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.
NEW YORK (AP) – A gruesome highway accident followed by months of pain and rehab. That’s no laughing matter. Not unless you’re comedian Tracy Morgan, who’s mining this ordeal for laughs with his “Picking Up the Pieces” stand-up tour. After its current warm-up phase, the tour officially launches Feb. 5 at the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Indiana, and continues through May. Among other dates, he will perform three shows in New Jersey, including a New Brunswick theater about 20 miles from where the accident occurred. “I’m in a good place in my life,” says Morgan during a recent phone conversation. “When I first got back on the stage, I had to work on my confidence. But I wasn’t scared. I wasn’t nervous. I was excited!” It was June 7, 2014, when a Wal-Mart truck slammed into the limousine Morgan was riding in. The crash killed a close friend and fellow comedian, and left Morgan with broken bones and brain damage. He was in a coma for two weeks. “I was basically knocking on The Door,” he says, but adds with undisguised gratitude, “I came back. That’s the spirit moving me.” That was plenty impressive. But still it held no promise that Morgan, who has long scored laughs in concert, on “30 Rock” and “Saturday Night Live,” would ever be able to perform again. On the “Today” show last June, in his first public appearance since the accident, Morgan sat clutching a cane and, with a tear streaking down his cheek, acknowledged he wasn’t “100 percent yet.” “When I’m there, you’ll know it,” he said. “I’ll get back to making you laugh, I promise you.” He made good on that promise three months later with a surprise appearance on the Emmy telecast. By then he had made good on a promise to himself to wed his fiancee, Megan Wollover, on his own terms: walking her down the aisle with no cane. Then, in October, he returned triumphantly as guest host of “SNL,” where he had been a cast member from 1996 to 2003. “I felt so good going back home to ‘SNL,'” he says. “It was like the first day I was there many years ago. That first time was crazy, but to have the opportunity to have the feeling all over again – wonderful, man! And I said, ‘I want to (tour) again.’ That was the end” of any doubts. He admits to grave doubts during his long convalescence and therapy. “I remember being visited by a good friend I’ve known all my life, and I said, ‘Why did God let this happen to me?’ And with the meanest look, she said, ‘Never question God!’ “I said, ‘I’m sorry.’ And she said, ‘OK, baby. That’s all right.’ “Tough times don’t last. Tough people do,” Morgan sums up. “We’re ALL here ’cause we’re tough.” Morgan, 47, has made amusing use of a lifetime of tough challenges, including a harsh childhood and health issues that included a kidney transplant in 2010. So it’s no surprise that he’s dressing his latest wounds in humor. “The accident was a setback, but, you know, in my world, a setback is a setup,” he says. “You use things that happen in your life that weren’t funny – tragedy turned inside out. If you don’t laugh about it, you’ll cry about it. And I’m tired of crying. “But comedy doesn’t just come from pain,” Morgan adds. “It comes from joy, too.” Chief among his joys are his wife and their 2 1/2-year-old daughter, who, as Morgan speaks, can be heard chiming in with, “Mickey Mouse, Mickey Mouse,” as she addresses Mickey’s image on her iPad. “Now you see what’s important and what’s not,” declares Morgan. “I’ve learned a lot, man. I learned about life, about the things I used to stress out about, things we worry about on a day-to-day basis but aren’t important – not when it comes down to life and death. I talk about all that onstage. “But I talk about things that are happening right now, too. I look back. But I look forward, too!” One thing he’s looking forward to is a pilot deal for a prospective series that he would star in. To be developed in partnership with Jordan Peele (“Key & Peele”), the new FX comedy would cast Morgan as a career criminal released from prison after 15 years who finds himself flummoxed by the modern world he’s re-entering. It could begin production as soon as this summer. But Morgan says little beyond “it’s gonna be incredible.” His current focus is on his tour. “I’ve tapped into something, man, that nobody else can talk about,” he says of his near-death experience. “I went to the other side and came back bearing gifts, and I’m gonna share all those gifts with my fans. I got a whole bag full of funny for you, a truckload of funny coming your way.” _____ EDITOR’S NOTE – Frazier Moore is a national television columnist for The Associated Press. He can be reached at fmooreap.org and at http://www.twitter.com/tvfrazier. Past stories are available at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/frazier-moore _____ Online: http://www.tracymorgan.com/tour