Michael Braun

Gov. Ron DeSantis stopped in Naples Tuesday to make a special announcement for the Memorial Day weekend.“ I am pleased to be able to be here today to announce, because we want as many people to be able to enjoy this as possible, that for the entire Memorial Day weekend, we are suspending all entry fees for all Florida state parks," the governor announced.Later, at another press conference, this one in Tampa, DeSantis announced that he would be signing the Freedom Summer Sales Tax Holiday, in the budget for Fiscal Year 2024-25. The Sales Tax Holiday will take place the entire month of July and will make items such as fishing supplies, outdoor recreation equipment, admissions to state parks and, museums sales tax free.

Action continued in Naples this week as players took part in the Minto U.S. Open Pickleball Championships — listed as the most prestigious tournament in the sport.Players and spectators come to the Minto U.S. Open from all 50 states and American Samoa, and from 29 countries around the world. Information from the Minto U.S. Open said that last year more than 3,000 players competed and 40,000 people watched the sport. That's a big leap from when the The U.S. Open for Pickleball began in 2016, when there were just 800 participants and 2,000 spectators.

The Musical Swings at the Naples Botanical Garden play notes from four different instruments as visitors swing. When the swings move in unison, they create a musical composition. The installation, originally slated to end April 20 has been extended until May 27.

A notice from Lee County said a federal decision will affect those with flood insurance — and those in need of flood insurance — in unincorporated areas and four cities in the county.FEMA sources said the discount removal was due to what they said was a large amount of unpermitted work, lack of documentation, and failure to properly monitor activity in special flood hazard areas, including substantial damage compliance.

Local masters student Susannah Cogburn receives $5,000 as a research stipend from the Guy Harvey Foundation for marine research.

A metal pole which once carried U.S. and Marine Corps flags over a military site in Lebanon will return to its proper vertical stance — but this time it will stand tall for veterans and the public to see in a special area at the William R. Gaines Jr. Veterans Memorial Park in Charlotte County.The pole was brought to the Gaines park on Wednesday but the route it took to get to the Charlotte County location was a long and tragic one.

The FGCU women's basketball team won the ASUN tournament on Saturday, beating Central Arkansas 76-47 on at Alico Arena. On Sunday, the Eagles watched the NCAA Tournament Selection Show and found they would be playing the Oklahoma Sooners in Bloomington, Indiana.The Eagles square off against the Sooners at 4 p.m. March 23 on ESPNews.

The sad and terrifying case of 9-year-old Diana Alvarez came to an end Wednesday with a life sentence in prison given to Jorge Manuel Guerrero Torres after he was found guilty of the child's 2016 kidnapping and murder.Diana disappeared from her Unique Circle home at the Sheltering Pines mobile home neighborhood off U.S. 41 in south Lee County early in the morning of May 29.

The carcass of sperm whale that became stranded on a sandbar and died Monday off a Venice-area beach has been towed out to sea.The Sea Tow Venice marine towing service used a heavy towline and rig line, provided by the City of Venice, to take the whale's remains 10-15 miles offshore on Tuesday.

The death of a sperm whale off the Venice coast this morning, while difficult even for marine experts who deal with such things, could be a learning experience for them."Every time you see a whale in distress, like we did yesterday, it's, it's always really hard. It's really hard. And so all we can do is utilize the opportunity to learn as much about them as we can," Laura Engleby, chief of NOAA's Marine Mammal branch, said Monday morning standing on the beach near the whale's carcass. "And then that helps us understand some of the things that we can do to ultimately recover and help them. And so, in that way, that's how we have to think about it. "