Charlotte County, Punta Gorda | featured news

WEST PALM BEACH (AP) — Staff members at a South Florida zoo were saddened when two of their animals died just hours apart.
Palm Beach Zoo officials say Missy, an 11-year-old capybara, and Osceola, a nearly 2-year-old Florida panther, died Thursday in unr...

NEW YORK (AP) — Days of finding a quarter under your pillow are long gone. The Tooth Fairy no longer leaves loose change.
Kids this year are getting an average of $3.70 per lost tooth, a 23 percent jump over last year’s rate of $3. And that’s a 42 percen...

(AP) — Gold is having a summer revival.
The price of gold touched $1,420 an ounce this week, a three-and-a-half month high, as escalating tensions in the Middle East, volatile currency markets and renewed demand for jewelry in China and India pushed pric...

BAGHDAD (AP) — The mob strung up the suspected terrorist’s shirtless body by the feet and set it ablaze on a street on the outskirts of the Iraqi capital, a tire placed underneath to fuel the flames.
In a video issued in recent days, jihadi militants wh...

VIRGINIA CITY, Nev. (AP) — A Nevada judge has dismissed most of the claims in a civil lawsuit an ex-business partner filed against a Storey County commissioner and developer who owns the Mustang Ranch brothel.
District Court Judge James Wilson threw out ...

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Mayor Bob Filner was true to his reputation as a workaholic during most of his brief tenure at City Hall.
Followers adopted a Twitter hashtag — #filnereverywhere — to chronicle his nonstop pace riding a bicycle to school with children, c...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Faced with a potentially serious primary challenger, Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander was not about to sit back and wait.
The former two-term governor locked down endorsements, banked more than $3 million and linked arms with popula...

MIAMI (AP) — The U.S. Coast Guard is urging boaters across the state to use caution as they enjoy Labor Day weekend.
Coast Guard law enforcement crews will patrol the waterways over the long holiday weekend, conducting safety checks and watching for boat...

PENSACOLA (AP) — A mother is behind bars on child neglect charges after her 14-month-old daughter drowned in a neighbor’s goldfish pond.
The Pensacola News Journal reports homeowner Larry Kruger pulled the child from the water after her 5-year-old brother...

MIAMI (AP) — Call it the case of the purloined parrot.
Police in Miami-Dade County are asking local residents to be on the lookout for a talking parrot that was recently stolen during a burglary.
Investigators said Friday the yellow, blue and green macaw ...