SABINA BHASIN

The driver, later identified as John Drake Britton, 23, of Magnolia, Texas, continued toward Three Oaks Parkway and crossed a bridge over Interstate 75, reaching speeds of up to 111 mph, according to an arrest report.

At Monday's Management and Planning meeting, Commissioners John Manning and Cecil Pendergrass spoke in favor of allowing Bonita to provide its own transport services for critical patients.

Gov. Rick Scott is pitching a proposal to set aside $5 million a year in the state budget to help keep major-league baseball teams from fleeing the Sunshine State to Arizona.

In addition to responding to emergencies, they travel the community in high-tech mobile clinics targeting customers who are home bound, have difficulty driving or have timid or aggressive pets.

At Tuesday's commission meeting, the board unanimously voted on allowing Air Methods to take over what was a county-run program under Medstar.

Some residents are terrified the moratorium would lead to pay cuts, firefighters being fired, and dirt roads remaining unpaved.

“Senior staff that initially balked at the idea are now on board with that request,” Commissioner John Manning said.

The Federal Aviation Administration is exonerating Lee County for improperly billing patients more than $3 million without having federally a mandated certification for its Medstar air ambulance program, according to an FAA letter.

“We’re numb. I don’t know what to say because I don’t know what’s happened myself,” said Denise Miller, the mother of Darla Miller, 22, whose body was found near a trailer Saturday at 27966 Oakland Drive in Bonita Springs.

Former Lee County Commissioner Brian Bigelow had 11 small bags of cocaine on him when he was arrested Friday morning, according to arrest reports.

Former Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp has left his position as CEO of a health drink company that so far isn't fulfilling commitments to create jobs after taking a $5 million grant from Lee County.

“I am certain folks will want to do this,” Commissioner John Manning said. “I am optimistic, but we will go through the necessary steps and hopefully we can reach a conclusion in 30 days.”

The proposal, spearheaded by Commissioner John Manning, is intended to spur new growth. Impact fees are imposed on new construction and used for new development in schools, roads, parks and emergency services.

Lee County sheriff’s deputies shot and killed a 21-year-old man early Friday after a shootout in south Lee.

“The first step is to make sure the client is addressing the negative comments,” Begg said. “Then it’s about letting people know the good things they do. The goal is to make those negative comments be furthe

As kids in neighborhoods spotted the fire truck, they ran behind it screaming and grinning. Parents came out to catch a glimpse. “Like I always say,” Zimmerman said. “You’re never too old to believe.”

The project is a holiday community outreach effort aimed at helping local children get to know local law enforcement. “I want kids today ... to feel comfortable with police, that we’re here to help them,” said Sgt. Brian Przespolewski.

Six correction officers tear apart mattresses, dig through drawers, turn over tables, fish through hollowed-out table legs and scour shower partitions. Not even toilet paper rolls are safe from suspicion. They are looking for contraband.

“The phone is ringing off the hook. People are buying guns before they’re even out of the boxes,” said Craig Wendel, an employee at Centennial Arms, an East Naples gun shop on Airport-Pulling Road.

Kathy Rairden's promotion from captain to major on Nov. 11, made her the first female in Lee County’s 125 year history to earn that rank. “I’ve definitely gone a lot father that I thought I would when I first started,” ...

“In America, people are developing diabetes, disease in older people, childhood obesity," said Jason Chang of Truly Organic Pizza. "That’s all gotta be a reflection of what we’re putting in our bodies on a regular basis.”

At the last Lee County Commission meeting of the year, the board worked on developing a timeline for hiring a new county manager.

An audit of the Lee County MedStar program released on Friday only confirmed a mismanaged public safety department with a “toxic” morale issue.

While in the holding cell Jeffrey Caccamise, 59, was not only denied toilet paper but the guards sang “‘Follow the Yellow Brick Road,’which references the slang term for a gay man, ‘a friend of Dorothy,’” the lawsuit said.

Jose Cabezudo-Gomez was one of at least five men associated with the armed robbery outside Thalheimer’s Jewelers in Naples, authorities said. He was also linked to an armed robbery of a jewelry salesman in Palo Alto, Calif.

Poll workers in Lee County are getting a little extra hardship pay.

In their first move as Lee County Commissioners, Cecil Pendergrass and Larry Kiker joined Commissioners John Manning, Frank Mann and Tammy Hall in unanimously agreeing to relinquish some control over Medstar to a private company.

“Both the sales surge in late 2008 and post-2012 election were the result of fears that the president would seek, and Congress would pass, new restrictions on certain types of semi-automatic firearms,” Dunn said.

Lee County Commissioner Brian Bigelow released a one-page personal statement Friday morning in response to the citation he was issued.

Republicans swept the Lee County commission races, leaving their non-party affiliated and write-in opponents in the dust.

Lee County commissioners approved a new lease Tuesday with the Minnesota Twins, keeping the team's spring training in Fort Myers for 30 more years.

Karen Hawes left her seat in Lee County commission chambers moments after the board agreed 4-1 Tuesday to accept her resignation as county manager.

Hawes spent Monday briefly meeting with commissioners, although Commissioners Brian Bigelow and Tammy Hall were absent. Deputy County Attorney Andrea Fraser and John Turner, also a county attorney, sat in the meetings. “It wasn’t easy,” Manning said. “I’ve known Karen ...

A series of financial and logistical missteps since rehearsals and shooting began in July has left the cast of "Senior Prom" in limbo, with at least one backing out of the show.

Witnesses said the shots came from a Collier County sheriff’s deputy who fired three to seven times at Duane Alan Gregory, 49, just before 9 a.m. as Gregory held a gun to his own head outside the 7-Eleven at Estey ...

Drivers get ready, the new Metro Parkway Extension opens to traffic on Sunday.

With the county manager controlling her own departure instead of being considered for termination and a slew of staffer resignations, Lee County Commissioners turned Tuesday to employee expectations.

“In my community I have a lot of friends that work out of their car, truck or home, and a lot of them don’t like having customers to their house,” Peterocelli said. “They said, ‘I wish there was a place ...

Citing inadequate leadership in the wake of the recent meltdown of the county’s Medstar air ambulance program, Commissioner Frank Mann said County Manager Karen Hawes either failed to properly oversee the program or was part of a cover-up.

The Lee County Manager didn't violate the county charter when she grounded Medstar in August, the county attorney said.

Authorities have made 22 arrests utilizing social media tips since Southwest Florida Crime Stoppers began employing the technology early this year, program coordinator Trish Routte said.

The software allows teachers to create a profile for each student, which parents can access with a secure password. It sends real-time updates to parents on their smart-devices, and if necessary translates t into one of 50 languages.

The Lee County manager admitted Tuesday she knew about the Medstar safety violations and the improper billing of more than $3 million before the operation was shutdown.

As the community said goodbye Monday to the 1950s-era Naples landmark, people swapped stories of first dates, first solo bike rides to get ice cream, and of course, the convenience of leaving the beach to get a quick cup of ...

County Manager Karen Hawes and Assistant County Manager of Public Works Doug Meurer traveled to Washington D.C. This week to meet with the Major League Baseball team's executives in person today.

The new documents show that a Lee County paramedic alerted law enforcement to Thomas after responding to a potential cocaine overdose, transporting Thomas to Lee Memorial Hospital and getting a "general uneasy feeling" about him.

Isaac is going viral. As the expected hurricane nears Southwest Florida, it's also causing a social storm as smartphone users prepare to use Facebook, Twitter and other methods to tell the world about it.

The need to reschedule Debbie Reynolds’ appearance is but one of several missteps that have caused the show’s production to stumble. “Senior Prom” has endured disputes with its film crew, a theatrical labor union has issued a “no work” advisory ...

Squeezing between a bed, a computer desk and a couch are seven members of the hip-hop group Hygher Level.

With nearly 5,000 views on YouTube, rapper Kim Cartelle's lesbian-themed music video is breaking down boundaries in a male-dominated industry.In her "Ballin' Remix" video, the power character is a woman.