Cool and breezy for your Thursday afternoonStudents react to threat made at Florida Gulf Coast University
the weather authority Cool and breezy for your Thursday afternoon The Weather Authority is tracking cold morning conditions before temperatures warm up to the low 70s this Thursday.
Students react to threat made at Florida Gulf Coast University Students at Florida Gulf Coast University said they don’t know the specifics of a threat made last week, but they do know it was taken care of.
Missing and endangered boy found in Lehigh Acres Authorities have found a missing and endangered boy in Lehigh Acres. Police asked for the public’s help in locating Zachariah McKelvin.
School District denies bus service to student despite mother’s measurements When we think of the bus stop, we typically think of it as a safe place for our children, but one mother says the Lee County School District told her they live too close to the school to get a bus route.
MATLACHA 2 stranded dolphins rescued from mangroves near Matlacha Two stranded dolphins were pulled from mangroves near Matlacha.
CAPE CORAL NAACP honors Cape Coral Police Chief after acknowledging hate crime NAACP President, James Muwakkil, was so impressed with Cape Coral Police Chief Anthony Sizemore that he wanted the entire city to know.
NAPLES Jingled Elves trolley tour underway Breaking out your best dance moves and spreading Christmas cheer. These ‘jingled elves’ are breaking it down with a purpose.
BONITA SPRINGS Bonita Springs Elementary School’s demolition plans There’s a new lesson plan at Bonita Springs Elementary School: Demolition 101. The school is set to be knocked down, and there’s good reason.
MARCO ISLAND Marco Island Councilmember’s dogs allegedly attack 13-year-old girl Councilor Tamara Goehler is coming under fire after her dogs allegedly attacked a 13-year-old girl and the girl’s five-month-old puppy.
PUNTA GORDA Gilchrist Park’s future brightens as boat cleanup commences The boats blocking Gilchrist Park are ready to be moved two years after Hurricane Ian.
Lee County Department of Health issues red tide alert for Bowman’s Beach The Florida Department of Health in Lee County has issued a health alert for the presence of red tide near Bowman’s Beach.
CAPE CORAL City of Cape Coral working on project to address canal safety An older Cape Coral couple drove into a canal last year. Neighbors are now saying something needs to be done about canal safety.
NAPLES Collier County mental health center receives $4 million donation A giant donation is dedicated to providing people with better mental health care in southwest Florida.
LABELLE City of LaBelle under precautionary boil water notice A water main break has the City of Labelle under a precautionary boil water notice.
ESTERO FGCU student wins ice dancing national championship FGCU sophomore Lucas Appel wins his second US Senior Solo Dance National Championship in three years.
the weather authority Cool and breezy for your Thursday afternoon The Weather Authority is tracking cold morning conditions before temperatures warm up to the low 70s this Thursday.
Students react to threat made at Florida Gulf Coast University Students at Florida Gulf Coast University said they don’t know the specifics of a threat made last week, but they do know it was taken care of.
Missing and endangered boy found in Lehigh Acres Authorities have found a missing and endangered boy in Lehigh Acres. Police asked for the public’s help in locating Zachariah McKelvin.
School District denies bus service to student despite mother’s measurements When we think of the bus stop, we typically think of it as a safe place for our children, but one mother says the Lee County School District told her they live too close to the school to get a bus route.
MATLACHA 2 stranded dolphins rescued from mangroves near Matlacha Two stranded dolphins were pulled from mangroves near Matlacha.
CAPE CORAL NAACP honors Cape Coral Police Chief after acknowledging hate crime NAACP President, James Muwakkil, was so impressed with Cape Coral Police Chief Anthony Sizemore that he wanted the entire city to know.
NAPLES Jingled Elves trolley tour underway Breaking out your best dance moves and spreading Christmas cheer. These ‘jingled elves’ are breaking it down with a purpose.
BONITA SPRINGS Bonita Springs Elementary School’s demolition plans There’s a new lesson plan at Bonita Springs Elementary School: Demolition 101. The school is set to be knocked down, and there’s good reason.
MARCO ISLAND Marco Island Councilmember’s dogs allegedly attack 13-year-old girl Councilor Tamara Goehler is coming under fire after her dogs allegedly attacked a 13-year-old girl and the girl’s five-month-old puppy.
PUNTA GORDA Gilchrist Park’s future brightens as boat cleanup commences The boats blocking Gilchrist Park are ready to be moved two years after Hurricane Ian.
Lee County Department of Health issues red tide alert for Bowman’s Beach The Florida Department of Health in Lee County has issued a health alert for the presence of red tide near Bowman’s Beach.
CAPE CORAL City of Cape Coral working on project to address canal safety An older Cape Coral couple drove into a canal last year. Neighbors are now saying something needs to be done about canal safety.
NAPLES Collier County mental health center receives $4 million donation A giant donation is dedicated to providing people with better mental health care in southwest Florida.
LABELLE City of LaBelle under precautionary boil water notice A water main break has the City of Labelle under a precautionary boil water notice.
ESTERO FGCU student wins ice dancing national championship FGCU sophomore Lucas Appel wins his second US Senior Solo Dance National Championship in three years.
Tryphena Natukunda , left, a Ugandan living with HIV/ Aids the winner of the third annual Uganda Network of Young People Living with HIV beauty pageant at Golf Course Hotel Kampala, Uganda, Saturday Sept. 24, 2016. When she was younger, Tryphena Natukunda’s mother discouraged her from swallowing her antiretroviral medicines among strangers or even distant relatives. Because she was suffering from AIDS, which can fuel stigmatization and invite harsh judgment, the mother wanted her child’s condition kept a secret within the family. (AP Photo/Stephen Wandera) KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — When she was younger, Tryphena Natukunda’s mother discouraged her from swallowing her antiretroviral medicines among strangers or even distant relatives. Because the girl had AIDS, which can fuel stigmatization and invite harsh judgment, the mother wanted her daughter’s condition kept a secret within the family. Yet as she grew older, Natukunda, now 18 and the latest winner of a beauty pageant for young Ugandan women with the virus that causes AIDS, yearned to live openly, even if it meant people saying harsh things behind her back. Natukunda was crowned Miss Young Positive during a boisterous affair at a Kampala hotel early Sunday, besting nine other contestants in an annual competition organized to enlighten people about the dangers of discriminating against people with AIDS. A similar competition is held for young men. “If my mother was not with me, I couldn’t go any place where they didn’t know my status,” Natukunda recalled late Saturday, as she had her makeup done backstage before the show. “What we used to fear was people seeing me taking my drugs and then asking, ‘What are those drugs for?'” It’s a question that haunts other AIDS patients in this East African country, where experts warn that discrimination remains an obstacle to preventing new HIV infections. Many Ugandans still regard an HIV diagnosis as proof of irresponsible sexual behavior and a source of shame. Mothers suffering from AIDS have been known to breastfeed their infants in public places, exposing their children to HIV because they don’t want a bottle and formula to make others suspect they are infected. Organizers of the HIV-themed beauty pageant, which launched in 2014, say one way of curbing the irrational fear of AIDS that fuels discrimination is for more people living with HIV to open up about their status rather than conceal it. “In Uganda, many young people die not because they do not take their medicine. It’s just because the stigma and discrimination around them hindered them from taking their medicine well,” Lovinka Nakayiza of the Uganda Network of Young people Living with HIV & AIDS, the civic group which put on the pageant, said. “Our family members discriminate against us because they think HIV moves on our faces when we touch their cups, when we talk to them.” Whoever wins the pageant is expected to become a roving ambassador in the fight against AIDS, Nakayiza said. Instead of physical attributes or special talents, contestants were judged on their knowledge of HIV, including basic questions such as the term for which HIV serves as an acronym. The Ugandan government has been campaigning to persuade more people to get tested for HIV, since experts believe those who know their status are more likely to abstain from risky sexual behavior. The HIV prevalence rate in Uganda stood at 7.1 percent in 2015 among adults aged 15 to 49, according to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS. In 2005 the prevalence rate was 6.4 percent, down from the double-digit figures in the 1990s that inspired behavior-change campaigns for which Uganda was known globally. However, tens of thousands still get infected with the virus each year. Nakayiza said the beauty pageant was inspired by a desire to do something new in the AIDS prevention movement, which she said was dominated by “too many workshops” that can bore instead of motivate young people. Robinah Babirye, a 23-year-old who won the Miss Young Positive title in 2015, has spent the last year speaking at schools and other public places where young people living with HIV need encouragement. Babirye, who went through “rough” times of her own when long-time friends shunned her, said connecting with others in the same situation has been good for her and for them. “Most of the young people that I have met have seen me as an inspiration, have seen me as an example, and that I am proud of,” she said. “Through talking and relating with young people living with HIV, I have empowered young people and made them positive about life.”
“If my mother was not with me, I couldn’t go any place where they didn’t know my status,” Natukunda recalled late Saturday, as she had her makeup done backstage before the show. “What we used to fear was people seeing me taking my drugs and then asking, ‘What are those drugs for?'” It’s a question that haunts other AIDS patients in this East African country, where experts warn that discrimination remains an obstacle to preventing new HIV infections. Many Ugandans still regard an HIV diagnosis as proof of irresponsible sexual behavior and a source of shame. Mothers suffering from AIDS have been known to breastfeed their infants in public places, exposing their children to HIV because they don’t want a bottle and formula to make others suspect they are infected. Organizers of the HIV-themed beauty pageant, which launched in 2014, say one way of curbing the irrational fear of AIDS that fuels discrimination is for more people living with HIV to open up about their status rather than conceal it. “In Uganda, many young people die not because they do not take their medicine. It’s just because the stigma and discrimination around them hindered them from taking their medicine well,” Lovinka Nakayiza of the Uganda Network of Young people Living with HIV & AIDS, the civic group which put on the pageant, said. “Our family members discriminate against us because they think HIV moves on our faces when we touch their cups, when we talk to them.” Whoever wins the pageant is expected to become a roving ambassador in the fight against AIDS, Nakayiza said. Instead of physical attributes or special talents, contestants were judged on their knowledge of HIV, including basic questions such as the term for which HIV serves as an acronym. The Ugandan government has been campaigning to persuade more people to get tested for HIV, since experts believe those who know their status are more likely to abstain from risky sexual behavior. The HIV prevalence rate in Uganda stood at 7.1 percent in 2015 among adults aged 15 to 49, according to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS. In 2005 the prevalence rate was 6.4 percent, down from the double-digit figures in the 1990s that inspired behavior-change campaigns for which Uganda was known globally. However, tens of thousands still get infected with the virus each year. Nakayiza said the beauty pageant was inspired by a desire to do something new in the AIDS prevention movement, which she said was dominated by “too many workshops” that can bore instead of motivate young people. Robinah Babirye, a 23-year-old who won the Miss Young Positive title in 2015, has spent the last year speaking at schools and other public places where young people living with HIV need encouragement. Babirye, who went through “rough” times of her own when long-time friends shunned her, said connecting with others in the same situation has been good for her and for them. “Most of the young people that I have met have seen me as an inspiration, have seen me as an example, and that I am proud of,” she said. “Through talking and relating with young people living with HIV, I have empowered young people and made them positive about life.”