SWFL NowVERIFIED NEWS. LOCAL IMPACT.83°F in Cape Coral,Sunny · Cape Coral
The Southwest Florida stories that are too local, too early or too ongoing for the evening news.
Opera Naples and partners are advancing plans for a permanent performing arts home on Bayshore Drive in East Naples, starting with an outdoor pavilion.
Source: Gulfshore Business
About 80 land managers from roughly 20 organizations trained in prescribed burning at Naples Botanical Garden on Aug. 12, the Garden's second such workshop, the Garden said. Crews practiced responding to a simulated spot-over fire, compared brush trucks and equipment used by different agencies, and burned the Garden's bioswale. Controlled burns clear the brush that fuels wildfires and keep fire-adapted Florida habitats healthy.
Source: Naples Botanical Garden
Saturday, October 31
Cambier Park in downtown Naples hosts the free Halloween Spooktacular from 3 to 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 31, with music, games, candy and costume contests. Evening on Fifth follows along Fifth Avenue South.
Source: Fifth Avenue South BID and 3 more
Saturday, October 31
Paradise Coast Sports Complex in Naples holds a free Fall Fest from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 31. Families can expect trunk-or-treat, a costume parade, bounce houses and face painting.
Source: Paradise Coast Sports Complex and 2 more
Saturday, October 31
Galaxy Fright Nights runs its final nights Friday and Saturday, Oct. 30-31, from 7 to 11 p.m. at the Collier Fairgrounds. The indoor event has two haunted houses, a no-scare family maze and a laser show. General admission is $15, with haunted-house tickets extra.
Source: Galaxy Fright Nights and 1 more
Sunday, November 1
The Naples Concert Band starts its 55th season with "Italian Masterpieces and American Pride" at 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 1, at the Cambier Park bandshell. Guest vocalist Jeanie Darnell joins the band. Admission is free, with donations welcome.
Source: Naples Concert Band and 2 more
Sunday, November 1
Don McMillan brings his "Now Powered By AI" stand-up show to Off the Hook Comedy Club on Vanderbilt Beach Road for several shows Friday through Sunday, Oct. 30 to Nov. 1. Tickets are sold through the club.
Source: Off the Hook Comedy Club and 1 more
The city of Naples expects its $86.2 million beach stormwater outfall project to wrap up by May 2027, roughly a month before the June 2027 contract deadline, WINK reports. The work adds two pump stations, underground drainage and offshore pipes so eight aging discharge pipes can come off the beach, raising protection from a 5-year to a 25-year storm for about 266 acres west of U.S. 41. Construction started in October 2024.
Source: WINK News
Lina María Muñoz Posada, charged in a 2024 federal indictment along with her husband, former Naples community association manager Orlando Miserandino Ortiz, has been arrested in Rionegro, Colombia, WGCU reports, citing a Colombian news outlet. The 17-count indictment accuses the couple of wire fraud, money laundering conspiracy and failing to file tax returns in connection with their Naples condo management firm. Ortiz was jailed in Colombia in 2025 and is awaiting extradition.
Source: WGCU
Saturday, October 31
Naples Botanical Garden celebrates Día de los Muertos on Saturday, Oct. 31, and Sunday, Nov. 1, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. with community altars, mariachi and folklórico performances, Catrina figures and family activities. It's included with Garden admission and free for members; a flower-crown workshop costs extra.
Source: Naples Botanical Garden and 1 more
Wicked Good Eats, a Naples food boat that sells sandwiches, seafood and wraps to boaters, took on water Saturday after a passing boat's wake flooded it. Naples Fire, Naples Police and a Towboat U.S. operator kept it afloat, and no injuries were reported. The owner expects the boat to be out of service for at least a week while a mechanic checks the damage.
Source: WINK News and 1 more
Collier County crews begin placing about 208,000 tons of sand on Naples Beach on Monday, Oct. 26, covering roughly 3.5 miles from Doctors Pass to just south of 21st Avenue South. The $8 million project replaces sand lost to Hurricanes Helene and Milton; trucks will run about 9,450 trips from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Saturday, with completion targeted for Christmas. The beach stays open, but short stretches will be closed while crews work there.
Source: WINK News and 1 more
The American Cancer Society's Making Strides of Southwest Florida walk took place Saturday morning, Oct. 24, at Paradise Coast Sports Complex in Naples. Survivors, families and supporters walked to raise money for breast cancer research and patient support. The event page showed about $438,000 raised toward a $450,000 goal as of Sunday morning.
Source: WINK News and 1 more
A Collier County special magistrate ruled Oct. 16 that work went on at a concrete batch plant on Taylor Road after the county's Sept. 23 stop-work order, WINK reported. The owner faces a $500-a-day fine if unpermitted work continues; nearby Autumn Woods residents say the plant's noise, lights and vibration reach their homes, and the company has been applying for the missing permits.
Source: WINK News
Saturday, November 14
Sierra, the off-price outdoor and activewear chain, will open an 18,676-square-foot store Nov. 14 in the former Party City space at Park Shore Plaza, 4377 Tamiami Trail N. It will be the chain's second Florida store after Jacksonville, and it is hiring full- and part-time workers.
Source: Gulfshore Business
Friday, October 23
The 16th annual Stone Crab Festival fills the Tin City waterfront in Naples this weekend, opening Friday at 5 p.m. and running through Sunday. Admission is free, with live music, vendors and seafood to mark the start of stone crab season; general parking is $5.
Source: Florida Weekly and 2 more
Sunday, October 25
The 18th annual Naples International Film Festival is under way through Sunday, with screenings, outdoor Cinema Under the Stars showings and an awards ceremony on Oct. 25. Artis-Naples lists "Tenor: My Name Is Pati" on Oct. 23 and "Too Soon" on Oct. 24 under the stars, and closes with "Superman" accompanied by a live orchestra on Oct. 25.
Source: Artis-Naples and 3 more
Linda Penniman, a former Naples City Council member and vice mayor, has died at 83, WGCU and WINK News reported Oct. 20. She left the council this fall after her husband, Nicholas Penniman IV, died Sept. 29. Penniman also chaired the city's Community Redevelopment Agency and was active in Collier County water-quality and government-ethics efforts.
Source: WGCU News and 2 more
The Naples Airport Authority approved an operating agreement with American Airlines for two daily nonstop flights between Naples and Charlotte, North Carolina, starting Dec. 2. American's regional carrier PSA Airlines will fly the route on 65-seat CRJ-700 jets from the North Road Terminal, which is being renovated. It brings scheduled airline service back to the airport for the first time in years.
Source: Gulf Coast News and 2 more
