Florida, Punta Gorda | featured news

TAMPA — With less than 50 days until Floridians are able to go online and shop for private health insurance under a new federal law, U.S. Health and Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Thursday the state will receive nearly $8 million in federal fun...

MOORE, Okla. — One young girl is so afraid of the wind that she carries headphones to block out the sound. Other kids are traumatized by the memory of their narrow escape from the storm and the friends who died just a few feet away from them.
Nearly three...

CAIRO — Weeping relatives in search of loved ones uncovered the faces of the bloodied, unclaimed dead in a Cairo mosque near the smoldering epicenter of support for ousted President Mohammed Morsi, as the death toll soared past 600 Thursday from Egypt’s d...

TALLAHASSEE (AP) — A small but determined group upset by the acquittal of George Zimmerman in Trayvon Martin’s killing ended a 31-day long protest Thursday at the Florida Capitol.
Protesters first arrived in July with a demand that Florida Gov. Rick Scott...

PUNTA GORDA — Leo Lansing Boatman, 27, of Largo, Fla., was convicted by a jury of third-degree murder Thursday afternoon after about four hours of deliberation at the Charlotte County Justice Center.
Boatman, serving as an inmate at Charlotte Correctional...

SARASOTA COUNTY — A former homeless man accused of a decade-old murder was deemed unfit to stand trial by two psychiatrists in July, which could mean a year or more until he once again sees the inside of a courtroom.
John Alan Mellquist, 54, was arrested ...

NORTH PORT — With space for 15 more garage-salers, Kathy Brown hopes her business’ parking lot will be full Saturday with people selling their wares.
Brown, who heads the North Port Farmers & Craft Market at 14942 Tamiami Trail (north of Sumter Boulevard,...

SARASOTA COUNTY — A former homeless man accused of a decade-old murder was deemed unfit to stand trial by two psychiatrists in July, which could mean a year or more until he once again sees the inside of a courtroom.
John Alan Mellquist, 54, was arrested ...

SARASOTA COUNTY — Members of social services, law enforcement and the business community, along with many others from all walks of life, got together Thursday in Sarasota to talk about the needs of the homeless and what they could do to help combat the gr...

WASHINGTON (AP) — In secretive chat rooms and on encrypted Internet message boards, al-Qaida fighters have been planning and coordinating attacks, including a threatened plot that U.S. officials say closed 19 diplomatic posts across Africa and the Middle ...