Charlotte County, Punta Gorda | featured news

TAMPA (AP) — A Tampa church has told a Boy Scout troop that it won’t renew its sponsorship because of the national organization’s decision not to ban openly gay Scouts.
The Holy Trinity Presbyterian Church sent a letter to leaders of the troop this week ...

MIAMI (AP) — A man accused of killing his wife and then posting a confession and a bloody picture of her body on Facebook has pleaded not guilty in Florida.
Prosecutors say 31-year-old Derek Medina fatally shot 26-year-old Jennifer Alfonso at their South...

FORT MYERS (AP) — Lee County Sheriff Mike Scott is upset that Florida Gulf Coast University has hired Grammy-winning rapper Ludacris to headline a concert in November at a county-owned park.
The News-Press of Fort Myers reports Scott emailed university p...

OAKLAND PARK (AP) — A suspected robber is in the hospital after being shot by the Oakland Park homeowner he was trying to rob.
The shooting happened Wednesday night near Fort Lauderdale after 45-year-old Kevin Madigan broke into the home of 73-year-old C...

SANFORD, Fla. (AP) — George Zimmerman’s wife says she’s going to have to “think about” whether she stays married to him.
Shellie Zimmerman made the comments to ABC in an interview aired Thursday on “Good Morning America.” She pleaded guilty Wednesday to a...

NEW YORK (AP) — Positive news on the U.S. economy outweighed worries about Syria Thursday, sending the stock market higher for a second straight day.
The Dow Jones industrial average added 16.44 points, or 0.1 percent, to 14,840.95, while the Standard & ...

(Bloomberg) — Gold retreated the most in more than two weeks Thursday as better-than-expected U.S. economic data reinforced the case for the Federal Reserve to slow stimulus measures.
U.S. gross domestic product expanded 2.5 percent in the second quarter...

WASHINGTON (AP) — A stronger-than-expected rise in U.S. economic growth last quarter will likely strengthen the hand of Federal Reserve officials who want to slow the Fed’s bond purchases next month.
The economy grew at a 2.5 percent annualized rate from ...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The government on Thursday said that all legally married gay couples will be able to file joint federal tax returns even if they reside in states that do not recognize same-sex marriages.
The decision came in rules issued by the Treasur...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Being short on cash may make you a bit slower in the brain, a new study suggests.
People worrying about having enough money to pay their bills tend to lose temporarily the equivalent of 13 IQ points, scientists found when they gave inte...