Lauren Sweeney

Tom Tegen served our nation honorably during World War II. He’s 93 years old and is now a survivor of the coronavirus. He was released from NCH North Naples Sunday afternoon with the “Rocky” theme playing, as he exited the hospital in victory. That’s also when Tom hugged on of his three children for the […]

Doctors in an Orlando area hospital saved Kevin Rathel’s life in April. After three weeks in the hospital and some time on the ventilator, he was released. But months later, the Rathels still don’t know how much of his hospitalization and care they will have to pay for. “You’ve gone through this big ordeal, and […]

A few things stand out when you walk into the critical care unit at NCH North Naples. At first glance, you wouldn’t be able to tell you’re in the middle of a pandemic. No one is decked out head to toe in personal protective equipment. Doctors, nurses, respiratory therapists and other health care professionals are […]

NCH Healthcare System boasts a nearly perfect track record when it comes to containing the spread of COVID-19 within its walls. The hospital system claims that it’s had no patient-to-patient transmission, and only one employee has contracted the virus while at work. “That means we can live with COVID, and by the way news flash, […]

The Lee County Sheriff’s Office asked the State Attorney’s Office to review new information obtained concerning the death of Ryan Modell. Modell was killed by James “Steve” Taylor outside a south Fort Myers townhome in a stand your ground shooting. Modell tried to enter Taylor’s home in March 2016. Taylor then shot and killed him […]

The maker of a drug shown to shorten recovery time for severely ill COVID-19 patients says it will charge $2,340 for a typical treatment course for people covered by government health programs in the United States and other developed countries. Gilead Sciences announced the price Monday for remdesivir, and said the price would be $3,120 […]

A nursing home where workers complained of a lack of PPE and information about coronavirus currently has more COVID-19 positive residents than any other facility in Southwest Florida. According to Florida Department of Health data released Thursday, there are 34 COVID-19 positive residents at Heritage Park Rehabilitation and Healthcare in Fort Myers. It’s not known […]

On March 1, 2019, David Norgard texted his mother, Sylvia, that he’d be home shortly after 9 p.m. Seven minutes later, a 911 call came into the Collier County Sheriff’s office. After an argument with another driver near the intersection of 23rd Street Southwest and 16th Street Southwest in eastern Collier County, Norgard, 24, was […]

Henry Jackson said his son Jason wanted to be a police officer since he was a little boy. In 2007, Jason Jackson became a fully certified officer with the Fort Myers Police department and excelled. He passed the detective’s exam and got promoted to a newly formed gang unit in 2016. A few months later, […]

A man accused of running a drug ring from Panama City to Fort Myers and ordering the murder of a Fort Myers police drug informant will not face the death penalty. At a remote hearing Thursday, Judge Virginia Covington said the Department of Justice decided not to pursue the death penalty against Robert Ward. Ward […]