VICTORIA MACCHI

The defense in the case against Luis Gonzalez, accused in the death of Tia Poklemba, wants a state agency's help in an aspect of preparing the defense's case.

Nearly 60 flights were delayed Monday at Southwest Florida International Airport.

Anticipated movement on immigration reform may come this week in the latest round of “will-they-or-won’t-they” since a group of U.S. senators announced efforts in late January to overhaul the sytem.

Mesac Damas is expected to appear in a Collier courtroom today for the first time since 2011, as a new judge hears about the status of the death penalty case from prosecuting and defense attorneys.

Stephanie Mold describes her legal status in the U.S. for nearly a decade with a series of letters and numbers.

Agustin Morales II was one of hundreds of low-priority immigration detainees released earlier this week around the country in a surprise cost-cutting move announced by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Southwest Floridians need to look locally, not nationally for improved economic conditions, a U.S. representative told a professional group in North Naples on Wednesday.

The recent arrest of a Las Vegas woman is tied to a 2010 Collier County bill collection fraud case and allegations of theft and fraud totaling more than $150,000, court and sheriff’s records show.

Federal investigators released a new indictment Friday in a multi-state sex trafficking ring, formally charging a Collier County man and doubling the number of accused conspirators.

A bill detailing potential immigration reform is expected from a group of U.S. House members in the coming days, ahead of the State of the Union address Tuesday.

When an Immokalee man hurt himself working for a construction company last fall, he did what employees injured on the job do. He filed for workers' compensation.

The White House and senators' separate proposals each focus on creating a way for most of the estimated 11 million people already in the U.S. illegally to become citizens. Each plan calls for strengthening border security, cracking down on employers ...

In an admittedly close call, a federal judge in Fort Myers determined there was probable cause to move forward in the case against a Golden Gate man accused in a sex trafficking ring.

Declaring "now is the time" to fix broken immigration laws, President Barack Obama on Tuesday urged Congress to put millions of illegal immigrants on a clear path to U.S. citizenship while cracking down on businesses that employ people illegally and ...

When Congress scrutinizes comprehensive immigration reform later this year, the plans will have the fingerprints of Florida lawmakers all over them.

As a legal battle for arboreal justice winds down in Lee County, the state reached as far as Brazil for expert testimony on the last day of a trial over destroyed backyard citrus trees.

A ledger with women's names. Receipts for money wired to Central America. Fake IDs with real information: Antonio Mendez-Lopez, 45 years old, Guatemala native.

When federal agents dismantled a sex trafficking ring from Florida to North Carolina last week, one woman's name appeared throughout the court documents indicting her and 12 others.

The immigrants' fake papers said they were from Cuba, but they weren't. It was a way to gain expedited approval to stay in the U.S., compared with the longer approval process required for immigrants from other countries.

Comprehensive and bipartisan were the buzzwords for two Congressional representatives hosting a forum on immigration reform Monday in Miami. Immigrant advocates at the event prioritized different terms, such as humanitarian and family unification.

Nearly a year ago, two Ave Maria law students knelt on a Golden Gate Estates street, sure they were about to be shot.

While Damas, accused of killing his wife and five children, hasn’t been in court since July 2011, his lawyers have been working behind the scenes, taking depositions and finding witnesses for the 36-year-old.

Ave Maria founder Tom Monaghan won a partial, if temporary, victory this week in a courtroom battle over contraceptives coverage for his Michigan-based company's employees.

Raul Sanpedro is only 15 but already is missing 11 days of his life he can't remember. He doesn't remember riding four-wheelers with two friends, or the white sedan hitting him with "great speed and violence," leaving a 230-foot skid ...

Draped in a light blue veil that skimmed her ankles, 15-year-old Aday Porras sat ramrod straight atop a chocolate-colored donkey, walking down Golden Gate's streets after dark every night last week, a gaggle of carolers in tow.

Days from her due date, Epseia Diaz still needed to make sure Christmas happens for her three older children, even if their new little sister interrupts the festivities.

The federal government Friday whittled a controversial immigration enforcement policy in place in Collier County and around the country, after months of uncertainty about its future.

Naples Plaza is playing with a full deck after months of renovations, with property owners touting 100 percent occupancy at the overhauled shopping center.

Motorists are free to blast Justin Timberlake — or any other music they choose — as loud as they wish, the Florida Supreme Court ruled Wednesday.

Fatima Soto is one of about 53,000 previously undocumented young people brought to the U.S. as children who are now allowed to stay, and in most cases work, for renewable two-year periods, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigrations Services, the ...

In a letter to state-based politicians Friday, the ACLU of Florida urged an end to a controversial immigration enforcement policy in which Collier County participates.

After reaching his machine gun nest 50 feet above the USS Pennsylvania, as Japanese planes strafed Pearl Harbor Naval Yard, Russel Winsett had one option.

Three Southwest Florida senior living centers are facing small outbreaks of an as-yet undetermined illness.

Alex Sempf saw the spark as he cleaned fuel out of the waste tank on his boat, docked in the canal behind his Naples home.

An Immokalee grower accused in a federal whistle-blower lawsuit of hiring illegal immigrants is pushing back against the allegations of a former employee.

“It doesn’t do anything for us,” said Fifth Avenue South shop owner Larry Liss, a small business stalwart on a street where his store, The Blue Mussel, has outlasted most others. Any promotion of small business is good, Liss said.

To apply for the U-visa, which went into effect in 2008, victims and witnesses of qualifying crimes must prove they cooperated with law enforcement and the court system in moving the case forward, which can include testifying against a suspect.

The recipe is changing for this weekend's Taste of Bonita food festival.

Sit up straight. Articulate more. The remonstrations are more suited to an etiquette class than a courtroom.

Southwest Floridians must be happy with their representation in Tallahassee, overwhelmingly supporting veteran legislators in state House and Senate races.

Age is a point of contention in a heated runoff race for judge, as veteran County Judge Eugene C. Turner fights to keep his Group 2 seat despite a state mandate that would force him to retire about 1 1/2 ...

Only one Collier County judgeship remains up for grabs Nov. 6, and both candidates are currently facing ethics complaints ahead of the runoff.

A top Immokalee produce company faces a federal whistleblower lawsuit after an ex-employee alleged it hired illegal aliens and offered him a five-figure sum to keep quiet.

On a half-mile stretch of East Naples' Estey Avenue, neighbors saw emergency vehicles swarm for the second time in less than a month Friday.

As northerners pull fleece jackets and hats out from storage, nurse Deb Norton is grateful for seasonal work that lets her spend the winter in Fort Myers instead of Fort Wayne.

For the second time since May, a fire ripped through the top floor of a Naples Bath and Tennis Club apartment building early Wednesday morning.

For the second time since May, a fire ripped through the top floor of a Naples Bath and Tennis Club apartment building early Wednesday morning.

If a "fair food" agreement were edible, on Thursday it would have been wrapped in a flour tortilla and topped with salsa, as Chipotle Mexican Grill signed on with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers to improve working conditions for tomato ...

It was a gym in North Naples that made Liz Anderson, born in England and raised in Spain, part of a growing national statistic: immigrants outpacing native-born entrepreneurs at a rate of 2-to-1 in starting businesses.

At the head of a table packed with a dozen buddies from his high school baseball team, Ryan Duffy held court Saturday afternoon. It was the 26-year-old Duffy's first public event in Naples since an August 2010 diving accident paralyzed ...