Charlotte County, Punta Gorda | featured news

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Hannah Anderson says a longtime family friend “tricked” her into visiting his house, tied up her mother and younger brother in his garage and kidnapped her, setting off a massive search that stretched across much of the western U.S.
And w...

PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. — Gregg Matthews fancies himself a lumbering Star Wars character of sorts as he treks along a popular Florida beach. He wears stout hiking sandals on the squishy sand and uses ski poles for balance as he shoulders a 40-pound backpa...

FORT MEADE, Md. (AP) — Pfc. Bradley Manning took the stand Wednesday at his sentencing hearing in the WikiLeaks case and apologized for hurting his country, pleading with a military judge for a chance to go to college and become a productive citizen.
He a...

WASHINGTON — Former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. was sentenced to two and a half years in prison Wednesday after pleading guilty to scheming to spend $750,000 in campaign funds on TVs, restaurant dinners, an expensive watch and other costly personal items. His ...

CAIRO (AP) — In Egypt’s bloodiest day since the Arab Spring began, riot police Wednesday smashed two protest camps of supporters of the deposed Islamist president, touching off street violence that officials said killed nearly 300 people and forced the mi...

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — A UPS cargo plane crashed into a field near the Birmingham airport Wednesday, killing two pilots and scattering wreckage over a wide rural area moments after witnesses heard the massive jet coming in at treetop level.
People living near...

JUPITER — The Charlotte Stone Crabs had five players with multi-hit games and spread out seven RBIs between six players in a 7-5 win against Jupiter on Wednesday at Roger Dean Stadium.
The Stone Crabs got things started in the third inning with back-to-b...

With debate raging among Arcadia residents over the Arcadia Police Department and the city council’s decision to consider drastically reducing it or dissolving it all together, the reality of Arcadia’s budget picture both now and in years past has been lo...

The DeSoto Board of County Commissioners approved a recommendation by County Administrator Guy Maxcy to appoint Deputy Public Safety Chief Larry Taylor as interim chief. The move comes after the retirement announced recently by Chief Glenn Prescott, who w...

Recognizing that a hungry child may not have the energy to study and do homework, the DeSoto County School District is starting a backpack program this year. With a $10,000 grant from Mosaic and help from the All Faiths Food Bank,the district will make ba...