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 DALLAS (AP) – The joke has shown up on some police department Facebook pages: Anyone in possession of methamphetamine or other illegal drugs should stop by the police station for testing because the drugs might somehow contain Ebola. In Granite Shoals, Texas, one such post, labeled a “Breaking News Alert” in block letters, was shared thousands of times. It even netted an arrest, which the local police department then reported on its Facebook page. Police say threats about “Ebola meth” are a fun, harmless sting they set up to catch criminals in the act, even if the joke alludes to what was once an actual global public health crisis. But two good-government advocates said the posts run the risk of degrading trust in law enforcement and public health authorities. And in the case of Granite Shoals, the local district attorney questioned whether the post might alarm people who don’t use drugs, but might think a deadly virus is present in their community. “I think there’s some collateral issues that you have to consider before you use a sting,” said Sonny McAfee, the district attorney for Burnet County, Texas. Mitch Bratton, the police chief in Grayson, Louisiana, which posted a similar item on Facebook, said several people did call to find out whether any drugs were contaminated by Ebola. “It opened the door for us to talk about the dangers of meth,” Bratton said in an interview Monday, adding that in his town, “meth is most definitely a lot bigger problem than any chance of Ebola.” Some version of the threat of “Ebola meth” has shown up in at least four other states, according to the website Snopes, which tracks and debunks Internet hoaxes. Ebola last caused global panic two years ago when an outbreak in West Africa killed more than 10,000 people, according to the World Health Organization. One person who fell sick in the United States died: a Liberian man who ended up in the hospital days after arriving in Dallas. Two nurses who treated him became infected but survived. Disease experts say Ebola is spread through contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person. Matt Simpson, senior policy strategist at the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, questioned what a department like Granite Shoals would do in the event of a real contaminated drug crisis. “Are they going to run another Facebook ad that looks like this, only it’s designed to help people instead of ensnare people foolish enough to follow up?” Simpson said. But the police in Granite Shoals urged people not to take their joke too seriously. “We at the GSPD like to show all parts of the enforcement world on Facebook and that includes our sense of humor,” the department said in one post. The department, which did not respond to several calls Monday seeking comment, posted that the “winner of the Facebook post challenge” was Chasity Hopson, a 29-year-old woman now charged with possession of less than 1 gram of a controlled substance. Hopson was being held on $5,000 bond. She did not have a lawyer listed in court records who could comment on her behalf and several phone numbers listed for her were disconnected. Clint McNear, a law enforcement consultant and retired police officer, compared “Ebola meth” posts to a tactic he once used: calling a person with an outstanding warrant to say someone had turned in a wallet full of cash with the person’s name on it. “Clever ideas to catch criminals (are) not new,” McNear said. “And as the criminal evolves, law enforcement evolves with them.” But Tom Smith, Texas director of the advocacy group Public Citizen, called tactics like the Ebola post “pure deception.” “At a time when we’re having a crisis with growing heroin addiction, it’s outrageous that we would set traps for people instead of coming up with strategies to get them into treatment,” Smith said.