ALVA Woodpeckers build home in 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 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.
Hospital bill. Photo via CBS News. Taken a trip to the emergency room lately? Moved across country for a new job? If you’re like millions of Americans, the unexpected medical costs or security deposit for your new pad blew a hole in your budget. That’s the upshot of a new Bankrate survey that found six of 10 people in the U.S. lack the savings to handle an unforeseen $1,000 expense, highlighting just how close to the financial edge even those with a job often find themselves. “You have a gap with what people are making and what they can afford,” said Scott Astrada, director of federal advocacy at the Center for Responsible Lending. A range of factors account for the dearth of savings, including weak wage growth going back decades, volatility in worker pay, and the rising cost of things like housing, education and health care. “All this has combined to form a perfect storm to leave millions of Americans high and dry when it comes to financial stability,” Astrada said. The findings square with other data pointing to widespread economic insecurity in the U.S. — even with unemployment at its lowest rate in nearly 50 years. Four in 10 Americans struggle to pay for groceries, housing and other basic needs, concluded a 2018 study by the Urban Institute, a centrist think tank. For households, that can result in a genuine financial crisis when the median emergency expense runs $3,750, according to Bankrate, which surveyed 1,005 respondents by telephone in the first week of January. Ever shrinking savings The amount of money people stash away has been declining for decades, noted Greg McBride, CFA and chief financial analyst at Bankrate.com. In the 1970s, Americans saved just over 12 percent of their income, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. By 2017 (the latest year for which data are available), that figure had shrunk to 6.7 percent, and even that represents an improvement over the paltry savings rate in the previous decade when two recessions crushed individual balance sheets. In 2018, despite rising wages and strong job creation, only 40 percent of respondents to the Bankrate survey said they were able to cover $1,000 unplanned expenses. Millennials typically face higher sudden expenses — exceeding $2,500 — than either baby boomers or Gen-Xers. As they enter the workforce, younger adults are more likely to switch homes, which usually requires putting down a security deposit, and often pay out of pocket for health care costs. Healthy habits Still, Americans of all ages can find themselves caught short, McBride said. “Unplanned expenses can happen to anyone at any time, it’s not a compunction of a particular factor, so we don’t see a very big disparity between age groups.” Faced with an emergency expense, younger boomers were most likely to tap their savings, while their older peers tended to pay with a credit card. Millennials and Gen-Xers were most likely to borrow from family members or friends. So how much savings should you have for those unexpected bumps in the road? McBride recommends saving a minimum of six months’ worth of expenses — more if you’re the sole breadwinner. The key is automating as much of the process as possible using payroll deductions for your workplace retirement plan, setting up a direct deposit into a dedicated account for emergency expenses and searching for online savings accounts with competitive returns. “The biggest barrier of saving is not being in the habit of saving. And establishing the habit of saving means prioritizing saving first and spending second,” McBride said.