State

An 18-year-old woman accused of crashing into an Arcadia day care’s playground, injuring one child and killing 4-year-old Maleena Valdez is being held on $200,000 bond. Kiara Morant was arrested in Lee County last week and transported to DeSoto County on Monday to face two counts of driving without a license causing serious injury or […]

A young woman who deputies say killed a 4-year-old on a day care playground has a fresh jumpsuit and a new place to stay. Kiara Morant got her fingerprints taken at the DeSoto County Jail on Monday. Morant is now locked up just down the street from the day care where the crash happened last […]

The atrocities in Ukraine are now being compared to the horrors of the Holocaust. The mayor of Mariupol, Ukraine, drew the comparison while alleging Ukrainians were being taken into Russia against their will. The Ukrainian president repeated the sentiment in his speech to Israel. There are bombings, bodies on the ground, babies bloodied, and some […]

If you don’t want to spend months living alongside any bats that happen to be roosting in your home, you need to check for them and make sure they are gone before April 15, when bat maternity season starts. In Florida, it’s illegal to kill or harm bats, so you will need to undertake the […]

The community came together to help 4-year-old Maleena Valdez’s family. She died after an 18-year-old woman drove without a license and slammed through the fence of Imagination Station Learning Center in Arcadia. In the wake of tragedy, one community is coming together. Yareni Yuñez is a part of this Arcadia community. “Every time something like […]

People gathered on Friday night to remember a little girl’s life that was taken too soon. Four-year-old Maleena Valdez died on Wednesday after an SUV crashed into the play area of her daycare in Arcadia. The tragedy has majorly affected the people who live in this community. So, they honored Maleena and her family with […]

On Thursday, NASA’s new moon rocket, Artemis One, began its first journey to the launch pad. It is a significant step toward getting us back to the moon. Six million pounds and taller than the statue of liberty, NASA’s most powerful rocket was ready to roll on Thursday. Artemis 1 is an uncrewed test flight […]

A family and a community are heartbroken over the death of a 4-year-old girl. Maleena Valdez was described as a “happy little girl.” Maleena and a second child were hit as they played in the playground of Imagination Station Learning Center, a preschool and daycare in Arcadia. The second child, a 5-year-old who has not […]

As the war in Ukraine continues, lawmakers in Washington face off in political battles over how to stop Russia’s President Vladimir Putin. Trust and Verify looked into what our local Southwest Florida representatives are saying about the situation in Ukraine. They include Florida Senators Marco Rubio and Rick Scott along with Republican congressmen Byron Donalds, […]

The Florida Highway Patrol says one child has been killed and another left seriously injured in a crash at a daycare center on SR-70 in Arcadia on Wednesday. After the crash, crime scene tape was placed around the Imagination Station Learning Center on SR-70 near Mills Avenue in Arcadia. “Kids screaming and I said, ‘Well, […]