Florida, Punta Gorda | featured news

The initial results are in.
And if Thursday evening’s meeting at the Cultural Center of Charlotte County of 40 active proponents of public bus transit between North Port and Port Charlotte is an indication, it should not be a matter of whether but when.
T...

Leadership Charlotte inducted two past members men into its Hall of Fame for their outstanding leadership in Charlotte County on Thursday at the Isles Yacht Club. Out of eight nominees, the final two were presented with plaques during a luncheon ceremony...

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 Ma...

NEW YORK (AP) — Barbara Mertz, a best-selling mystery writer who wrote dozens of novels under two pen names, has died. She was 85.
Mertz died Thursday morning at her home, in Frederick, Md., her daughter Elizabeth told her publisher HarperCollins.
Mertz w...

NEW YORK (AP) — No, it wasn’t just an excuse to avoid getting hitched: Some heterosexual couples who postponed their weddings until gay couples had the right to marry are now making plans to say “I do.”
And we’re not talking celebrities like Brangelina, L...

(Bloomberg) — Gold futures jumped the most in two weeks as the dollar headed for the longest slump since April, increasing demand for the metal as an alternative investment.
The Bloomberg Dollar Index, a gauge against 10 major trading partners, fell for t...

JERUSALEM (AP) — An Israeli anti-settlement group says the country is pressing forward with plans to build more than 1,000 new apartments in West Bank settlements.
Peace Now says the military has approved construction plans for units in a number of settle...

TALLAHASSEE (AP) — For the second year in a row, Florida’s top official in charge of bringing businesses to the state is getting a $70,000 bonus.
The board of Enterprise Florida — which includes Gov. Rick Scott — voted Thursday to grant the bonus to presi...

MIAMI BEACH (AP) — Family members of a teenager who died after being shocked by Miami Beach police say he was an artist who wanted to change the world through art. Now they’re asking for an independent investigation to learn about the events that led to I...

TAMPA (AP) — Tampa Fire Rescue officials say they’ve extinguished a small fire in a silo at the port that caused a chemical smell in downtown Tampa.
The fire happened Thursday morning. Winds carried the smell from the port into downtown.
People were bein...