Hurricane season preparations at Lee County construction sitesBones found on Sanibel concern beachgoers
FORT MYERS BEACH Hurricane season preparations at Lee County construction sites Many already know the drill when hurricane season is around the corner.
SANIBEL Bones found on Sanibel concern beachgoers A husband and wife found what appeared to be bones. What type and where they came from is being investigated.
FGCU FGCU president reflects on first year with graduating class Alico Arena was packed this weekend as Florida Gulf Coast University graduated 1,900 students in four ceremonies.
Reverse shoulder replacement offers new approach to pain management Shoulder replacement is the third most common replacement in the US, following hip and knee replacement.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA Lee County teachers bargain for new raises Kevin Daly is the voice of the Lee County Teachers Union, and he says he knows firsthand the struggle teachers experience across the state.
FORT MYERS New Starbucks off Colonial expected to add to traffic headaches It’s a venti-sized traffic nightmare. That’s how Gina O’Donnell envisions the future of this plaza.
NAPLES Feeding families through Meals of Hope They’re a Naples-based non-profit organization whose mission is to alleviate hunger both locally and throughout the country.
Family dealing with two losses in quick succession A teenager will not get to celebrate turning 21 years old with friends, can’t put a smile on his family member’s faces and will never get to see his mother again.
JERUSALEM (AP) Israeli leaders have approved a military operation into the Gaza Strip city of Rafah Israeli leaders approved a military operation into the Gaza Strip city of Rafah, and Israeli forces were striking targets in the area, officials announced Monday, hours after Hamas announced it had accepted an Egyptian-Qatari cease-fire proposal.
FORT MYERS Middle school tech worker uses CPR skills to save pickleball player’s life It was the right place, at the right time, and that right place was near the pickleball court.
EVERGLADES Big Sugar’s lawsuit for control over Lake Okeechobee water A local non-profit is calling one lawsuit a battle for who controls the water in the State of Florida. Three major sugar companies filed a lawsuit in 2021 against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over the design and intended use of the Everglades Agriculture Area (EAA) Reservoir.
NAPLES Annual Holocaust Remembrance Day program returns to Jewish Federation of Greater Naples Sunday was a day to remember the six million men, women and children lost in the Holocaust.
COLLIER COUNTY 13th dead Florida panther of 2024 found Saturday; deaths now match 2023’s annual total Wildlife officials discovered the 13 dead endangered Florida panther of the year, matching 2023’s total reported mortalities less than halfway into the year.
NORTH PORT Entryway work temporarily closes North Port Library The North Port Library will be closed through Saturday while work is being done to the entryway. During the closure books and other borrowed items can be returned to nearby locations.
FORT MYERS More changes near Colonial Blvd. and Six Mile Cypress in Fort Myers An already jam-packed, headache-inducing area for traffic is expected to get worse on Monday.
FORT MYERS BEACH Hurricane season preparations at Lee County construction sites Many already know the drill when hurricane season is around the corner.
SANIBEL Bones found on Sanibel concern beachgoers A husband and wife found what appeared to be bones. What type and where they came from is being investigated.
FGCU FGCU president reflects on first year with graduating class Alico Arena was packed this weekend as Florida Gulf Coast University graduated 1,900 students in four ceremonies.
Reverse shoulder replacement offers new approach to pain management Shoulder replacement is the third most common replacement in the US, following hip and knee replacement.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA Lee County teachers bargain for new raises Kevin Daly is the voice of the Lee County Teachers Union, and he says he knows firsthand the struggle teachers experience across the state.
FORT MYERS New Starbucks off Colonial expected to add to traffic headaches It’s a venti-sized traffic nightmare. That’s how Gina O’Donnell envisions the future of this plaza.
NAPLES Feeding families through Meals of Hope They’re a Naples-based non-profit organization whose mission is to alleviate hunger both locally and throughout the country.
Family dealing with two losses in quick succession A teenager will not get to celebrate turning 21 years old with friends, can’t put a smile on his family member’s faces and will never get to see his mother again.
JERUSALEM (AP) Israeli leaders have approved a military operation into the Gaza Strip city of Rafah Israeli leaders approved a military operation into the Gaza Strip city of Rafah, and Israeli forces were striking targets in the area, officials announced Monday, hours after Hamas announced it had accepted an Egyptian-Qatari cease-fire proposal.
FORT MYERS Middle school tech worker uses CPR skills to save pickleball player’s life It was the right place, at the right time, and that right place was near the pickleball court.
EVERGLADES Big Sugar’s lawsuit for control over Lake Okeechobee water A local non-profit is calling one lawsuit a battle for who controls the water in the State of Florida. Three major sugar companies filed a lawsuit in 2021 against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over the design and intended use of the Everglades Agriculture Area (EAA) Reservoir.
NAPLES Annual Holocaust Remembrance Day program returns to Jewish Federation of Greater Naples Sunday was a day to remember the six million men, women and children lost in the Holocaust.
COLLIER COUNTY 13th dead Florida panther of 2024 found Saturday; deaths now match 2023’s annual total Wildlife officials discovered the 13 dead endangered Florida panther of the year, matching 2023’s total reported mortalities less than halfway into the year.
NORTH PORT Entryway work temporarily closes North Port Library The North Port Library will be closed through Saturday while work is being done to the entryway. During the closure books and other borrowed items can be returned to nearby locations.
FORT MYERS More changes near Colonial Blvd. and Six Mile Cypress in Fort Myers An already jam-packed, headache-inducing area for traffic is expected to get worse on Monday.
MGN SEATTLE (AP) – For years, animal activists have campaigned to free a killer whale that was captured from Puget Sound waters in 1970 and has been performing at Miami Seaquarium in Florida for over four decades. They say the orca known as Lolita belongs to a small population of endangered killer whales and should receive the same federal protection as those wild animals. A decision from the federal government is expected next week at the earliest. But far from ending debate, it’s likely to prompt a new round of battles over the fate of the whale, who was four or six years old when she was legally rounded up and later sent to the Miami facility. Robert Rose, curator of the Miami Seaquarium, said he anticipates that the National Marine Fisheries Service will include Lolita in that endangered group. “Regardless of what happens with the listing, she’s not going to be released,” Rose said in an interview Wednesday. “We’re not going to sell her. We’re not going to release her. Period. End of story.” Lolita is a healthy, vibrant animal, has been well cared for by the Seaquarium for 45 years and would endure more harm if she’s released into the wild, Rose said. Thousands of visitors who would never see a killer whale in the wild are introduced to killer whales through Lolita, according to the Seaquarium. Activists say, however, that she belongs in the wild, not a small pool, and should be returned to her home waters. She has become a rallying cry for activists, who have led a decades-long campaign to get her freed. The whale would have more freedom and the chance to bond with others in the tightly-knit pod of orcas that spend time in Washington state waters, activists said. Her probable mother is still alive, they say. “She is suffering in that cramped confinement,” said Howard Garrett, executive director of the nonprofit Orca Network, based on Whidbey Island. “We would like to see her enjoy her life. We would like to see her be able to swim free in the waters where she grew up.” The group wants Lolita released into a protected marine pen near the San Juan Islands north of Seattle, where she will be monitored and cared for until she can gradually reconnected with other wild orcas. “That’s an experiment. That’s not a plan. They basically want to kill her,” the Seaquarium’s Rose said. Rose noted the case of the captive killer whale Keiko, who was released into the wild and whose story was dramatized in the 1993 film, “Free Willy.” “He didn’t have Hollywood movie ending,” Rose said. He died in Norway, presumably of pneumonia. Garrett said Keiko lived for five years in the wild before his death. There’s minimal risk of harm to Lolita or other orcas if she’s returned to her home waters, he said. When the Fisheries Service, a branch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), listed southern resident killer whales as endangered species in 2005, it excluded animals placed in captivity prior to the listing or their captive-born offspring. In 2013, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and others petitioned NOAA to extend federal protection to Lolita. NOAA last year proposed including Lolita in that endangered group. An endangered designation will allow citizens to sue the Seaquarium for a violation of provisions of the Endangered Species Act against harming or harassing a protected animal, Garrett said. But “what constitutes harm or harassment would really be the question,” said Dan Rohlf, a law professor at Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon. Jared Goodman, an attorney for PETA, said Lolita is kept under deplorable conditions – in a small tank that’s not shaded and without other whales for companions – that would violate provisions of the Endangered Species Act. He said NOAA also could rule that she should be retired or confiscated. The Seaquarium points out that NOAA has said it believes releasing a captive animal into the wild has the potential to harm not only that captive animal and but others in the wild. NOAA also said last year that it believed continued possession of captives and continued care of captive animals would not violate the federal law as long as the possession not likely to result in injury. PETA’s Goodman countered: “She would have the opportunity to feel the ocean waves and currents and learn to forage again, instead of being fed dead fish in exchange for tricks.”