Sheldon Zoldan

The Hall of 50 States sits like a battered, beaten and starved stray dog waiting for a new owner to find him and take him home. It looks like a new owner finally has arrived. Fort Myers City Council, at a workshop this week, gave their unofficial approval to Jim Becker and his plans to refurbish the nearly 100-year-old building on Edwards Drive in downtown.

Plans for an upscale community along Bonita Beach Road live on after a suspenseful city council meeting Wednesday night.Council voted 4-3 to allow for changes to its comprehensive plan that will enable Seagate Development Group to build Revana Lakes, a 299-home community across from the Palmira community. Comprehensive plans are blueprints for how cities and counties want to control growth.

Fridays are when we enjoy a new weekly series that's part history, part trivia, and ALL music. The series features selections from former News-Press editor Sheldon Zoldan's 'Song of the Day." The initiative began as a daily lockdown project on Facebook at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, through which Zoldan highlights how every aspect of life has a connection through music. This week's Song of the Day, for April 4th, is "Lions" by Skip Marley.

Quincy Jones was the GOAT of music producing. He was a musician; scored dozens of television and film themes; produced some of the most successful songs and albums of the 20th century; and pulled together a stunt that has yet to be duplicated. Jones died November 3 at his home in the Bel-Air section of Los Angeles. No cause of death was given. He was 91.Sheldon Zoldan’s Song of the Day is paying tribute to the musicians, singers and songwriters who died in 2024.

Athlete, army reservist, Rhodes scholar, janitor, helicopter pilot, singer, songwriter and actor - Kris Kristofferson led a full life. He died September 28, 2024 in Hawaii. He was 88. Sheldon Zoldan’s Song of the Day is paying tribute to the musicians, singers and songwriters who died in 2024.

Sergio Mendes had a 60-year career in the music business. His first American hit was "Mas Que Nada" in 1966. Mendes died September 5th in a Los Angles hospital from long Covid. He was 83. Sheldon Zoldan’s Song of the Day is paying tribute to the musicians, singers and songwriters who died in 2024.

English boy band member Liam Payne died in October 2024 after falling from his third-floor balcony in Argentina. Sheldon Zoldan’s Song of the Day is paying tribute to the musicians, singers and songwriters who died in 2024.

Singer, songwriter J.D. Souther was never an Eagle, but he soared like one. Souther turned down the chance to join the successful rock band because he thought The Eagles were already perfect. Instead, in the 1970s, he wrote songs for the group and other rock stars, as well as recording his own.Souther died Sept. 17 in Sandia Park, New Mexico. The cause of death wasn’t given. He was 78.Sheldon Zoldan’s Song of the Day is paying tribute to the musicians, singers and songwriters who died in 2024.

Sheldon Zoldan’s Song of the Day is paying tribute to the musicians, singers, and songwriters who died in 2024. Country music superstar Toby Keith died February 5, 2024, from stomach cancer. He was 62.

Florenz Ziegfield had chutzpah, if he didn’t, he never would have made the Broadway musical “Showboat.” The musical premiered December 27, 1928, in Ziegfield’s new theater. “Showboat” had a great score with such songs as “Ol Man River,” “Make Believe” and “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man,” but it was more serious than the musicals of the day that made it different.