Lee County Commission

County Commissioners voted Tuesday, to authorizing staff to pursue the purchase of a roughly 100-acre former orange grove adjacent to the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary through the county's Conservation 20/20 program.

Lee County Commissioners, Tuesday, approved spending more than $273,000 to purchase an emergency call system that could be quickly set up to take 911 calls in case a natural or man-made disaster renders regular call center locations nonoperational.

Throughout Southwest Florida, primary voters will cast ballots in a number of county commission and city council races including seats for Lee County Commission, Fort Myers City Council, Cape Coral City Council, and a number of local ballot referendums for voters in Cape Coral, Marco Island and Collier County.

A proposed apartment project in Fort Myers has area residents concerned about two things: water shortages and increased traffic in an already strained area.

As drought grips Southwest Florida, and the threat of wildfires grows stronger, forest managers are issuing burn bans so that campfires don’t become wildfires. Collier County has joined Lee, Charlotte and Hendry counties in putting in temporary rules against burning stuff. Sarasota County has a year-round rule against burning yard waste. And the South Florida Water Management District has banned most burning on its lands, too.

Effective immediately, residents and visitors can expect a more responsive 911 service due to an upgrade of Next Generation 911 technology. Now, first responders will be able to quickly locate the emergency with advanced location services. Call takers will have a map to show exactly where the call comes from and then will share that information with first responders.

The Lee Board of County Commissioners on Tuesday voted to move forward with Map Alternative 5 as the selected map for the 2021 redistricting process. One commissioner openly expressed his disappointment in the decision, and advocates wanting to reunite Dunbar and Fort Myers say a lawsuit may be incoming.

The Chairman of the Lee County Board of Commissioners Kevin Ruane is sounding the alarm about the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers new plan for Lake Okeechobee.

State health officials reported 4,504 new COVID-19 infections and 71 deaths on Thursday. As of Thursday morning, more than 9.1 million people in Florida have been vaccinated, including more than 6.6 million who are fully vaccinated with either two-doses or the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.Local Governments in Southwest Florida and beyond are allowing emergency declarations and COVID restrictions to end following Governor Ron DeSantis’ executive order, Monday, lifting all coronavirus restrictions imposed by local governments.COVID restrictions are being loosened in Florida courthouse buildings. The CDC has issued guidance to cruise lines about how they can begin trial voyages and theme parks in Central Florida are planning to do away with temperature checks as the CDC’s guidance is changing.

State health officials reported 7,569 new cases of COVID-19, Tuesday and 187 new coronavirus-related deaths.The Florida Department of Health released a statement, Sept. 1, explaining that Tuesday's reported single-day increase in cases of the virus is inflated due to delayed reporting of test results from Quest Diagnostics. The Health Department's statement notes that the test reporting dump from Quest includes nearly 75,000 tests, some dating as far back as April.The incident has prompted the Florida Department of Health and the Florida Division of Emergency Management to sever ties with the laboratory company.