Rain stops, flooding impact doesn’t for many in SWFL

CAPE CORAL, Fla. Five days of persistent rain is done, but the effects of flooding linger in some places around Southwest Florida. Some roads and neighborhoods in parts of Lee County remained underwater Tuesday, and it could be another five days before floodwaters recede in some parts of Lee County, emergency officials said Tuesday. Neighborhoods in […]

Arrest made in downtown Fort Myers shooting

FORT MYERS, Fla. A 26-year-old man is accused of a weekend downtown shooting that injured one person. Derek Alexander Riccobono, of the 15100 block of Port of Iona Drive in south Fort Myers, was arrested Monday, Fort Myers police said. The shooting took place at about 2:30 a.m. Sunday near Bay Street and Hendry Street. […]

Punta Gorda police chief says he’s been fired

PUNTA GORDA, Fla. Police Chief Tom Lewis says he’s been fired. City Manager Howard Kunik delivered the termination notice Monday, according to Lewis. The firing had to do with the August 2016 citizens academy shooting, Lewis said. Lewis was acquitted of culpable negligence in the death of retired librarian Mary Knowlton, who was gunned down […]

Florida drivers are worst in US, study says

FORT MYERS, Fla. Florida has the worst drivers in the U.S., according to a new study. SmartAsset, a personal finance website, looked at the number of drivers, DUI arrests, fatalities, the percentage of people with car insurance and other data to come up with its rankings. Floridians type “speeding tickets” and “traffic tickets” more than […]

Florida workers’ comp rates could decrease in 2018

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA) State businesses could see workers’ compensation insurance premiums decrease in 2018, after a tumultuous period that included a double-digit rate hike late last year and a lobbying battle about whether to revamp workers’ compensation laws. The National Council on Compensation Insurance, which proposes rates for workers’ compensation insurers, said […]

Photo of Harvey rescue spreads on internet, front pages

HOUSTON (AP) In the photo, little Aiden Pham – 13 months old and swaddled in a blanket – nestles asleep in his mother’s arms, even as floodwaters from Hurricane Harvey surge around them. Someday, no doubt, Aiden’s mother will tell him about the day Houston police rescued them from their flooded home by boat, and […]

Partly cloudy, isolated storms for Tuesday

FORT MYERS, Fla. There will be a high of 92 degrees with a partly cloudy sky and isolated storms Tuesday, WINK meteorologist Brooke Silverang said. “This lower than normal coverage of rain and storms will be with us for the next two to three days, and obviously that’s going to help our waters to gradually […]

FEMA chief no newcomer to gov’t disaster response

WASHINGTON (AP) Hurricane Katrina. Deepwater Horizon. And now, perhaps the worst disaster Texas has ever seen. Brock Long, the man directing the Trump administration’s response to Hurricane Harvey, is a veteran of disaster management in government and the private sector. But the newly confirmed FEMA administrator is facing a new scale of problems to solve […]

Trump: ‘All options are on table’ after North Korea missile launch

WASHINGTON (AP) President Donald Trump said Tuesday that “all options are on the table” in terms of a U.S. response to North Korea’s launch of a missile over Japan. In a terse, written statement Tuesday, Trump said that with the missile launch North Korea has “signaled its contempt for its neighbors, for all members of […]