza Strip from Egypt, Israel said. Israel has agreed to allow the delivery of 130,000 liters (34,340 gallons) of fuel per day during the truce — still only a small portion of Gaza’s estimated daily needs of more than 1 million liters. For most of the past seven weeks of war, Israel had barred the entry of fuel to Gaza, claiming it could be used by Hamas for military purposes — though it has occasionally allowed small amounts in. United Nations aid agencies pushed back against the claim, saying fuel deliveries were closely supervised and urgently needed to avert a humanitarian catastrophe since fuel is required to run generators that power water treatment facilities, hospitals and other critical infrastructure. The Israeli military dropped leaflets over southern Gaza, warning hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians who sought refuge there not to try during the truce to return to their homes in the northern half of the territory, the focus of Israel’s ground offensive. Even though Israel warned that it would block attempts to return, hundreds of Palestinians could be seen walking north Friday. “We are returning to check on our homes to get some clothes. We don’t have enough clothes, food and drinks,” said Sofian Abu Amer, who is from Gaza City’s Shejaeia neighborhood. “The situation is disastrous. It’s better for a person to die.” During the cease-fire, Gaza’s ruling Hamas group pledged to free at least 50 of the about 240 hostages it and other militants took on Oct. 7. Hamas said Israel would free 150 Palestinian prisoners. Both sides agreed release women and children first, starting Friday afternoon. Israel said the deal calls for the truce to be extended an extra day for every additional 10 hostages freed. The first hostages to be freed will be Israeli citizens, including some who have a second nationality, according to a Hamas official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the details with the media. The official would not comment on media reports that Hamas had also agreed to release non-Israelis, including 23 Thai nationals. Thailand’s foreign minister told reporters in Bangkok he had not been able to confirm the reports. Israel’s Justice Ministry published a list of 300 prisoners eligible for release, mainly teenagers detained over the past year for rock-throwing and other minor offenses. Three Palestinian prisoners are to be released for every freed hostage. The deal was reached in weeks of intense indirect negotiations, with Qatar, the United States and Egypt serving as mediators. The hope is that the “momentum” from this deal will lead to an “end to this violence,” Majed al-Ansari, the spokesman of the Qatari foreign ministry, told reporters. But hours before the deal came into effect, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant was quoted telling troops Thursday that their respite would be short and that the war would resume with intensity for at least two more months. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also vowed to continue the war to destroy Hamas’ military capabilities, end its 16-year rule in Gaza and return all the hostages. Israel’s northern border with Lebanon was also quiet on Friday, a day after Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group, an ally of Hamas, carried out the highest number of attacks in one day since fighting there began Oct. 8. Hezbollah is not a party to the cease-fire agreement, but was widely expected to halt its attacks. The war erupted when several thousand Hamas militants stormed into southern Israel, killing at least 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking scores of hostages, including babies, women and older adults, as well as soldiers. The soldiers will only be released in exchange for all Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, according to the Islamic Jihad militant group, which is reportedly holding about 40 hostages. It is not clear how many of the hostages are currently serving in the military or whether the militants also consider reserve soldiers to be “military hostages.” Close to 7,000 Palestinians are currently imprisoned by Israel on security charges. The Israeli offensive has killed more than 13,300 Palestinians, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza, which resumed its detailed count of casualties in Gaza after stopping for weeks because of the health system’s collapse in the north. The ministry says some 6,000 people have been reported missing, feared buried under rubble. The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and militants in its death tolls. Women and minors have consistently made up around two-thirds of the dead, though the new numbers were not broken down. The figures do not include updated numbers from hospitals in the north. Israel says it has killed thousands of Hamas fighters, without presenting evidence for its count. Israel continued to strike targets throughout the night ahead of the truce, and also destroyed stretches of tunnels and a number of tunnel shafts in the area of Shifa Hospital, Gaza’s largest, the military said. Earlier this week, Israel showed a tunnel and rooms that military officials said were a major Hamas hideout beneath Shifa. Hamas and hospital staff deny Israeli allegations that Shifa was used as a militant command center.