CAPE CORAL Concern over water shortage in Cape Coral Concern is flowing through Cape Coral as neighbors are seeing their canal levels low and their wells run dry.
FORT MYERS FSW softball swinging for success in the postseason Now their focus shifts to states which means the newbies are looking to the experienced sophomores for advice.
BONITA SPRINGS Young SWFL tennis player competing with professionals You may not know her name now, but you might want remember it because 16-year-old Cookie Jarvis-Tredgett is already competing with professionals.
NORTH NAPLES ‘It’s all about connection,’ Statement Peace makes jewelry with sustainability in mind The brand Statement Peace, once started inside founder Jessica Lee’s home, is now in 2,700 stores across the country
Pine Manor 2 arrested for firing gun at birthday party in Pine Manor A party ended with two people behind bars.
FORT MYERS Shooting investigation on busy Fort Myers street Police are conducting a shooting investigation that involves a traffic crash near Michigan Avenue and Dr. Martin Luther King Boulevard.
FGCU New FGCU athletic director Colin Hargis ready to build on department’s success New FGCU athletic director Colin Hargis talks about the department’s future amid the age of NIL and the transfer portal.
FORT MYERS More middle-aged women being treated for acne You probably thought you broke up with it after high school, but acne is rearing it’s ugly blackheads in adult women.
Lee County student ran up and hit teacher in head, report shows The report says a 13-year-old student ran up and smacked a teacher in the head because multiple classmates offered him money to do so.
NAPLES Collier Planning Commission continues discussion for apartments near Fiddler’s Creek The developer of Fiddler’s Creek wants to build hundreds of luxury apartments on a slice of a 600 acre-plus property known as section 29.
CAPE CORAL Fatigue sets in for third day of FEMA hearings Flying several hours to come to a FEMA code compliance hearing in Cape Coral is the reality for John Gasparini from Maryland.
Prescription drug shortages lead to higher prices There are currently more than 250 medications on the nation’s drug shortage list, according to the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. The organization says 2023 marked the worst year for shortages in about a decade.
Mental health resources to help children Here are some resources to help you navigate the mental health system when it comes to help for children. Park Royal Park Royal does not have in-patient options for youth; however, the facility’s launched a new intensive outpatient program for 14 to 17-year-olds. It typically last several weeks or months, and offers three to five […]
NAPLES Video: FWC releases bobcat after rehab stint at Naples Zoo Wildlife officials released a bobcat back into the wild after recovering from a broken leg at Naples Zoo for eight weeks.
Single-member vs. at-large voting debate intensifies in Lee County Three members of Southwest Florida’s state Legislature delegation hosted a public forum May 1 at Lehigh Acres Municipal Services Improvement District, established by the state in 2015.
CAPE CORAL Concern over water shortage in Cape Coral Concern is flowing through Cape Coral as neighbors are seeing their canal levels low and their wells run dry.
FORT MYERS FSW softball swinging for success in the postseason Now their focus shifts to states which means the newbies are looking to the experienced sophomores for advice.
BONITA SPRINGS Young SWFL tennis player competing with professionals You may not know her name now, but you might want remember it because 16-year-old Cookie Jarvis-Tredgett is already competing with professionals.
NORTH NAPLES ‘It’s all about connection,’ Statement Peace makes jewelry with sustainability in mind The brand Statement Peace, once started inside founder Jessica Lee’s home, is now in 2,700 stores across the country
Pine Manor 2 arrested for firing gun at birthday party in Pine Manor A party ended with two people behind bars.
FORT MYERS Shooting investigation on busy Fort Myers street Police are conducting a shooting investigation that involves a traffic crash near Michigan Avenue and Dr. Martin Luther King Boulevard.
FGCU New FGCU athletic director Colin Hargis ready to build on department’s success New FGCU athletic director Colin Hargis talks about the department’s future amid the age of NIL and the transfer portal.
FORT MYERS More middle-aged women being treated for acne You probably thought you broke up with it after high school, but acne is rearing it’s ugly blackheads in adult women.
Lee County student ran up and hit teacher in head, report shows The report says a 13-year-old student ran up and smacked a teacher in the head because multiple classmates offered him money to do so.
NAPLES Collier Planning Commission continues discussion for apartments near Fiddler’s Creek The developer of Fiddler’s Creek wants to build hundreds of luxury apartments on a slice of a 600 acre-plus property known as section 29.
CAPE CORAL Fatigue sets in for third day of FEMA hearings Flying several hours to come to a FEMA code compliance hearing in Cape Coral is the reality for John Gasparini from Maryland.
Prescription drug shortages lead to higher prices There are currently more than 250 medications on the nation’s drug shortage list, according to the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. The organization says 2023 marked the worst year for shortages in about a decade.
Mental health resources to help children Here are some resources to help you navigate the mental health system when it comes to help for children. Park Royal Park Royal does not have in-patient options for youth; however, the facility’s launched a new intensive outpatient program for 14 to 17-year-olds. It typically last several weeks or months, and offers three to five […]
NAPLES Video: FWC releases bobcat after rehab stint at Naples Zoo Wildlife officials released a bobcat back into the wild after recovering from a broken leg at Naples Zoo for eight weeks.
Single-member vs. at-large voting debate intensifies in Lee County Three members of Southwest Florida’s state Legislature delegation hosted a public forum May 1 at Lehigh Acres Municipal Services Improvement District, established by the state in 2015.
NEW YORK (AP) – Corrections, mental health and law enforcement experts called Mayor Bill de Blasio’s $130 million plan to steer mentally ill and drug-addicted suspects to treatment instead of incarceration an encouraging first step toward repairing New York City’s broken jail system. But they cautioned that the ambitious plan de Blasio announced Tuesday, aimed largely at “frequent flier” suspects who repeatedly end up jailed on minor offenses because there is nowhere else for them to go, will face enormous challenges. “There’s a lot of moving parts there,” said Michael Thompson, director of the Council of State Governments Justice Center, a criminal justice nonprofit. “There’s a reason why this is difficult: You’re trying to do things at multiple points and you’re talking about a huge volume of people.” De Blasio’s proposed reforms are based on the recommendations of a task force he appointed following a series of reports by The Associated Press detailing problems at the city’s massive Rikers Island jail complex, including the deaths of two inmates suffering from serious mental illness. The changes include 36-hour training courses for police officers on how to identify and interact with people who have behavioral health issues, the creation of two drop-off treatment centers for low-level offenders and giving judges more leeway to order supervised release and treatment instead of jail. But those proposals generated concerns from some who wondered how the changes – many of them pilot programs that will be regularly tracked over the next year – will function in practice. “It’s definitely a positive step forward,” said Patrick Markee, director of Coalition for the Homeless Advocacy. “But the most important issue remains permanent affordable housing with support services and the real problem is we have a huge shortage of that kind of housing.” For Kenneth Dudek, president of Fountain House, a community center for 1,200 mentally ill people in midtown Manhattan, the decision to train 5,500 officers immediately with a 36-hour course and the entire 35,000 force later seemed, while encouraging, a bit daunting. “The 36-hour training piece is great but not nearly enough,” he said, noting that other police programs might be more effective, like one in Memphis, Tennessee, where specially trained units are called to all incidents involving the mentally ill. Norman Seabrook, president of the correction officers’ union, echoed that point, calling more training for guards an important tool but only if it was “credible training.” And Patrick Lynch, president of the rank-and-file police officers’ union, said that while he’s supportive of more training, his preference would be for the city to do a better job of keeping the mentally ill off of the streets altogether. De Blasio – who has dubbed the jails “de facto mental health facilities” – told reporters on Tuesday that while some jail reforms already implemented are beginning to show signs of progress, long-term changes will require more time to take root. “This is going to be a long process by definition, because it was not years, it was decades in the making, that’s how broken our correction system was,” he said. While the overall jail population has dropped in recent years, the ratio of those with a mental health diagnosis has soared to 40 percent of the roughly 11,000 daily inmates, up from 24 percent in 2007. A third of them suffer from serious mental illnesses such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, and officials say the mentally ill are both more likely to be victims and perpetrators of jail violence. That’s compounded by the fact that 85 percent of all inmates have a substance abuse disorder. Jerome Murdough, a seriously mentally ill inmate who an official told the AP earlier this year “baked to death” in a cell that was 101 degrees after he was unable to make $2,500 bail on a misdemeanor trespassing charge, would likely have qualified for diversion had the program been in place in February, experts said. “It means a lot to me,” said his mother, Alma Murdough, “knowing that Jerome’s death was not in vain.”