North Port’s City Commission is hosting three Town Halls for residents on referendum questions placed on the ballot for the May 13 Special Election.

A new resource is available to teach young people their civil rights while under interrogation.

President Donald Trump emerged as the biggest winner Thursday as the Republican-controlled Legislature and Gov. Ron DeSantis approved a suite of measures aimed at strengthening enforcement of illegal immigration.Quickly signed into law by the governor, the wide-ranging plan toughens penalties for crimes committed by undocumented immigrants; creates a statewide immigration enforcement panel; imposes the death penalty for undocumented immigrants who commit first-degree murder or rape children; and makes it a state crime for undocumented immigrants to enter the state.

The City of Fort Myers will build two new water wells, using nearly $15 million that was awarded to the city last September. The money is part of a $1.1 billion grant from the federal Housing and Urban Development Community Development Block Grant—Disaster Recover (CDBG-DR). The money was allocated following Hurricane Ian to help Lee County with long-term recovery.

Last July we talked with a woman who was closely following Project 2025 on her Substack “How Project 2025 Will Ruin Your Life.” Andra Watkins is a bestselling author who doesn’t normally follow these kinds of things, but she was raised with a Christian Nationalist worldview and when she started reading through Project 2025 was alarmed by things she found in it that she says align directly with that worldview, which she has long-since left behind. Now that President Trump has returned to the White House, and many of his initial flurry of executive actions align with what’s in Project 2025, we’ve brought her back for a follow up conversation to get her take on what's unfolded so far.

Immigrants have rights and protections, regardless of status. The ACLU presents a guide to them.

Gov. Ron DeSantis late Sunday proposed a $115.6 billion budget for the 2025-2026 fiscal year that calls for increasing pay for state law-enforcement officers and firefighters, eliminating a commercial-lease tax and holding a new sales-tax “holiday” on guns and ammunition.The proposal is an initial step as lawmakers prepare to negotiate a final budget during the regular legislative session, which will start March 4. It also was released as DeSantis quarrels with House and Senate leaders over an immigration bill that lawmakers passed during a special session last week.

The City of Punta Gorda on Saturday lifted a Precautionary Boil Water Notice that was placed days earlier due to a low-pressure event in the distribution system.