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.
Larry Anderson, left, and Kamal Ani-Bello, both Miami Northwestern Senior High School students who acted in the movie “Moonlight,” speak during an interview with The Associated Press, Monday, Feb. 27, 2017, in Miami. Director Barry Jenkins “came from the same grounds I came from, from the same city,” said Anderson. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee) MIAMI (AP) Oscar winning film “Moonlight” presents a view of Miami that never shows up in a tourism video. Far from the sun and glamour of South Beach or the artists and hipsters of Wynwood, it shows predominantly black communities, truly known by few outside the people who live there. And it’s recognizably their Miami, made beautiful and suddenly more hopeful than it might have seemed before. “The best thing about this movie is they actually went into the projects and shot it, and they let kids from around Liberty City be in it,” said Kamal Ani-Bello, a freshman at Miami Northwestern Senior High School who had a role as an extra in the film. “Usually people make ‘hoods on movie sets, but this actually shows the real thing – and that’s why it won best picture.” “Moonlight” won the Academy Award Sunday night for best picture, best supporting actor and best adapted screenplay. It was nominated in five additional categories. It follows the life of a young black man as he grows up in a poverty-stricken neighborhood while coming to terms with his own homosexuality. Director Barry Jenkins “came from the same grounds I came from, from the same city,” said Larry Anderson, a Miami Northwestern junior who also had a role as an extra. Jenkins graduated from the same high school and had roots in a public housing project nicknamed “Pork & Beans” familiar to many students. “Knowing that he came from the same – not just Miami, but Liberty City, same Pork & Beans, Miami Northwestern and the same programs that I’ve been part of, it tells me I can achieve in the same way as him,” Anderson said. Jenkins’ wrote the screenplay for “Moonlight” with Tarell Alvin McCraney, who wrote the play on which the film is based. McCraney grew up in the same neighborhoods as Jenkins and attended the New World School of the Arts. “This goes out to all those black and brown boys and girls and non-gender-conforming who don’t see themselves,” McCraney said during the ceremony. Natalie Baldie, artistic director of the Performing and Visual Arts Center at Miami Northwestern, said she hopes the movie and its awards give students another perspective about getting out of Liberty City or going to college. “It’s giving them hope to get through and something to look forward to,” Baldie said, sitting with Ani-Bello, Anderson and senior Amanda Ali, who also was an extra in the film. “We’re used to seeing something about violence or rap music or athletes going to the NFL and things of that nature.” The film’s theme of self-acceptance is one students and the community overall particularly need to hear, she added. Ali said she hadn’t been entirely aware of how “grown-up” the movie would be, “but that’s good because it shows the truth.” The success of “Moonlight” also resonated Monday at Norland Middle School in Miami Gardens, where part of the film is set. Two young actors featured prominently in the film, Alex Hibbert and Jaden Piner, are Norland students, and about a dozen others were extras in the film. Parents called and emailed Principal Ronald Redmon throughout the day to express pride in a program showing the talent coming Miami, he said. “Today everyone beamed with pride. Parents were dropping off their kids with their horns blowing,” Redmon said. Graham Winick, the city of Miami Beach’s film coordinator and a past president of Film Florida, called the success of “Moonlight” a cultural high-water mark for Miami and Florida, comparable to hosting an international art fair like Art Basel Miami Beach or preserving the area’s signature Art Deco architecture. He pointed out that the film was made for just a fraction of the marketing budget for some of the films it was up against. “That movie was $1.5 million in the can, and it looked amazing,” Winick said. “It didn’t have movie stars, but it still hit a nerve and got a release. People believed in it.”