Crews on scene of 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 on scene of 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.
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.
Prescription drug shortages lead to higher prices There are currently more than 250 medications on the nation’s drug shortage list, according to the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. The organization says 2023 marked the worst year for shortages in about a decade.
ESTERO Crews on scene of 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.
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.
Prescription drug shortages lead to higher prices There are currently more than 250 medications on the nation’s drug shortage list, according to the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. The organization says 2023 marked the worst year for shortages in about a decade.
Gift cards. Photo via CBS. Best Buy and AARP are joining forces to warn about a growing scam: imposters posing as a loved one, or even the IRS, and demanding gift cards be used for services rendered. The Federal Trade Commission said the number of these reported scams has jumped 270 percent over the last three years. Trinidad Gonzalez is still trying to face the fact that scammers preyed on her emotions to pad their pockets, reports CBS News correspondent Tony Dokoupil. About three months ago, she said a man claiming to be her grandson called saying he was in jail and needed thousands of dollars immediately. He then put someone on the phone who posed as an attorney. But the caller said he would make it easy for the 76-year-old grandmother. He told her to purchase gift cards from Walmart and give him the numbers on the back of the cards and warned her not to answer questions from store employees. “I didn’t say anything and they asked me, ‘Do you know where this money is going to?’ and I said it’s going to my grandchildren,” Gonzalez said. But the money never got to her grandchildren. That night, she figured out her real grandson was at home in Virginia. By that point, Gonzalez, who had recently lost her husband, was out $4,000. “That was too much money, too much money for me to hand over to a stranger like that. I could’ve paid my property taxes … I could’ve paid all these things were coming up. To lose that amount of money just for the sake of losing it,” Gonzalez said. According to the Federal Trade Commission, 26 percent of scam victims paid with a gift card between January and September this year. That’s up from only seven percent in 2015. Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro called it a “huge issue.” “Typically with cash, you would have a meet-up somehow, and so they don’t want to create that risk. And on a credit card, that’s much easier to trace and easier for the bank to shut down the money flowing to the scammer. So gift cards largely are untraceable,” Shapiro said. To tackle the growing problem, Shapiro joined forces with New York’s attorney general and three major retailers. Last month, Walmart, Target, and Best Buy announced steps to try to curb fraud. Among them: reducing gift card limits, restricting the redemption of gift cards for other gift cards, and enhancing employee training. Best Buy is taking it a step further, teaming up with the AARP in a new public service announcement. “We certainly see more people start reporting it because we are empowering customers now not to be scared about talking about this. I think for a while there was some shame,” said Best Buy spokesperson Boua Xiong. Gonzalez said she was originally too embarrassed to tell her friends and family she was scammed. Now, she hopes her story will put others on high alert. “It’s very disheartening to know that you were made a fool of,” Gonzalez said. “Now, looking back, I hope it helps somebody, somebody like me who thinks they’re smart enough not to fall for it. And to question things more because I didn’t question anything.” The FTC said if someone calls demanding you pay them with a gift card, don’t. The cards cannot be used to pay for bail or taxes. If you think you’ve been scammed, you should report the fraud to the card company and then tell the FTC.