Florida, Punta Gorda | featured news

CHARLOTTE COUNTY — Selection is underway for 120 participants and alternates to round out this year’s Charlotte Assembly.
The two-day event, to be held in October at the Cultural Center of Charlotte County, will be comprised of 125 people, including the 2...

PORT CHARLOTTE — A local man was airlifted to Tampa General Hospital after being seriously injured in a boat fire Wednesday morning, according to Charlotte County Fire/EMS spokeswoman Dee Hawkins-Garland.
Around 11:30 a.m., Fire/EMS responded to a home on...

PUNTA GORDA — The owners of Pies & Plates — a combination of restaurant, retail store and culinary academy — is looking for an opportunity to serve the community from a new downtown location, but the public must serve them first.
As a prerequisite for mov...

NORTH PORT — Krystel Klaput and Tabitha Simpson giggled as they tried on hats and took pictures at Goodwill recently.
The teen volunteers had fun while picking out children’s clothing for the South Biscayne Church Back 2 School Bash, set for 6 p.m. Saturd...

ENGLEWOOD — Dick Bonelli is a no-nonsense former Marine. The word surrender is not in his vocabulary. His hard-nosed attitude paid off when the 82-year-old Korean War veteran traveled to North Korea to assist in finding and bringing back the remains of Je...

Today is a day of celebration for Indian-Americans in Southwest Florida and around the world. It’s the day that, in 1947, India became free from British rule after 200 years of colonialism.
Public buildings, schools and offices are closed in India for Ind...

The Charlotte Local Education Foundation’s new hire, Jane Merriam, sees her job as an opportunity to even the playing field for students in low-income families.
She works as the student advocate in Take Stock in Children, a Florida mentoring and scholarsh...

CHARLOTTE HARBOR — It has been nine years since Hurricane Charley roared through Charlotte County, taking down the area’s electric grid, but the storm is still very much on the mind of Florida Power & Light.
FPL is embarking on a three-year, half-billion-...

SARASOTA COUNTY — Two North Port residents were hurt Wednesday morning when the SUV they were riding in blew a tire and overturned on Interstate 75, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
Shortly after 11 a.m., Jeffery James Davis, 41, was driving a 200...

Vivian Hall never expected to have a gym named for her.
But then, she never expected to be a basketball coach at all, and to stick with it for 37 seasons.
Everyone told Hall that her son, tall for his age at 8, should be playing basketball. So she signed...