Crews battle 2.5-acre brush fire near Alico and Eagle Village DriveJake’s story: A mother’s mission to share her son’s story and help other young people
ESTERO Crews battle 2.5-acre brush fire near Alico and Eagle Village Drive San Carlos Park Fire District is on the scene fighting a 2.5-acre brushfire near Alico and Eagle Village Drive.
FORT MYERS Jake’s story: A mother’s mission to share her son’s story and help other young people One Fort Myers mom is turning her pain into purpose after her son, who she refers to as her “heavenly Angel,” took his own life.
CAPE CORAL New renderings for the Cape Coral Yacht Club promise a bright future The Cape Coral Yacht Club, which has been part of this community since the 1960s, will now have a new look after Hurricane Ian’s devastating effects.
LEHIGH ACRES Owner bars public from Barefoot Lake, LCSO installs Watch Tower Every weekend, roughly 200 people go to Barefoot Lake in Lehigh Acres to relax, fish, swim and have a good time.
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.
ESTERO Crews battle 2.5-acre brush fire near Alico and Eagle Village Drive San Carlos Park Fire District is on the scene fighting a 2.5-acre brushfire near Alico and Eagle Village Drive.
FORT MYERS Jake’s story: A mother’s mission to share her son’s story and help other young people One Fort Myers mom is turning her pain into purpose after her son, who she refers to as her “heavenly Angel,” took his own life.
CAPE CORAL New renderings for the Cape Coral Yacht Club promise a bright future The Cape Coral Yacht Club, which has been part of this community since the 1960s, will now have a new look after Hurricane Ian’s devastating effects.
LEHIGH ACRES Owner bars public from Barefoot Lake, LCSO installs Watch Tower Every weekend, roughly 200 people go to Barefoot Lake in Lehigh Acres to relax, fish, swim and have a good time.
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.
FORT MYERS, Fla. – Women are paying more than men for some of the same products. A hidden tax known as the pink tax or gender tax is often found in several daily items women use and many women have no idea. Michael Cone is a partner at the law firm FisherBroyles, LLP and has studied pink tax for nearly two decades. “It is a higher cost on goods for women and girls, simply because those goods are marketed and designed for them,” Cone said. “We’re trying to find out if there’s a good reason for it.” Call for Action investigators went shopping to see if we could find similar products that cost more just because they were targeted for women. It turns out, the discrepancies are all over the store. We found a green set of pacifiers for $4.29; the pink set was $4.49. Fruit of the Loom underwear cost $9.19 for men and women, but the men’s pack had seven pair and the women’s had six. A 10-pack of men’s BIC razors cost $6.49, the woman’s was $8.99. A store-brand of shaving cream for women cost $2.14 for women, but only $2.04 for men. The only difference was the women’s can was pink and the man’s can was black. A two pack of women’s Degree (2.6 ounce) cost $7.39; a two pack of men’s Degree (2.7 ounce) cost $3.97. “I think that the higher prices are often due to more marketing costs for women’s goods. What the marketing does is inform women that they need to purchase specific products that are designed for them to be sexy and intriguing for example or beautiful and attractive. But that advertising does not do anything worthwhile in an economic sense. Advertising is only useful, if you take Econ 101, when it conveys information to the consumer. Does this deodorant protect you for six hours verses eight hours verses 12 hours. That’s real information that tells you about the effectiveness and the qualities of the good. If it’s to be sexy and intriguing, it’s a pure psychological play and women are taught that they need to buy marketing quite frankly to buy these things and purchase pink in order to be feminine, sexy and attractive,” Cone said. The gender discrimination goes much deeper though. Cone said Uncle Sam charges certain importers more if the product is for a woman. “Uncle Sam places different taxes on clothing, footwear and gloves based on whether those goods are imported allegedly for men or women, and the only difference between shirts for men and women is which side the buttons are on,” he explained. “My biggest pet peeve is the import tax on women’s athletic shoes. If you add up all those excessive taxes, those importers pay $100 million to $150 million more per year on athletic shoes.” Cone said some of that cost is passed down to you, the consumer. One example he gave was the import tax on women’s athletic shoes. Cone said there is a 10-percent import tax for women’s leather athletic shoes but only an 8.5-percent tax for men’s leather athletic shoes. However, Cone said there are places that this discrimination is being fought. He said in France a group has petitioned a government administrative agency that looks out for women and gender issues. “In Scandinavia they have now outlawed gender marketing for boys and girls. Their catalogs and their marketing in store is not pink and princess dolls are for girls and swords are for boys. It’s company awareness, it’s awareness for consumers.” For now, Cone said if you are fed up with paying more, simply buy the man’s product. Often he said they are the same thing.