ALVA Woodpeckers build home in Alva woman’s house You may have heard of squatters, but this woman is dealing with squawkers. Who needs a rooster to wake up when you have woodpeckers?
FORT MYERS Man claims he was trapped in a high-rise for 5 days A 77-year-old man wants justice after he claims he spent days trapped on the 24th floor of a high-rise apartment building.
PUNTA GORDA Charlotte Correctional prisoner arrested for death of another inmate State Attorney Amira Fox convened a grand jury, which decided to move forward with a case against a Charlotte Correctional inmate.
SANIBEL Construction near Dairy Queen eagle nest on Sanibel raises concerns While many eagle nests may be a bit difficult to see, one nest has always been a favorite for Sanibel residents and tourists.
The environmental effects of artificial sweeteners Experts are studying how the foods we eat affect the environment, especially after we flush our waste down the toilet.
Victim reacts to man exposing himself to her Ring camera You get a notification on your phone from your ring camera app that someone is at the door, only to find out it is someone exposing themselves. It’s the last thing victim Maria Kivi wanted or expected to see last week.
LEE COUNTY The art of capturing your eye and drawing you in How do you capture young, hip, trendy, fun, movers and shakers, all in a pose? We take you behind the scenes of a Gulfshore Life cover shoot.
FORT MYERS The lives of two SJC Boxers changed in the ring Two SJC Boxers, Mario Nunez and Arbon Kurtishi, help each other in the ring as each of them had their lives changed because of boxing.
FORT MYERS Chlamydia cases rising sharply in Lee County If you think about a crowded space- something with more than 250 people- if it’s in Lee county, statistically one person has chlamydia.
SANIBEL Sanibel resort day passes hope to get more business on the island A pass will allow vacationers to hang out at a Sanibel beach club for a day in hopes of drumming up some business.
Voting equipment tested ahead of Lee County elections Voting equipment is being tested in Lee County. This is to ensure all ballots are printed and counted correctly for the upcoming election.
Collier County teen assaulted after leaving party The teen has been charged and the sheriff’s office said they’re aware that many believe felony charges are in order, but under Florida law, there are very specific criteria that must be met for felony charges to be filed.
WINK weather team watching tropical wave over Atlantic Ocean The Weather Authority is watching a tropical disturbance over the Central Atlantic Ocean.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral drug bust leads investigators to fake fentanyl, cash and guns Cape Coral man arrest on drug charges. Investigators said they found, guns, drugs, and more than $32,000 in Richard Riley’s home.
NAPLES Naples youth flag football team to compete in Ohio tournament This weekend, the Naples Lunatics Green will compete in the Superhero Sports tournament in Canton, Ohio.
ALVA Woodpeckers build home in Alva woman’s house You may have heard of squatters, but this woman is dealing with squawkers. Who needs a rooster to wake up when you have woodpeckers?
FORT MYERS Man claims he was trapped in a high-rise for 5 days A 77-year-old man wants justice after he claims he spent days trapped on the 24th floor of a high-rise apartment building.
PUNTA GORDA Charlotte Correctional prisoner arrested for death of another inmate State Attorney Amira Fox convened a grand jury, which decided to move forward with a case against a Charlotte Correctional inmate.
SANIBEL Construction near Dairy Queen eagle nest on Sanibel raises concerns While many eagle nests may be a bit difficult to see, one nest has always been a favorite for Sanibel residents and tourists.
The environmental effects of artificial sweeteners Experts are studying how the foods we eat affect the environment, especially after we flush our waste down the toilet.
Victim reacts to man exposing himself to her Ring camera You get a notification on your phone from your ring camera app that someone is at the door, only to find out it is someone exposing themselves. It’s the last thing victim Maria Kivi wanted or expected to see last week.
LEE COUNTY The art of capturing your eye and drawing you in How do you capture young, hip, trendy, fun, movers and shakers, all in a pose? We take you behind the scenes of a Gulfshore Life cover shoot.
FORT MYERS The lives of two SJC Boxers changed in the ring Two SJC Boxers, Mario Nunez and Arbon Kurtishi, help each other in the ring as each of them had their lives changed because of boxing.
FORT MYERS Chlamydia cases rising sharply in Lee County If you think about a crowded space- something with more than 250 people- if it’s in Lee county, statistically one person has chlamydia.
SANIBEL Sanibel resort day passes hope to get more business on the island A pass will allow vacationers to hang out at a Sanibel beach club for a day in hopes of drumming up some business.
Voting equipment tested ahead of Lee County elections Voting equipment is being tested in Lee County. This is to ensure all ballots are printed and counted correctly for the upcoming election.
Collier County teen assaulted after leaving party The teen has been charged and the sheriff’s office said they’re aware that many believe felony charges are in order, but under Florida law, there are very specific criteria that must be met for felony charges to be filed.
WINK weather team watching tropical wave over Atlantic Ocean The Weather Authority is watching a tropical disturbance over the Central Atlantic Ocean.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral drug bust leads investigators to fake fentanyl, cash and guns Cape Coral man arrest on drug charges. Investigators said they found, guns, drugs, and more than $32,000 in Richard Riley’s home.
NAPLES Naples youth flag football team to compete in Ohio tournament This weekend, the Naples Lunatics Green will compete in the Superhero Sports tournament in Canton, Ohio.
MGN Online FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) – The man appointed to lead Florida’s social services agency has a track record of mobilizing resources to better protect children. In 2012, after nearly a dozen Tampa area children had died while their cases were being investigated by child welfare officials, Mike Carroll combed through data and noticed familiar patterns: substance abuse, domestic violence and children under the age of 3. Carroll, then a regional manager for the state Department of Children and Families, piloted a rapid safety feedback program, handpicking his most experienced staff and immediately bringing them in on complicated cases. Too many cases, he said, had included “a poor assessment on our part where we just don’t connect the dots.” Two years later, that pilot program has been implemented in 70 percent of the state and Carroll is at the helm of the troubled department. Carroll, who has been with the agency for 24 years, took over as interim secretary in April and Gov. Rick Scott named him the permanent head on Monday. “I would much rather be engaged in reviewing cases when they’re active and making decisions regarding our intervention … than doing a retrospective review after a bad outcome and trying to figure out what we missed,” said Carroll, who managed the 11-county region from Pasco to Collier County. For years, the agency has worked to reduce caseloads and staff turnover, but Carroll said it’s still not possible to field the necessary level of experience in every case. At the regional level, Carroll joined with local foster care providers to perform comprehensive case reviews and immediately flag cases of children who fit the profile. At the time, it took weeks for caseworkers to get that information. Now, a computer system can immediately identify those families. The system also flags a meeting between a caseworker and higher level supervisor within 24-hours to assess the best way to move forward. The agency has been criticized for years for missing glaring red flags in child death cases and has struggled to train new and low-level employees to think critically. Like his two predecessors, Carroll also took over in a time of crisis. The Legislative session had just ended last April, and a scathing Miami Herald series on the deaths of 477 children in the past five years was prompting system-wide reform. Since then, the agency was again thrust into the spotlight after a Bell, Florida, man fatally shot his daughter and six grandchildren in September, and the follow-up investigating showed glaring missteps. Over an eight-year period, the agency was called 18 times – including once just weeks before the killing – with allegations that the man’s grandchildren were being mistreated, abused or neglected. Carroll said DCF needs to partner better with law enforcement and figure out which prevention services are actually working. “We have a lot of anecdotal stories about which ones are working best but we’ve got to get to a better place of understanding what the scope of our interventions need to be and the impact they have,” he said. Ron Zychowski, who worked with Carroll for 14 years and now leads a private social services agency called Eckerd, said Carroll won’t stand for the status quo. “He’s going to be absolutely transparent about whatever is going on in the agency, good bad or indifferent,” said Zychowski. “He’s going to require accountability not only of his staff but of all of us in the private sector.”