The encounter that ended with an Immokalee man shot and killed by a Collier County Sheriff’s Office deputy lasted 13 seconds, according to the sheriff’s office.  

During the last few seconds of the encounter, the man was running toward deputies with a raised weapon, according to information released by the sheriff’s office on Tuesday.  

Nicholas Morales-Bessannia, 37, was shot by a deputy around 1:15 a.m.  Sept. 17 outside a home in the Farm Workers Village neighborhood in Immokalee.  

Three Collier deputies arrived after a woman called 911 because a man was outside her home on Edenfield Way with a shovel trying to get inside, according to audio of a 911 call released by the sheriff’s office.   

Cpl...

A 23-year-old Lehigh Acres man is facing charges linked to terrorism and ISIS, according to documents from the U.S. District Court.

Jonathan Guerra Blanco, also known as Abu Zahraal-Andalusi, attempted to provide material support and resources to the foreign terrorist organization, according to a sworn report from Special Agent Bryan D. Hughes, of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Joint Terrorism Task Force.

Guerra is a Cuban-born naturalized U.S. citizen. He had his first appearance on Sept. 14 before Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Becerra in Miami, where he was held without bond.

He was arrested Sept...

Chambers of wood chips and pea gravel underneath a downtown parking lot could be Bonita Springs’ best weapon to combat pollutants in the Imperial River.

And that innovative tool is getting an upgrade.

The bioreactor, hidden under a parking lot at Felts Avenue and Abernathy Street, stops hundreds of pounds of nitrates from reaching the river every year. Nitrates are linked to blue-green algal blooms, according to Florida Gulf Coast University experts.

The bioreactor was the first of its kind in the state when installed in 2015 at a cost of $450,000. Rainwater from the downtown area is funneled into the chambers before spilling into the Imperial River.

Last year, tests showed the chambers scrubbed nearly all nitrates ...

A 29-year-old Naples man was killed in a crash early Tuesday on Oil Well Road in Collier County, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.  

The man was driving in the east lane of Oil Well Road about 6:50 a.m. when his vehicle crossed a raised concrete median and entered the westbound lane, troopers reported.

The front of the man’s sedan struck the front of an SUV that was traveling in the westbound lane, resulting in a head-on collision.

In the Know: Naples keeps stretching south on U.S. 41 toward Everglades City, with new stores and developments

And: Naples beach outfall removal project takes step forward after city council actions

The crash occurred near the intersection of Oil Well Road and Victory Lane...

Sit through a criminal trial — a real one, not the Reader’s Digest condensed version you see on TV — and a good chunk of the testimony will consist of crime scene analysts, lab technicians and custodians explaining how they handled bits of evidence.

They’ll go into minute detail about how the bits came into their possession, how they sorted and catalogued them and what they did with them once they were finished.

It’s called chain of custody and it’s crucial to any prosecution.

The state must show that no one had access to the evidence, no one had the opportunity to tamper with it, between the time it was discovered and the time it is presented to the jury.

It’s often tedious, which explains why it’s seldom ...

“Masks Prohibited”: Patrons entering Westside Sports Bar & Lounge encounter unusual signs on the front doors, proclaiming masks are not allowed inside.

Owner Gary Kirby started banning masks Sept. 11. His stance amid the COVID-19 pandemic has attracted national media attention — and online death threats — along with a wave of support.

“I do agree that there is a virus, with a 1% death rate. I feel like we are statistically just as likely to get hit by a train,” Kirby said.

“In addition to that, I have had thousands of people in here with their temperature checked. Nobody has been over 100. I have not had one positive case of this virus in this bar,” he said.

“I do agree that (the coronavirus) is here, and we do need to be s...

With a deadline looming, Naples leaders are taking steps to help establish a new independent ethics commission approved by voters earlier this year. 

Naples city councilors on Monday unanimously voted to direct the city clerk to advertise an open position on the new ethics commission.

They also asked city staff to gather nominations and bring them back to the council no later than Nov. 2 for interviews and subsequent appointment by the council.

The city council is among a group of five governmental bodies or officials each required to select a member for the new five-person commission.

The ethics referendum, approved by Naples voters in August, amends the city’s charter to establish an independent ethics commission...

The man shot and killed by a sheriff’s office deputy in Immokalee last week was a single father and longtime farm worker in the community, according to the Coalition of Immokalee Workers.  

Nicholas Morales-Bessannia, 37, lived a few houses from where the shooting occurred and had a 13-year-old son. He was shot and killed by a deputy around 1:15 a.m. Thursday outside a home in the Farm Workers Village neighborhood.  

Collier County Sheriff’s Office deputies had been dispatched to the location after a woman called 911 because a man was outside her home with a shovel trying to get inside, according to audio of a 911 call released by the sheriff’s office.  

An investigation found that in addition to the shovel, Morale...

A Bonita Springs man was sentenced Monday to 23 months in state prison after being convicted of aggravated battery and assault on a pregnant woman.

Nathan Morgan Aly, 29, of Bonita Springs, was found guilty by a jury Friday following a one-day trial in Lee County.

At his sentencing before Judge J. Frank Porter on Monday, Aly was credited with 293 days served. His sentence will be followed by three years of state probation.

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A report from...

The Florida Department of Health on Monday reported 21 new cases of COVID-19 and no additional deaths in Collier County.

Collier County’s cumulative total COVID-19 fatalities stayed at 202, according to the state.

The new cases increased Collier’s overall total to 12,487 Monday.

A total of 900 people in Collier County have been hospitalized for COVID-19 as of Monday, but that number does not reflect the people currently in the hospital, according to the Florida Department of Health. 

The Florida Department of Health is not reporting how many people have recovered from COVID-19.

Other numbers include the following demographics breakdown for Florida residents:

Age

• Age Range: 0 to 104
• Median Age: 40

Gender

• Male: 6,022