JENNA BUZZACCO-FOERSTER

After nearly a year and a half of negotiating, Naples officials and the union representing the city's firefighters are no closer to an agreement.

Black Friday remained a bright spot for Southwest Florida merchants although it will be a few days before they know how much they rang up in sales.

Shoppers at one East Naples retailer were met with protesters this morning.

Capers Kitchen and Bar is one of more than two dozen new restaurants expected to open in Southwest Florida this year.

More than three years after opening, the Jolly Cricket, a popular Fifth Avenue South restaurant, closed last week. The closure marks the end of a year-long saga between the restaurant's owners and landlord over the rent.

Despite the fact streets, businesses and restaurants in Southwest Florida are a little busier than just a month ago, experts said November is traditionally a time to work out kinks before the deluge of seasonal visitors arrive.

With about 90 minutes before polls close in Florida's northeast corner, the ballroom at the Embassy Suites in downtown Orlando is filled with media looking to catch a glimpse of U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson.

Florida may have one of the lowest debt-per-capita ratio in the nation, but unless lawmakers rein in the debt, Floridians could face serious consequences, a report says.

Update: "These are real choices that affect real people's lives," former President Bill Clinton told an enthusiastic crowd Friday afternoon in Fort Myers.

The requests for absentee ballots keep pouring in and elections officials across the state are scurrying to keep up with growing demand.

A Southwest Florida executive is the second high-profile Florida entrepreneur in recent weeks to send an email to employees suggesting his company will fall on hard times if President Barack Obama is re-elected in November.

Shopping centers and stand-alone businesses across the region are the ones getting the makeover. And experts said recently those renovations are a way to keep tenants happy and vacancy rates low in older, often out-of-date shopping centers.

High turnout rates and a community that traditionally votes Democrat in presidential and statewide elections — despite the fact Tallahassee is teeming with Republican politicians — means Leon County is an important Democratic stronghold.

With 29 electoral votes, Florida is considered the most valuable toss-up state in the 2012 presidential election. A win for either candidate would go a long way toward securing a four-year stay at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Florida might not be ...

The cannon salute rattled the crowd as Southwest Florida's military community slowly raised the flag in front of Azimuth Technology in East Naples.

Riding high on a post-debate buzz, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney bashed Democratic policies and told Tampa Bay residents Friday that he would do whatever it takes to keep the country strong for future generations.

Speaker of the House John Boehner was in Naples to stump for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and District 19 GOP congressional candidate Trey Radel. The event, held at Republican headquarters in Naples, is one of several Boehner will do ...

Vice President Joe Biden spoke to a crowd of more than 2,000 people Saturday at the Wa-Ke-Hatchee Recreation Center south of Fort Myers. "With your help, we’ll win Florida. With you’re help we’ll represent 100 percent of America,” he said

Trey Radel is the winner of the six-way GOP race for Southwest Florida’s District 19 congressional seat, in a contest so close experts admitted it was hard to call between four top challengers.

In Collier County politics, once elected officials are in, they're in for keeps.

Voter registration has decreased in Collier County, while more Lee County residents have registered to cast their ballots since 2008.

Being a likable guy matters, but experts said it's hard to say whether a favorable rating in August translates into more votes come November.

Stephanie Brown-Bryant, an East Naples woman believed to have Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, died at her Naples home Wednesday. She was 58.

The U.S. Justice Department on Tuesday gave Southwest Florida election officials two weeks to turn over all documents related to a statewide voter purge.

Early voting begins Monday in Collier County and runs through Aug. 11. That schedule is considerably longer than in the majority of counties across the state, including Lee County, which starts early voting on Aug. 4.

Southwest Floridians donated more than $652,000 to presidential candidates over a three-month period in 2012. But experts said it comes as no surprise that nearly half that went into Mitt Romney's war chest.

The plan was to rally supporters, woo independents and, in the case of President Barack Obama, maybe even convince a Republican or two to vote for a Democrat come November.

Teresa Cowens was first. Then came Desiree Suarez. Cowens and Suarez were among the hundreds of people who flocked to one of three Southwest Florida locations in hopes of getting tickets to see President Barack Obama speak at a public ...

Campaign officials announced President Barack Obama will talk about the economy when he returns to a downtown Fort Myers civic center Friday, more than three years after he first visited. Tickets will be available starting at noon Wednesday.

While Florida is a closed primary state — which means only Republicans and Democrats can vote in their respective party's primary — election officials said there are several universal races that voters, no matter their party affiliation, can vote on ...

Democrats often feel like second-class citizens in Southwest Florida, but they could be in danger of looking up at another powerful voting block: independents.

Lise Sundrla — whose first name is pronounced Lisa — was hired in May 2011 as the executive director of the city's Business Improvement District after a national search. District officials said at the time that Sundrla's extensive background in ...

Two Republicans — Senate candidate Connie Mack and Congressional candidate Chauncey Goss — are vying for positions once held by their fathers. That's not out of the ordinary, and election experts said that following in a family member's political footsteps ...

Officials in both Collier and Lee counties said Tuesday the weekend's stormy conditions took a toll on the area's beaches. Officials said, however, it's too early to tell whether the storm damage will have a lasting effect on the area's ...

When candidates are elected without opposition, they're faced with an unexpected question: What to do with the money supporters gave them to help knock out the competition. For example, Sen. Garrett Richter, R-Naples, had more than $164,300 in cash on ...

Former Sen. George LeMieux bowed out of the Republican primary for Senate on Wednesday, essentially clearing the way for U.S. Rep. Connie Mack to win Republican nomination come August.

A Broward County man has filed an ethics complaint against Rep. Connie Mack, contending the Fort Myers Republican sent a government mailer to voters outside of his Southwest Florida congressional district.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott knows what it's like to be told you aren't registered to vote. The Naples Republican said in a radio interview Thursday he was forced to cast provisional ballots in 2006 after election officials removed him from ...

Government entities — ranging from school districts to the military — are among Florida's largest employers statewide.

Naples City Council on Monday gave staff the go-ahead to begin looking at upgrading the parking meters at the city's beach ends. The project would replace parking meters at beach ends that have more than 25 spots with pay-by-space meters ...

Collier County's elections chief said Thursday her office won't halt its effort to identify and purge noncitizens from voter registration rolls despite a request from the federal government to Florida elections officials to do just that.

A trio of lawsuits filed in the past year seeking damages related to a 2011 gas explosion at Mangrove Cafe in downtown Naples could just be the first wave of filings that contend a local propane company was negligent at ...

A prime piece of downtown Naples real estate once known as Grand Central Station could soon be up for grabs. And that prospect has the nearby Central Avenue site owned by the Naples Daily News back on the market after ...

Naples resident John Barlow, 68, announced Thursday he plans to run for the Collier County Clerk of Circuit Court job currently held by Dwight Brock.

A risque best-seller is nowhere to be found in Collier County's libraries. In Lee County, hundreds of patrons are lining up to read it. Sheldon Kaye said more than 500 people are on the library's wait list for "Fifty Shades ...

Naples Zoo officials said despite an economic downturn and a dip in visitor numbers across Southwest Florida, the decades-old Naples attraction has experienced growing attendance numbers each year for more than a decade.

Special report: Tourism officials say more people visited Southwest Florida in the first quarter of the year — nearly an 8 percent increase in Collier County alone — compared to a year ago.

Naples Tomato, a popular North Naples restaurant, closed its doors Saturday after the dinner service.

The first lady made a whirlwind three-hour, three-stop tour, where she chatted with school children, rallied campaign volunteers and dazzled donors.

Collier County commissioners met for more than five hours with about two dozen fire and emergency services officials to discuss everything from consolidation and fire plan inspections. But it was a discussio