Florida, Punta Gorda | featured news

NORTH PORT — A preapplication plan has been submitted by a developer for the Family Dollar corporation to potentially build a discount store on the corner of Price and Cranberry boulevards.
Unlike a controversial Dollar General store, which is slated to b...

PUNTA GORDA — After a monthlong summer vacation, City Council members are ready to get back to work this week, tackling an assortment of issues.
At Wednesday’s council meeting, the Community Redevelopment Agency will discuss possible new tenants for city-...

PUNTA GORDA — City officials are beaming following the results of a building code audit that found Punta Gorda in the vanguard of efficiency, effectiveness and enforcement.
The survey results gave the city a rating of three out of 10, with one being the h...

A new tasty competitor to the popular Maine lobster has made its debut in Venice.
The Australian blue lobster, bred in North Port, was the focus of attention with the opening last week of the Farmers Market. The first of more than 300,000 of those Austral...

ENGLEWOOD — Linda Soderquist is celebrating the 101 loggerhead sea turtle nests on Little Gasparilla Island.
Last year, Little Gasparilla Island’s loggerhead nest total was 123, the highest number of nests in a decade. The highest count was 177 in 2000, a...

SARASOTA — Gov. Rick Scott is slated to visit Sarasota’s Nathan Benderson Park on Thursday as it hosts its first national rowing championship event.
The governor is scheduled to arrive as athletes competing in the USRowing Masters National Championships b...

I’ve been told I have an overactive imagination.
It’s possible I used to imagine dead bodies in my hotel room while staying at a resort rumored to be owned by “the mob.” It’s possible I assume a Burmese python is lurking every time I hear something move ...

When copies of his second book, “A Letter to Tia,” arrived, Punta Gorda author Don Landy gave one to his pet sitter, Pat Landry, who was eager to read it after enjoying Landy’s first book, “Unconditional Love.” A few days later, however, the sitter called...

While studying at Edison College, Walton Wood, 28, of Port Charlotte, found a new passion because of a teacher who made an impact on him.
Vernita Batchelder, Wood said, “taught my intro to theater class and directed the first play that I ever really perfo...

RICHMOND, Va. — The opposing wills of a headstrong coach and an equally headstrong franchise player faced off again Monday, with Washington Redskins coach Mike Shanahan rebuffing Robert Griffin III’s latest lobbying effort to play in the preseason.
Shanah...