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The Empty Robe
Senior U.S. District Judge John E. Steele is dead at 77, leaving behind far more than legal opinions and courthouse memories. He leaves an unfinished federal docket filled with motions, hearings, trials, deadlines and litigants waiting for justice. Steele helped build the modern Fort Myers Division and remained an active judicial force even after assuming…
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Two Lees One GERM and the Pocket Rocket Paper Mill
Richard Luthmann came onto Two Lees in a Pod with Lisa Lee and Robbie Keszey and turned the Halesverse inside out. The targets were Jeremy “GERM” Hales, Randy “Pocket Rocket” Shochet, Doreen Turner-Inkeles, and the legal-media machine Luthmann says turns court filings into content, harassment into “commentary,” and trademark law into a censorship weapon. From…
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The Socialist Surge
The socialist takeover of the Democrat Party is no longer a warning about some distant political future. It is happening now. Melat Kiros’ stunning Colorado primary victory over 15-term Rep. Diana DeGette joins a growing list of socialist breakthroughs from New York to Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. These candidates are not merely demanding larger…
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Luthmann Is Coming For GERM’s Favorite Toy
Jeremy Hales, known to critics as GERM, is fighting Richard Luthmann in Gainesville federal court, ducking Trial by Combat, and now trying to wrap his own name in trademark paper like it is Valyrian steel. It is not. The pending JEREMY HALES trademark application is not a royal decree, a gag order, or a magic…
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Two Birthdays Apart: Red, White And Divided
America does not suffer from a shortage of flags. It suffers from a shortage of common purpose. Greg Maresca’s Fourth of July reflection cuts through the bunting and fireworks to expose the hard truth of America at 250: we are not indifferent, but we are badly divided. In 1976, Americans could argue over Watergate, Vietnam,…
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That Bonded Minute
Before America became a superpower, a culture war, a cable-news cage match, or a social-media shouting pit, it was a story — one day at a time. Greg Maresca remembers when CBS understood that. The old Bicentennial Minute gave Americans sixty seconds of shared civic memory every night, reminding viewers that the Revolution was not…
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Forged On The Frontier: Young Washington
America remembers George Washington in marble, on money, and beneath the heavy title “Father of Our Country.” But before the legend, there was a young man on the frontier — ambitious, wounded by loss, underprepared, and desperate to prove himself. Young Washington arrives at the perfect moment, as America approaches its 250th birthday, to remind…
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Targeted But Not Erased
Before the internet turned Jennifer Couture into a public target, she was a Fort Myers mother, beauty-and-wellness professional, working woman, and familiar figure inside Garramone Plastic Surgery. That is the story the digital mob never wanted to tell. Online outrage flattens people into clips, captions, accusations, and hashtags, but real life is bigger than the…
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Dog Whistle Danesh
Danesh Noshirvan has a favorite button, and he keeps pounding it: “RACIST.” Richard Luthmann: racist. Dr. Bryan Mark Rigg: racist. James Iannazzo, Paul J. Currie, Erik Kotek, Stephanie Weiland Knarr, Jennifer Kehs, Kenneth Fillion, Julian Jackson-Fannin — racist, racist, racist. The problem is not that racism is fake. The problem is that Danesh uses the…
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Ian’s Scar Starts Healing
Fort Myers Beach finally got the news locals, business owners, fishermen, tourists, and storm-weary residents have been waiting to hear since Hurricane Ian: the pier is moving forward. Lee County says the Fort Myers Beach Pier rebuild has received the required federal permit approval, allowing the project to enter the pre-construction phase. That does not…
Florida Courts, Politics, Corruption, Cancel Culture, and Gulf Coast Accountability Journalism.
Dedicated to journalism that cuts beneath the surface and exposes what power tries to keep below the waves.
FL Gulf News delivers investigative reporting and informed commentary on Florida courts, Florida politics, public corruption, First Amendment and media law, cancel culture, Gulf Coast affairs, and government accountability. Our reporting focuses on abuses of power, failures inside legal and political institutions, platform censorship, reputational warfare, and stories that matter to everyday Floridians. Through original investigations, public records research, court filings, source documents, interviews, and evidence-driven journalism, FL Gulf News works to expose misconduct, strengthen transparency, and promote civic understanding across Florida and the Gulf Coast.
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