Fort Myers Beach, Florida

A pedestrian died after being struck by an unknown vehicle at approximately 2:00 a.m. on SR 739 and OLD US 41 in Lee County, the Florida Highway Patrol reports.

Staff Sgt. Charles Hoyle has been to Iraq three times. He’s seen much progress and the difference in what the surge has made, saying Iraq is a lot better now compared to 4 ½ years ago. “I am not a politician,’’ he said Saturday. “I’m just a soldier.” He’s in Collier County now, one of 25 wounded veterans brought here for the weekend from Fort Gordon, Ga., by Cliff Naylor, a Vietnam veteran, for a complimentary stay at Port of the Islands resort.

Ever since Mexico native Maria Quintino moved to the United States, she hasn’t really celebrated “Dia de los Muertos,” or Day of the Dead.
In her Immokalee home town, the 45-year-old continues to light candles for her deceased loved ones, pray and visit the cemetery, but there’s no altar, nor skull-shaped candy or exquisite dinners.

Four Immokalee Fire Control and Rescue District fire commission candidates for Seat 2 and Seat 4 know the business of the fire department and have deep roots in the Immokalee area, the farming community 40 miles northeast of Naples. All candidates are prepared and ready for the challenges of the growing community.

Members of the Greater Naples branch of the American Association of University Women know that taking care of their dollars makes perfect economic sense. To that end, the organization hosted a presentation titled “2008 Election & Our Financial Decision” on Saturday at the Unitarian-Universalist Congregation of Naples building on Napa Woods Way.

Though the economy is down, savings accounts are dwindling and many Americans are struggling to pay their bills, the two major party candidates for president of the United States still managed to rake in large sums of campaign cash from Southwest Floridians this election season. Since the beginning of the current election cycle, which began on Jan. 1, 2007, Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama have raised a combined ,600,986 from Southwest Florida supporters, according to the Federal Election Commission.

She was 34 years old the year John McCain was born. The year Barack Obama was born, Margaret Christensen was 59 years old. Forty-seven years later, the North Naples woman’s vote could help decide which man will be the next president of the United States. She cast her early vote on Oct. 22, five days shy of her 106th birthday.

A night of trick or treating turned violent in one North Fort Myers neighborhood.

The air is filled with anticipation as one of Lee County’s largest food festival organizers are putting up the finishing touches.

Family and friends said their final goodbyes to two young women shot and killed in a Lehigh home last weekend.

Shorter lines expected at early voting sites didn’t necessarily translate to short lines at sites in both Collier and Lee counties on Saturday. With a record turnout expected for Tuesday’s presidential election, more than 46,000 Collier County voters already had cast their ballots via early voting before Saturday’s numbers were tabulated.

Authorities say autopsy results show the deaths of a mother and her three young sons are consistent with a murder-suicide.

Authorities say autopsy results show the deaths of a mother and her three young sons are consistent with a murder-suicide.