Mediator says Bonita Springs City Council’s car wash denial ‘unfair’

BONITA SPRINGS, Fla.- Controversy continues over a proposed car wash in Bonita Springs. The land owner applied for rezoning of one acre of land to build a new car wash. The zoning board recommended approval to the city council, but the council denied the project twice in 2015. “We think we’re going to be a […]

Florida gun sales spike in 2015

TALLAHASSEE- Florida gun sales were up 14 percent in 2015, eclipsing the record set following the Sandy Hook shootings. The state’s background check system also turned down more than 11,000 would-be gun buyers. More than 137,000 people sought to buy guns in December alone. The year saw a record 885,000 background checks conducted, up more than […]

Argentine president promises to crack down on drugs

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) – Argentine President Mauricio Macri on Monday vowed to crack down on drug trafficking as federal police led a national manhunt for three escaped prisoners convicted in drug-related killings. Macri’s comments were his first about the Dec. 26 escape that has shocked Argentines – and a sign that the new administration […]

‘Affluenza’ teen’s deportation appeal may take weeks, months

MEXICO CITY (AP) – The Mexican lawyer for a Texas teenager known for using an “affluenza” defense in a fatal drunken-driving accident says his appeal could delay his client’s return to the United States for weeks, months – or just a single day. Lawyer Fernando Benitez says a Tuesday meeting with client Ethan Couch at […]

Homicides up 70 pct in El Salvador, among deadliest nations

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) – Killings spiked by nearly 70 percent last year in this gang-plagued Central American nation, authorities said Monday, resulting in a homicide rate that could make it the world’s most violent country. National Police director Mauricio Ramirez Landaverde said El Salvador officially registered at least 6,657 homicides in 2015, up […]

Governor says Mexican mayor’s killing a warning by drug gang

MEXICO CITY (AP) – The governor of the southern Mexican state of Morelos said Monday that a drug gang killed a newly inaugurated mayor to convince other officials to reject state police control of local cops and allow cartels to co-opt low-paid local police. Governor Graco Ramirez sent a post on his Twitter account blaming […]

Guatemala volcano spews fire, towering ash cloud

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) – Guatemala’s Volcano of Fire has erupted in dramatic fashion, spewing incandescent material and sending columns of ash up to 23,000 feet (7,000 meters) above sea level. No evacuations have been ordered due to Sunday night’s volcanic activity. But officials are asking nearby communities to remain vigilant. The country’s volcanology agency says […]

Workers return to San Bernardino offices following massacre

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (AP) – Behind a chain-link fence and under heavy security, workers on Monday returned to their offices at the San Bernardino campus where 14 people died last month in a massacre. Inland Regional Center employees flashed their identification badges to security guards who ushered them into a parking lot surrounded by a […]

Stocks sink on first day of 2016 on China, Mideast worries

NEW YORK (AP) – The new year got off to an inauspicious start on Wall Street as stocks tumbled Monday in a global sell-off triggered by new fears of a slowdown in China and rising tensions in the Middle East. Less than an hour before the closing bell, the Dow Jones industrial average was down […]

Police arrest Florida man suspected of pointing laser at pilot

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) – Daytona police have arrested a man they say admitted to pointing a laser at a pilot and control tower while a plane was landing. The Daytona Beach News-Journal (http://bit.ly/1OHzY0t ) reports police arrested 23-year-old Gerardo Sanchez Sunday night on a charge of pointing a laser light at a driver or […]