A "Memorial Bike Ride and Service" is scheduled Saturday honoring Sabra Vocaturo, shown riding her Fat Boy.

Ask anyone who knew Sabra Vocaturo and they will state  she was a “bright beam of light and a loving bundle of joy.” Friends and acquaintances are invited to share a day dedicated to her honor. Vocaturo was doing what she loved to do – riding her Fat Boy – when she was killed by a hit and run driver.

Her husband, Anthony Vocaturo, said he  would love for everyone to come and celebrate the life of his wife and best friend.

People wishing to participate in a “memorial ride” are asked to meet at 2 p.m. Saturday, March 3, 2012, at Anderson-Patterson Funeral located at 2701 Lee Boulevard, Lehigh Acres, FL.

The ride will start at 2:00 p.m. and will be followed by a memorial service at 3 p.m. at the Christian Church, 50 Bell Blvd. Lehigh Acres. There will be a processional to the church. At the church, there will be an open mic for people to speak about Sabra to gain closure, her husband said. Following the service, there will be a procession to the cemetery for final goodbyes. (more…)

Michael Ross and Rick Maus will marry aboard the M&M Concrete Spring Festival float March 24, 2012

Chalk one up for a “special” wedding venue. Where many young and loving couples choose barefoot assemblies on a sunset beach or even the crowded floor of a favorite maison de haute cuisine, Rick Maus and Michael Ross will marry aboard the M&M Concrete Spring Festival float March 24, 2012.

Maus and Ross forever crossed paths at Lehigh Acres annual festival and, even before he finally popped the official question, thought how wonderful it would be to get married during the parade. (more…)

Several people have been taken into custody for questioning after a Lehigh Acres shooting left one person hospitalized and caused the lockdown of three schools.

Deputies at the scene stated that at 3:43 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 29, 2012, they got the report of the shooting at 207 Leeland Height Boulevard.

They also said there is still an active search for one person in connection with that shooting.

And officials said the shooting victim was taken to Lehigh Regional and was then transferred to Lee Memorial Hospital. That person’s condition is unknown. (more…)

An owner of a furnished duplex rental in Lehigh Acres traveled from Ohio to check his property finding everything – furniture to even the shower curtain – had been taken.

The duplex owner, Thomas Nolan, Canton, Ohio, reported to Lee County deputies the dwelling must have been burglarized sometime between Jan. 23 and 30 as was listed in an official Lee County Sheriff’s Office report. He informed deputies his hired maintenance service made an in-person check at the duplex located in the 900 block of Hollister Avenue.

Once inspected, it was revealed the rear door to one residence was open. Once Nolan arrived on the scene he found the furnishings and other contents were missing including everything from kitchen silverware, a microwave as well as a television set. Towel racks, towels, laundry soap and even a mattress pad were also missing totaling $1888 from one side and $220 from the other residence.

A Lee County deputy conducted a neighborhood search with no immediate results.

County commissioners approved a resurfacing project in Lehigh Acres that will give 21.4 miles of 105 gravel, pothole-ridden roads a makeover.

The $1.3 million needed to pay for the work is coming from gas tax revenue.

Each year, the county spends a little more than $3 million on resurfacing – $1 million in Lehigh Acres, $1 million on roads in the rest of the county and $1 million on major thoroughfares, such as US-41.

List of the roads to be resurfaced in Lee County and Lehigh can be seen here

If you live in unincorporated Lee County and would like your street to be considered for resurfacing, contact the Lee County Department of Transportation.

The Lee County Metropolitan Planning Organization Citizen Advisory Committee will meet at 3 p.m., March 1,2012, at Cape Coral City Hall to recommend and endorse the Safe Route To Schools funding priorities to the Florida DOT. (more…)

Until last week, U.S. Rep. Connie Mack IV considered his Republican opponent in the U.S. Senate race, George LeMieux, to be a friend.

It wasn’t a hanging-out-on the-weekend type of friendship, but a political kinship where they shared some of the same principles of the Republican Party and a disdain for Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson. (more…)

The March 10 workshop for the Lehigh Acres Land Use Plan has been rescheduled for April 14 and will be held at Veterans Park Recreational Center starting at 9:30 a.m. Previously, it had been scheduled at the East Regional Library, said Janet Miller, an administrative assistant in the DCD Administration of county government.

A female motorcyclist was killed Sunday night after the driver of a sport utility vehicle struck the rear of her bike, sending the woman into oncoming traffic on State Road 415, the Florida Highway Patrol said.

The woman, identified as 50-year-old Sabra Vocaturo of Lehigh Acres, was killed instantly after she was hit by two vehicles heading north on 415 near Crestridge Drive just south of SR 44, said FHP Sgt. Kim Montes. Vocaturo was not wearing a helmet, Montes said. (more…)

Principal Winston Bishop of Sunshine Elementary School contacted deputies after receiving a tip a 12-year-old student had a gun in his possession at school, reports said.

A search of the student’s backpack revealed a black semi-automatic .45-caliber handgun, one magazine with six .45-caliber rounds, a 2-pound hammer and a pocket knife, according to reports.

Deputies arrived at the school to conduct an investigation.

The student was arrested and charged with possession of a firearm on school property.

Reynold Edward “Ren” Helle, 86, of Lehigh Acres went home to be with the Lord on February 25, 2012. He was born in Curtice, Ohio on December 20, 1925 to Otto August and Amelia Louisa Helle.  Reynold married Joy Lea Walker on March 10, 1945. They had no children. They moved to Lehigh Acres in 1985. Both he and Joy worked at Walmart and Publix. They were married for 60 years. Ren was a past Exalted Ruler of the Lehigh Acres Elks Lodge # 2602 and a member for 30 plus years. He was preceded in death by his parents, his dear wife, Joy and his brothers, Clarence, Herben and Wilbert. He leaves behind nieces and nephews to cherish his memory. The funeral service will be held at 12 PM Sunday, March 4 at Faith Lutheran Church 705 Leeland Heights Blvd. in Lehigh Acres. Interment will be in Lee Memorial Park Cemetery. Expressions of sympathy can be sent to his guardian Barbara Emery c/o Hodges Farley Funeral Home 1100 Lee Blvd. Lehigh Acres, FL 33936. Memorials may be given to Faith Lutheran Church. Info. (239) 369-2181.

File Photo

A neighborhood is a little traumatized after a vacant lot caught fire Sunday according to fire department officals.

It happened near the intersection of Barcelona Street and Clemson Avenue.

The fire was discovered when neighborhood kids walked by. They ran to a nearby home to call 9-1-1.

“[Smoke] was all in the air,” says Jalissa Broomfield, who was with her siblings when they first saw the fire. “[The fire] was spreading quickly, it got into the trees really quick.”

Firefighters put out the 1.5-acre fire in less than an hour. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.