The School District of Lee County has made the decision to discontinueLee Home Connect for the next school year.
“We understand that this may cause concern for families who wish to have their child enrolled in a virtual learning environment, however, Lee Virtual School will continue to be an option.” the district emailed.
Students who have been learning from home during the school year will automatically be transitioned back to face-to-face learning at their assigned brick-and-mortar school. No action needs to be taken for parents OK with the transition.
To enroll a child into Lee Virtual School for this fall, click here.
A late evening crash on Chiquita Boulevard necessitated a trauma alert for one driver and resulted in the DUI arrest of the other driver.
Multiple patrol units as well as Major Crash Investigators from the CCPD Traffic Unit responded to the crash. The Major Crash Investigator’s crash synopsis is below, followed by arrest information.
VEHICLE 1: 2019 black Ford F350 truck, driven by Blain Stephen Brown, W/M, DOB: 9-18-93, Yacht Club Basin (lives on boat.) Brown suffered minor injuries in the traffic crash.
VEHICLE 2: 2015 silver Hyundai 4-door car, driven by a W/F, age 26, of Cape Coral. Female suffered serious bodily injury (stable condition) in the traffic crash.
SYNOPSIS:
Vehicle 2 was driving North on the 5200 block of Chiquita Boulevard in the inside lane just before 11 pm on Sunday night. Vehicle 1 was traveling North on Chiquita Boulevard in the inside lane, approaching the rear of Vehicle 2 at a high rate of speed.
Vehicle 1 did not slow and struck the rear of Vehicle 2 causing excessive crush. Vehicle 1 crushed the rear trunk of Vehicle 2 into the interior of the vehicle and continued to push Vehicle 2 North for approximately 182 feet.
Vehicle 1 continued to push Vehicle 2 through two residential front yards where the front of Vehicle 2 struck a palm tree and a wood LCEC utility pole, snapping the pole at the base. Vehicle 1 continued pushing Vehicle 2 and caused it to strike a large palm tree which sheared down the entire driver’s side of the vehicle.
Both vehicles came to rest in a front yard with the front of Vehicle 1 still crushed into the back seat of Vehicle 2.
The driver of Vehicle 2 was initially trauma alerted to a local hospital with possible life-threatening injuries. The driver of Vehicle 1 was transported to a local hospital with minor injuries. During the investigation, it was determined that the driver of Vehicle 2 suffered serious but NOT life-threatening injuries (listed in stable condition).
At the hospital a DUI investigation ensued and the driver of Vehicle 1 was placed under arrest for DUI. Medical blood alcohol levels showed that the driver of Vehicle 1 had a medical BAC of 0.226.
Due to initial injuries and the excessive nature of the crash, THI Satterlee and Forensics responded. The driver of Vehicle 1 was arrested for DUI with BAC over 0.150, DUI Causing Property Damage (4 counts), and DUI Causing Serious Bodily Injury. Further follow up is being conducted to assist with determining the speed at the time of the crash (potential further charges).
ARRESTED: Blain Stephen Brown, W/M, DOB: 9-18-93, of 5828 Cape Harbour Drive, Cape Coral FL. CHARGES: DUI With BAC%. Over .15, DUI Causing Serious Bodily Injury, DUI Property Damage (4 counts)
In 2016, Florida voters overwhelmingly expressed their desire for a safe and accessible medical marijuana program, and I am fighting to preserve the medical nature of the program that voters demanded.
What we have now is a recreational drug program masquerading as a medical marijuana program, and the long-term societal carnage attendant with unfettered access to high-potency THC demands legislative action. That’s why I filed HB 1455.
THC is the psychoactive component in marijuana that produces the ‘high’ which, like other narcotics, causes cognitive impairment, deterioration of motor skills, and euphoria. THC is highly addictive and many studies indicate a strong association with first-episode and chronic psychosis from frequent use of high-potency THC.
Perhaps more alarming are the effects on brain development in children: impaired brain function, high probability of graduating to other ‘hard’ drugs, impairments in learning and IQ reduction, and earlier onset of schizophrenia.
Opponents of the bill are quick to state that marijuana is ‘natural.’ But the THC potency in today’s marijuana is anything but – modern cannabis has been genetically engineered and chemically processed to radically increase the potency – and the high – derived from marijuana.
An average ‘joint’ in the 1970’s contained about 3% THC. Today, the THC in our medical program ranges from 10%-28% for flower and up to 100% for other products.
Studies indicate the medicinal value of THC in treating neuropathic pain is between 3 and 7%. There is no credible study anywhere in the world that demonstrates a medicinal value of THC above 10%. The limits proposed in HB 1455 limit THC potency to 10% THC on smokable marijuana and 60% for other products, with exceptions for terminally ill patients.
Opponents argue that a potency limit would only force them to buy more marijuana to achieve the same effect; they are correct: if they are using medical marijuana to get high, this bill makes that more difficult, which is precisely the intent.
Of the 33 states with medical marijuana programs, 10 have potency limits and 18 have supply limits. Six states have both a medical marijuana program and legal recreational marijuana – strikingly, all six have potency limits in their recreational programs.
Florida’s Board of Medicine tracks physician certifications for medical marijuana. In a haunting mirror image of the Opioid Epidemic, we are seeing a startling increase in certifications (this is the term of art for prescriptions, since no doctor can legally prescribe a non-FDA approved drug) by very few doctors. This year, 71% of certifications were issued by just 12% of physicians.
Even more alarming statistic is the amount of marijuana doctors are certifying. The top marijuana doctor in Florida is issuing 142,889 mg per day – PER PATIENT! To put that in perspective, that would be the equivalent of taking 30 bottles of Tylenol per day. That’s over 4 million milligrams a month. It is physically impossible for a human being to ingest that daily dosage, which leaves us to wonder where these drugs are going?
Well-heeled marijuana lobbyists like to say that using marijuana prevents opioid abuse, but the opposite is true. Studies indicate that medical marijuana users have twice the risk for prescription opioid abuse compared to non-users.
A 2019 study found a 23% increase in opioid deaths for those who use medical marijuana. Big Marijuana – much like Big Pharma in days’ past – puts profits before the safety of patients.
The doctors, manufacturers and patients abusing this program are doing so for two reasons – to get rich and to get high – not as medicine. The consequences of unlimited access to high potency THC are a greater high, increased tolerance, more addiction, more users, and of course – more profits. We have seen this movie before in Florida, and we know how it ends. We do not need a sequel.
Florida legislators acted too late in response to the opioid crisis. We have a responsibility to act now, and an opportunity to act before it’s too late.
Spencer Roach represents Florida’s 79th House District, which includes unincorporated Lee County. He was first elected in 2018 and is serving his 2nd term in the Florida House.
Criminals are opportunistic. An easy target, a lack of witnesses, a dimly-lit location, a distracted victim all dramatically improve a criminal’s ability to easily commit a crime.
One’s best defense is to eliminate, or significantly reduce, one’s vulnerability!
Criminals scout locations and conditions where the likelihood of being detected is low. Dark and desolate parking lots, people texting or using their smartphones, shoppers carrying an armful of items…all examples of creating an ideal opportunity for theft or assault.
Be alert and aware of your surroundings. If you’re absorbed in a phone conversation, texting, surfing the internet on your smartphone, you significantly improve a criminal’s chances to victimize you.
Keep your hands free and your head up. Look around. Trust your instincts. If someone or someplace makes you feel uneasy, there is likely a good reason for feeling that way. Avoid those situations.
Closely monitor your personal effects! Shopping bags, car keys/fobs, handbags and cellular devices are easily grabbed.
Ask for assistance! If you are alone and uncomfortable, walk to an area that is more populated. Never hesitate to ask security or law enforcement to escort you out of an uncomfortable situation. Travelling with others increases the number of witnesses and decreases criminal opportunity.
The Cape Coral Police Department’s Property Crimes Unit is seeking the public’s help to identify a suspect in thefts from several Cape businesses.
The pictured suspect’s vehicle has been captured on surveillance at businesses in both North and South Cape, taking aluminum and wire contained in gated compound areas and exterior storage racks (not dumpsters).
It is a sport utility vehicle with a unique trailer, with the utility box toward the front of the trailer.
The subject pictured walking in front of the SUV in one of the images IS the suspect in this case.
Anyone with information on either the suspect or the vehicle is asked to contact the Cape Coral Police Department at (239). 574-3223.
