Charlotte County, Punta Gorda | featured news

MIAMI — Florida’s economy has been losing ground since about 2000 on almost every measurement, including income, unemployment and inflation, a report released Monday says.
Florida International University economists said in their annual Labor Day report ...

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama worked on Monday to persuade skeptical lawmakers to endorse a U.S. military intervention in civil war-wracked Syria, winning conditional support from two leading Senate foreign policy hawks even as he encountered r...

NEW YORK (AP) — In the end, Hollywood made it through a precarious minefield of summer box-office bombs with a heftier wallet. The summer concluded with a record $4.7 billion in box-office revenue despite much maligned flops like “The Lone Ranger,” “After...

North Port police secure the scene after a shooting at about 3 p.m. Monday on the 3900 block of Caballero Avenue, off Salford Boulevard, North Port. The call came in as a domestic dispute between a father and son. As police were en route, they were told s...

PARIS (AP) — A French intelligence estimate alleges that the Syrian regime launched an attack Aug. 21 involving “massive use of chemical agents” and could carry out other strikes of a similar nature in the future.
The government published a 9-page synopsi...

NEW YORK (AP) — Verizon will own its wireless business outright after agreeing to a $130 billion deal to buy the 45 percent stake of Verizon Wireless owned by British cellphone company Vodafone.
The deal announced Monday would give Vodafone PLC additional...

KEY WEST, Florida (AP) — The flotilla of ships helping U.S. endurance swimmer Diana Nyad finish her trip from Cuba to Florida is visible from the shores of Key West.
Nyad is trying to become the first person to swim the treacherous Florida Strait without ...

MOSCOW (AP) — The Russian news agency Interfax says President Vladimir Putin hopes to send a delegation of lawmakers to the U.S. to discuss the situation in Syria with members of Congress.
Russian legislators Valentina Matvienko and Sergei Naryshkin propo...

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio’s insurance fund for injured workers has hired a veteran police officer to lead the agency’s efforts against workers’ comp fraud.
Rick Gregory will oversee 123 employees at the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation Special Investigati...

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi authorities say that a prominent leader of a militia opposed to al-Qaida has escaped an assassination attempt that left five bodyguards killed and four others wounded.
Interior Ministry spokesman Saad Maan Ibrahim said the Monday afte...