Charlotte County, Punta Gorda | featured news

BANNING, Calif. (AP) — A destructive wildfire burning in Southern California’s San Jacinto Mountains has grown to more than 15 square miles.
Fire officials estimate that the fire 90 miles east of Los Angeles grew from 6,000 acres late Wednesday to 10,000 ...

DALLAS (AP) — A man has been arrested in the fatal shooting of four people in two Dallas-area homes, just minutes apart, and police were investigating Thursday if he used a grenade or other explosive in one of the attacks.
Investigators arrested Erbie Bow...

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama has called his predecessor, former President George W. Bush, to wish him well as he recovers from a heart procedure to ease a blocked artery.
White House spokesman Jay Carney says the two spoke on Wednesday. He say...

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (AP) — A Marine Corps sniper captured on a YouTube video urinating on the corpses of Taliban fighters in Afghanistan is being reduced in rank after pleading guilty at a court-martial.
Marine Corps spokesman Col. Sean Gibson says Sgt. Ro...

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — At least three people in two states will split the $448 million Powerball jackpot.
Lottery officials say two winning tickets were sold in New Jersey and one was sold in Minnesota.
Minnesota lottery officials say that state’s winnin...

TORONTO (AP) — The manager of a Canadian zoo says officials are preparing to remove more than a dozen animals from an exotic pet store beneath the apartment where two boys were asphyxiated by a python while they slept.
Bruce Dougan, the manager of the Mag...

The Cultural Center of Charlotte County offers dancing on Monday evenings....

PITTSFORD, N.Y.
Unless Phil Mickelson wins like another 10 majors in the next decade, he’s going to go down as the second-best golfer of the Tiger Woods era.
And at 43, that’s probably not going to happen. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. A...

In the wake of a report that a Biogenesis client list included the names of two Miami-area high school athletes, the Florida High School Athletics Association felt strongly enough to say it would re-evaluate its position on performance-enhancing drugs.
A...

PORT CHARLOTTE — At the start of Wednesday’s action, the standings at the top of the Florida State League’s South Division were tight.
At 24-17, the Charlotte Stone Crabs were tied with the Palm Beach Cardinals, and the St. Lucie Mets lurked a half-game b...