Mold Remediation in Port Charlotte, FL

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. —

A Southwest Florida native could soon take a big step toward the major leagues.

Ty Harvey, a Port Charlotte native and standout catcher, is projected to be selected in the 2025 MLB Draft, which begins Sunday. The recent Inspiration Academy graduate was ranked as high as No. 136 overall in MLB Pipeline’s Top 150 prospects — the first player from the Bradenton-based program to earn that recognition.

“I always wanted to play in the MLB,” Harvey said. “I remember going to the games all the time and being like, I want to play here, I want to play here. So now I feel like I'm one step closer to my lifetime goal.”

Harvey spent the last six years training at Inspiration Academy after commuting to Bradenton during middle school. He said he chose the school for more than just its baseball development.

“The culture was amazing, development was amazing,” Harvey said. “But most importantly, were the coaches. They care about building a young man.”

As a senior, Harvey posted eye-popping numbers — a .571 batting average, seven home runs, and 30 RBI — while continuing to draw scouts from across the country. He was one of the few high school catchers invited to participate in this year’s MLB Draft Combine.

“Once I started to put the mental game to work more than the physical game, I see a lot more improvement,” Harvey said.

Inspiration Academy coach Brian Commerford has worked with Harvey since the seventh grade.

“You see some guys who have some success and they're like, ‘Hey, I'm the crap,’” Commerford said. “But Ty's super humble — the way he's handled this process, he's been very humble through it. And he's been a really good teammate.”

Harvey is committed to play college baseball at Florida State. He says he’ll weigh his options depending on how the draft plays out.

“Right now, I'm worried about my future family and my family right now,” Harvey said. “So whatever helps that the quickest and the best — that's what I'm looking for.”

No matter what happens this weekend, his school and his coaches say he’s already won.

“We just want to celebrate him and the work that he did,” Commerford said. “[He's] achieved so much to even be in this conversation. And that's just a testament to his hard work.”

The 2025 MLB Draft runs Sunday and Monday.

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Posted 4:24 AM, Jul 03, 2025

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. — A man was found dead in a canal off US-41 in Port Charlotte Thursday morning, according to the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office.

The body was discovered face down in the water in an area between Easy Street and Conway Boulevard, next to US-41, according to the sheriff's office. Deputies taped off the scene as detectives investigated below the overpass.

Watch Fox 4's Alex Orenczuk report on the death investigation:

"This morning, our deputies are out here, our major crimes detectives are investigating a death investigation," said Chris Hall, Public Information Officer for the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office.. "A male body was found in the water in the canal here."

Investigators have identified the man but are still working to contact his next of kin. The sheriff's office does not suspect foul play.

"Does not appear to be suspicious at this time, but of course, it is an active investigation, and anything can happen," Hall said.

Investigators noted that the area near the canal and under the overpass is a common location for unhoused people to stay.

"As you know we have a large homeless population in Charlotte County, some by choice, some by necessity, and this is one of the areas where they're known to locate and kind of hang about," Hall said.

The sheriff's office encourages anyone experiencing homelessness or who knows someone who is to contact their non-emergency line at (941) 639-2101 to be connected with available resources.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

Copyright 2025 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

The Sunseeker Resort Charlotte Harbor will change hands for $200 million.

On July 7, Blackstone and Allegiant Travel Co., both publicly-traded companies, announced they'd struck a deal via a press release.

Investment funds affiliated with Blackstone Real Estate will acquire the resort.

The resort, with 785 rooms, sits on 22 acres of waterfront on the banks of the Peace River in Charlotte County. Its extensive amenities include multiple food and beverage concepts and pools, a spa and a fitness center.

Offerings include a rooftop adult pool and bar, a championship golf course and more than 60,000 square feet of indoor meeting space combined.

In a statement, Scott Trebilco, senior managing director at Blackstone Real Estate, said: "The acquisition of this brand new, highly-amenitized resort demonstrates our strong conviction in hospitality and travel and the continued growth in group-oriented destinations. Allegiant has built a fantastic property and we look forward to bringing our extensive experience with large scale resorts to Sunseeker."

The resort opened in December 2023.

The $650 million development was plagued by delays and cost overruns after work started in 2019. The five-year building project was halted twice, first in 2020 during the COVID pandemic and again following damage from Hurricane Ian in September 2022.

Ian caused an estimated $35 million in damage to the then-under-construction resort.

Last year, Allegiant saw nearly $6 million in damages from hurricanes Helene and Milton (before insurance recoveries). The storms also caused operational disruptions that led to room cancellations.

The resort had $31 million in revenues and $27 million in operating expenses in the first quarter of this year, as compared to a year ago, with $24 million and $33 million, respectively.

The occupancy rate rose to 70% in the first quarter after being in the 40% range for most of last year — and reaching 54% in late 2024.

Allegiant reported a $322.8 million impairment charge related to the Sunseeker Resort in the fourth quarter of last year, contributing to a net loss of $216.2 million for that quarter.

The company has been exploring strategic options for the resort for about a year, with hopes of selling at least a majority interest in it.

Blackstone's real estate business, founded in 1991, has $320 billion of investor capital under management in the United States.

Globally, Blackstone, based in New York, is the largest owner of commercial real estate. The mission of its opportunistic funds is to seek out and acquire "undermanaged, well-located assets across the world."

In a statement, Gregory C. Anderson, CEO at Allegiant Travel Co., said: "Blackstone's extensive hospitality holdings and their execution capabilities make them the ideal counterparty for this transaction and also to help realize the full potential of Sunseeker Resort."

He added: "Furthermore, it supports Allegiant's strategy centered around the airline and we plan to use the proceeds from the sale to repay debt and strengthen our balance sheet."

Since 1999, Allegiant Air, based in Nevada, has sought to link travelers in small-to-medium cities to world-class vacation destinations with all-nonstop flights and industry-low average fares. Today, it serves communities across the country.

Barclays served as financial adviser to Allegiant on the sale of the resort. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2025.

The resort is about 30 miles north of Cape Coral and 50 miles south of Sarasota.

With the arrival of Allegiant's flights more than a decade ago at the Punta Gorda Airport, the airport has seen explosive growth, establishing it as a major gateway into Southwest Florida.

Allegiant does not operate flights out of Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers.

In the Know columnist Phil Fernandez contributed to this story.

The Sunseeker Resort Charlotte Harbor has sold for $200 million to Blackstone Real Estate.

The Allegiant Travel Co. announced the sale Monday morning after saying for months that it was looking to either sell of the property or find a partner to operate it with.

The cash sale is expected to close in September.

The $695 million 785-room resort, which opened in December 2023 — three years late and $225 million over budget — was originally seen as an opportunity for the Las Vegas company to diversify. But a slew of issues, from construction delays due to Covid and hurricanes, and low occupancy rates early on, led Allegiant to place it for sale earlier this year.

Gregory C. Anderson, Allegiant’s CEO, says in Monday morning’s statement announcing the sale that the deal supports “Allegiant's strategy centered around the airline and we plan to use the proceeds from the sale to repay debt and strengthen our balance sheet.”

While Allegiant has struggled with the property, Blackstone has bought an asset with a potential to thrive. Local tourism officials have been actively marketing it overseas and believe their efforts will soon show results.

And, in a bit of rare good news that could bode well for the new owners, Allegiant in its May earnings report announced that occupancy hit 70% in the first three months of the year, up from the “roughly 40%” it reported just a year ago. It also reported that Sunseeker earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, was $4.8 million compared with a $4.6 million loss during the same period last year.

As for Blackstone, the global firm has $320 billion of investor capital under management with investments in logistics, data centers, residential, office and hospitality.

Allegiant’s total revenue for the first quarter, which ended March 31, was up 6.5% to $699.1 million from $656.4 million a year ago.

The Sunseeker has 785 rooms, two pools, a spa and salon, a 117,000-square-foot “ground level experience,” an adults-only rooftop retreat, 60,000 square feet of meeting space, a harbor walk, 20 restaurants and bars and the 18-hole golf course.

UPDATE 10:00 p.m.:

Charlotte County Sheriff Bill Prummell says four suspects are in custody while two are on the run following a shooting during what authorities say was a Facebook transaction gone wrong.

Prummell says a shooting in Port Charlotte stemmed from a victim trying to buy something off of Facebook.

The victim and his brother met up with the supposed buyers near Nomad and Melville roads when their car was surrounded by six people, according to deputies.

Prummell says one suspect got in the backseat and grabbed the driver around the neck. He says two suspects pulled a gun and fired at least two shots during a struggle.

The victim was hit in the neck and rushed to the hospital. A suspect was also hit during the incident.

Four suspects are now in custody, but authorities believe two are still on the run. The sheriff's office warns they're considered to be armed and dangerous.

Deputies are working to identify the two remaining suspects and interview multiple witnesses.

Anyone with information or Ring camera video that could help with the investigation is asked to call the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

UPDATE 7:51 p.m.:

The Charlotte County Sheriff's Office says some suspects are in custody, but deputies are working to see if more are at-large or involved.

Public Information Officer Gabriella Ruiz told Fox 4 there's at least one victim, but their condition is not known. It's also not clear how many people are in custody.

Ruiz says she believes more than one vehicle was involved. At the scene, our reporters could see a tow truck take one vehicle away from the area.

Deputies are still investigating and the shelter-in-place is still in effect, as of 7:15 p.m.

"We ask the community to stay indoors for their safety," Ruiz said.

The sheriff's office says this appears to be an isolated incident.

ORIGINAL STORY:

Deputies are asking people to stay indoors while they search for multiple suspects involved in a shooting.

According to the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office, deputies are currently on the scene of a shooting in the area of Nomad and Melville roads.

Deputies say they are searching for several subjects who were involved in the incident.

Authorities are asking the public to remain inside and report anything suspicious while the investigation continues.

The scene remains active with multiple law enforcement units responding.

Officials say they will provide an update once more information becomes available.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

Copyright 2025 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.