Final streets need debris cleanup on Fort Myers ShoresPunta Gorda man actively searches for missing service dog
FORT MYERS SHORES Final streets need debris cleanup on Fort Myers Shores There’s not a lot, but some piles of storm debris left after Hurricane Milton are still on the side of the road in Fort Myers Shores.
PUNTA GORDA Punta Gorda man actively searches for missing service dog A Punta Gorda man who lost almost everything following hurricanes Milton and Helene is now searching for his missing service dog.
Army veteran to honor fallen soldiers during Veterans Day weekend A local retired Army staff sergeant was one of just four selected to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington, Virginia.
FORT MYERS Fort Myers Ward 4 candidate will not receive vote recount In the race for Fort Myers city council, Cindy Banyai lost the Ward 4 race to incumbent Liston Bochette.
Ron DeSantis: An unexpected winner in Florida’s 2024 elections There were a lot of winners on election night, but the biggest winner was a man who wasn’t even on the ballot: Ron Desantis.
FORT MYERS Fort Myers attorney named one of Gulfshore Life’s Men of the Year Fort Myers attorney Joe North has been named one of the Gulf Shore Life’s Men of the Year.
Veterans Day to impact weekend traffic in SWFL Veterans Day is on Monday; however, traffic impacts due to road closures are expected to be felt as soon as Saturday.
Enrollment opens for ranchers to join Florida Panther Ecosystem pilot program The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is launching the Florida Panther Payment for Ecosystem Services pilot program for ranchers.
New experimental treatment for Parkinson’s may help alleviate tremors Parkinson’s disease is a neurodegenerative disorder impacting millions of Americans; however, a new treatment may help alleviate some of its symptoms.
WASHINGTON (AP) Racist text messages referencing slavery raise alarms in multiple states including Florida Racist text messages invoking slavery raised alarm across the country this week after they were sent to Black men, women, and students, including middle schoolers, prompting inquiries by the FBI and other agencies.
FORT MYERS 10th annual Fair at Fenway to make its return to JetBlue Park A familiar favorite is set to make a return to Southwest Florida as the 10th annual Fair at Fenway in JetBlue Park.
2 Punta Gorda women face grand jury indictments for death involving meth Two Punta Gorda women have been accused of distributing meth causing death after being indicted by the Charlotte County Grand Jury.
CAPE CORAL Worker transported in Cape Coral after suffering ‘medical episode’ in bucket truck A worker on the lift of a bucket truck had to be transported to the hospital after suffering some sort of “medical episode” while in the lift said police.
FEMA’s Operation Blue Roof deadline approaching soon in Charlotte County The deadline for FEMA’s Operation Blue Roof is rapidly approaching for Charlotte County residents affected by Hurricane Milton.
FDA proposes to remove ingredient in medications The Food & Drug Administration proposes removing one ingredient after new data shows it is less effective than listed. 
FORT MYERS SHORES Final streets need debris cleanup on Fort Myers Shores There’s not a lot, but some piles of storm debris left after Hurricane Milton are still on the side of the road in Fort Myers Shores.
PUNTA GORDA Punta Gorda man actively searches for missing service dog A Punta Gorda man who lost almost everything following hurricanes Milton and Helene is now searching for his missing service dog.
Army veteran to honor fallen soldiers during Veterans Day weekend A local retired Army staff sergeant was one of just four selected to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington, Virginia.
FORT MYERS Fort Myers Ward 4 candidate will not receive vote recount In the race for Fort Myers city council, Cindy Banyai lost the Ward 4 race to incumbent Liston Bochette.
Ron DeSantis: An unexpected winner in Florida’s 2024 elections There were a lot of winners on election night, but the biggest winner was a man who wasn’t even on the ballot: Ron Desantis.
FORT MYERS Fort Myers attorney named one of Gulfshore Life’s Men of the Year Fort Myers attorney Joe North has been named one of the Gulf Shore Life’s Men of the Year.
Veterans Day to impact weekend traffic in SWFL Veterans Day is on Monday; however, traffic impacts due to road closures are expected to be felt as soon as Saturday.
Enrollment opens for ranchers to join Florida Panther Ecosystem pilot program The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is launching the Florida Panther Payment for Ecosystem Services pilot program for ranchers.
New experimental treatment for Parkinson’s may help alleviate tremors Parkinson’s disease is a neurodegenerative disorder impacting millions of Americans; however, a new treatment may help alleviate some of its symptoms.
WASHINGTON (AP) Racist text messages referencing slavery raise alarms in multiple states including Florida Racist text messages invoking slavery raised alarm across the country this week after they were sent to Black men, women, and students, including middle schoolers, prompting inquiries by the FBI and other agencies.
FORT MYERS 10th annual Fair at Fenway to make its return to JetBlue Park A familiar favorite is set to make a return to Southwest Florida as the 10th annual Fair at Fenway in JetBlue Park.
2 Punta Gorda women face grand jury indictments for death involving meth Two Punta Gorda women have been accused of distributing meth causing death after being indicted by the Charlotte County Grand Jury.
CAPE CORAL Worker transported in Cape Coral after suffering ‘medical episode’ in bucket truck A worker on the lift of a bucket truck had to be transported to the hospital after suffering some sort of “medical episode” while in the lift said police.
FEMA’s Operation Blue Roof deadline approaching soon in Charlotte County The deadline for FEMA’s Operation Blue Roof is rapidly approaching for Charlotte County residents affected by Hurricane Milton.
FDA proposes to remove ingredient in medications The Food & Drug Administration proposes removing one ingredient after new data shows it is less effective than listed. 
The seal on the J. Edgar Hoover FBI Building is seen June 9, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File) Racist text messages invoking slavery raised alarm across the country this week after they were sent to Black men, women, and students, including middle schoolers, prompting inquiries by the FBI and other agencies. The messages, sent anonymously, were reported in several states, including Florida, New York, Alabama, California, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Tennessee. They generally used a similar tone but varied in wording. Some instructed the recipient to show up at an address at a particular time “with your belongings,” while others didn’t include a location. Some of them mentioned the incoming presidential administration. It wasn’t yet clear who was behind the messages and there was no comprehensive list of where they were sent, but high school and college students were among the recipients. The FBI said it was in touch with the Justice Department on the messages, and the Federal Communications Commission said it was investigating the texts “alongside federal and state law enforcement.” The Ohio Attorney General’s office also said it was looking into the matter. Tasha Dunham of Lodi, California, said her 16-year-old daughter showed her one of the messages Wednesday evening before her basketball practice. The text not only used her daughter’s name, but it directed her to report to a “plantation” in North Carolina, where Dunham said they’ve never lived. When they looked up the address, it was the location of a museum. “It was very disturbing,” Dunham said. “Everybody’s just trying to figure out what does this all mean for me? So, I definitely had a lot of fear and concern.” Her daughter initially thought it was a prank, but emotions are high following Tuesday’s presidential election. Dunham and her family thought it could be more nefarious and reported it to local law enforcement. “I wasn’t in slavery. My mother wasn’t in slavery. But we’re a couple of generations away. So, when you think about how brutal and awful slavery was for our people, it’s awful and concerning,” Dunham said. About six middle school students in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, received the messages too, said Megan Shafer, acting superintendent of the Lower Merion School District. “The racist nature of these text messages is extremely disturbing, made even more so by the fact that children have been targeted,” she wrote in a letter to parents. Students at some major universities, including Clemson in South Carolina and the University of Alabama, said they received the messages. The Clemson Police Department said in a statement that it had been notified of the “deplorable racially motivated text and email messages” and encouraged anyone who received one to report it. Fisk University, a historically Black university in Nashville, Tennessee, issued a statement calling the messages that targeted some of its students “deeply unsettling.” It urged calm and assured students that the texts likely were from bots or malicious actors with “no real intentions or credibility.” Missouri NAACP President Nimrod Chapel said Black students who are members of the organization’s Missouri State University chapter received texts citing Trump’s win and calling them out by name as being “selected to pick cotton” next Tuesday. Chapel said police in the southeastern Missouri city of Springfield, home of the university, have been notified. “It points to a well-organized and resourced group that has decided to target Americans on our home soil based on the color of our skin,” Chapel said in a statement. Nick Ludlum, a senior vice president for the wireless industry trade group CTIA, said: “Wireless providers are aware of these threatening spam messages and are aggressively working to block them and the numbers that they are coming from.” David Brody, director of the Digital Justice Initiative at The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, said that they aren’t sure who is behind the messages but estimated they had been sent to more than 10 states, including most Southern states, Maryland, Oklahoma and even the District of Columbia. The district’s Metropolitan Police force said in a statement that its intelligence unit was investigating the origins of the message. Brody said a number of civil rights laws can be applied to hate-related incidents. The leaders of several other civil rights organizations condemned the messages, including Margaret Huang, president and CEO of the Southern Poverty Law Center, who said, “Hate speech has no place in the South or our nation.” “The threat — and the mention of slavery in 2024 — is not only deeply disturbing, but perpetuates a legacy of evil that dates back to before the Jim Crow era, and now seeks to prevent Black Americans from enjoying the same freedom to pursue life, liberty, and happiness,” said NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson. “These actions are not normal. And we refuse to let them be normalized.”