Franco Ordoñez is a White House Correspondent for NPR's Washington Desk. Before he came to NPR in 2019, Ordoñez covered the White House for McClatchy. He has also written about diplomatic affairs, foreign policy and immigration, and has been a correspondent in Cuba, Colombia, Mexico and Haiti.
Between New Year’s weekend and April’s end, Southwest Florida is the scene of more than 40 outdoor art fairs and festivals. Some are boutique shows that feature just a few dozen artists. Others boast more than 200 exhibitors, with ArtFest Fort Myers attracting an estimated 90,000 visitors and the Cape Coral Art Festival topping out at 140,000 attendees. Here you'll find the names, dates and organizers of each of these outdoor art shows.
Omer Shem Tov was one of 44 people taken hostage by Hamas at the nova music festival. Omer soon found himself the sole person being held by his captors, a position he would be in for 505 days.
BIG ARTS is built to last. The building weathered Hurricanes Ian, Helene and Milton largely unscathed. The outdoor sculpture garden wasn’t as lucky. But it has now been restored and Gallery Director Wilson McCray hopes people will check out the improvements this season and is busy preparing a map that will facilitate self-guided walking tours.
Attorneys for detainees at a Florida immigration detention center known as "Alligator Alcatraz" want a federal judge to visit the facility. They argue this will help determine if detainees have sufficient access to legal counsel. On Friday, they asked U.S. District Judge Sheri Polster Chappell to make the visit within two months. The facility, built this summer, requires attorneys to schedule visits three days in advance. State attorneys object, citing security risks and operational disruptions. As of Monday, the judge hadn't ruled on the request. This case is one of three federal lawsuits challenging practices at the detention center.