Linemen get superhero sendoff as they help with Helene recoveryMan arrested after Fort Myers police confiscate nearly $1M and almost 700g of fentanyl
LABELLE Linemen get superhero sendoff as they help with Helene recovery Local linemen get superhero sendoff as they head North to help with Helene recovery efforts in other states
FORT MYERS Man arrested after Fort Myers police confiscate nearly $1M and almost 700g of fentanyl The Fort Myers police department has arrested a man in connection with a large-scale drug operation.
PORT CHARLOTTE Animal shelter in Charlotte Harbor devastated by Helene is seeking support Dogs looking for homes have had their temporary home taken away by the storm surge of Hurricane Helene.
FORT MYERS Dean Park residents continue dealing with flooding issues after Helene Dean Park in Fort Myers looks different than it did a week ago. Couches, tables, mattresses, and an assortment of people’s possessions litter the neighborhood leftover from Hurricane Helene.
LEE COUNTY Heritage Farms community recovering from Hurricane Helene Just like Hurricane Ian, Hurricane Helene sent water into homes in the Heritage Farms community, sending people back into clean up mode.
FORT MYERS BEACH Cleaning up after Helene on Fort Myers Beach Hurricane Helene brought havoc to Florida, especially on Fort Myers Beach. Residents were forced to evacuate, and homes even flooded. It also triggered anxiety from Hurricane Ian.
SANIBEL Blind Pass Condominiums struggling after Helene It’s being considered a punch in the gut. Neighbors were almost finished recovering from Hurricane Ian when Hurricane Helene rolled by the coast.
Verizon customers affected by service outage Verizon Wireless is experiencing a widespread outage across the country that is affecting customers in Southwest Florida.
ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) Supplies arrive by plane and mule to North Carolina as Helene death toll reaches 121 Desperate residents isolated by washed-out roads and the lack of power and cellular service in western North Carolina lined up Monday for fresh water and a chance to message loved ones that they were alive, days after Hurricane Helene tore through the Southeastern U.S. and killed more than 100 people.
FORT MYERS $1 billion RSW expansion project to begin Tuesday The Lee County Port Authority will begin Southwest Florida International Airport’s Terminal Expansion Phase 2, a more than $1 billion project.
CAPE CORAL Memorial benches being removed from Jaycee Park in Cape Coral After years of discussions, the City of Cape Coral will start to remove items from Jaycee Park as part of ongoing improvements.
NAPLES ‘That was the last flight out of Fort Myers’; Local man airlifted to NCH for emergency surgery Hurricane or not, medical emergencies do not wait. A Lee County man learned that after being airlifted before Hurricane Helene to get life-or-death treatment at NCH in Naples
NAPLES Deputies searching for missing Collier County teen The Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Collier County Sheriff’s Office are searching for a teenager who was last seen in South Naples and reported missing a week ago.
NORTH FORT MYERS Shell Factory in North Fort Myers closes A landmark in the Southwest Florida community for decades has officially closed its doors over the weekend.
FORT MYERS Truck fire on I-75 in Fort Myers closes 2 lanes The Florida Highway Patrol has reported a truck fire on the shoulder lane of Interstate 75 in Fort Myers.
LABELLE Linemen get superhero sendoff as they help with Helene recovery Local linemen get superhero sendoff as they head North to help with Helene recovery efforts in other states
FORT MYERS Man arrested after Fort Myers police confiscate nearly $1M and almost 700g of fentanyl The Fort Myers police department has arrested a man in connection with a large-scale drug operation.
PORT CHARLOTTE Animal shelter in Charlotte Harbor devastated by Helene is seeking support Dogs looking for homes have had their temporary home taken away by the storm surge of Hurricane Helene.
FORT MYERS Dean Park residents continue dealing with flooding issues after Helene Dean Park in Fort Myers looks different than it did a week ago. Couches, tables, mattresses, and an assortment of people’s possessions litter the neighborhood leftover from Hurricane Helene.
LEE COUNTY Heritage Farms community recovering from Hurricane Helene Just like Hurricane Ian, Hurricane Helene sent water into homes in the Heritage Farms community, sending people back into clean up mode.
FORT MYERS BEACH Cleaning up after Helene on Fort Myers Beach Hurricane Helene brought havoc to Florida, especially on Fort Myers Beach. Residents were forced to evacuate, and homes even flooded. It also triggered anxiety from Hurricane Ian.
SANIBEL Blind Pass Condominiums struggling after Helene It’s being considered a punch in the gut. Neighbors were almost finished recovering from Hurricane Ian when Hurricane Helene rolled by the coast.
Verizon customers affected by service outage Verizon Wireless is experiencing a widespread outage across the country that is affecting customers in Southwest Florida.
ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) Supplies arrive by plane and mule to North Carolina as Helene death toll reaches 121 Desperate residents isolated by washed-out roads and the lack of power and cellular service in western North Carolina lined up Monday for fresh water and a chance to message loved ones that they were alive, days after Hurricane Helene tore through the Southeastern U.S. and killed more than 100 people.
FORT MYERS $1 billion RSW expansion project to begin Tuesday The Lee County Port Authority will begin Southwest Florida International Airport’s Terminal Expansion Phase 2, a more than $1 billion project.
CAPE CORAL Memorial benches being removed from Jaycee Park in Cape Coral After years of discussions, the City of Cape Coral will start to remove items from Jaycee Park as part of ongoing improvements.
NAPLES ‘That was the last flight out of Fort Myers’; Local man airlifted to NCH for emergency surgery Hurricane or not, medical emergencies do not wait. A Lee County man learned that after being airlifted before Hurricane Helene to get life-or-death treatment at NCH in Naples
NAPLES Deputies searching for missing Collier County teen The Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Collier County Sheriff’s Office are searching for a teenager who was last seen in South Naples and reported missing a week ago.
NORTH FORT MYERS Shell Factory in North Fort Myers closes A landmark in the Southwest Florida community for decades has officially closed its doors over the weekend.
FORT MYERS Truck fire on I-75 in Fort Myers closes 2 lanes The Florida Highway Patrol has reported a truck fire on the shoulder lane of Interstate 75 in Fort Myers.
Colleges are starting degrees in esports, with $36,000 programs. (Credit: CBS News) On their first week in class, a group of students is playing a first-person shooter video game in a sleek new digital studio. It’s their introduction to the degree in esports they’ve enrolled in. The group clicking away on their mice are at the University of Staffordshire, one of several U.K. and U.S. schools launching programs aimed at capitalizing on the booming industry’s need for skilled professionals. In the U.S., colleges including Virginia’s Shenandoah University, Becker College in Massachusetts and The Ohio State University have debuted esports degrees. Ryan Chapman, 18, said his parents were “skeptical at first” about studying esports, or competitive multiplayer videogaming. “But now they understand how big the industry is growing, the pace it’s growing at. They’re now really all for it because it’s a great industry to start to get into,” said Chapman, who was among the students in the lab playing Counter-Strike, one of the most popular esports games. The University of Staffordshire last year launched its bachelor’s and master’s esports programs, in which students mainly learn marketing and management skills tailored to the industry. This autumn, it’s expanding the program to London while other schools are also debuting esports degree courses, including Britain’s Chichester University. In Asia, where esports has seen strong growth, schools in Singapore and China offer courses. It’s not only colleges that are adding esports to their curriculum. More than 100 high schools in the U.S. have launched dedicated esports programs alongside their traditional soccer and football teams. And some colleges, like the University of California, Irvine, are giving top players scholarships to entice them to enroll, a privilege long reserved for premier athletes. $1.1 billion market The global esports market is expected to surge to $1.1 billion this year, up $230 million from 2018 on growth in sponsorships, merchandise and ticket sales, according to Newzoo. The research firm expects the global esports audience to grow in 2019 to about 454 million as fans tune in on livestreaming platforms such as Twitch and Microsoft’s Mixer. Esports tournaments have become a cultural phenomenon and now rival traditional sports events in size and scale. Big competitions are held in arenas where thousands of fans watch big-name professional video gamers compete for lucrative prize pools. Esports leagues have franchises in North America, Europe and Asia. The biggest names, such as Fortnite superstar Tyler “Ninja” Blevins, can earn millions in prize money and livestreaming deals. Esports are even set to be a medal event at the Southeast Asian Games in the Philippines in November. Varsity-level competitions Dozens of U.S. colleges have offered varsity level esports competitions for years. But some schools are taking it a step further by adding courses as the industry’s boom drives demand for professionals who know how to, for example, organize esports tournaments. New niche degrees partly highlight the changing economy, but they also reflect the “need to communicate to parents and students that there will be a job waiting for someone once they earn a degree,” which may include hefty tuition fees and student loans to pay for them, said Joni Finney, director of the University of Pennsylvania’s Institute for Research on Higher Education. She worried that some degrees are too specialized and that some schools are launching them to offset falling enrollment. “It’s really up to the faculty of those institutions to step up and say, ‘You know, a degree in business will cover these kinds of jobs,’ rather than saying we have a degree in a certain job category,” Finney said. More than games Becker College formally launched its Bachelor of Science in esports management this month after an initial “soft release” last year. “It’s no longer kids playing games in their basement,” said Alan Ritacco, dean of Becker College’s School of Design and Technology. The top esports players now earn almost as much as the highest paid stars in traditional sports like golf or tennis, he said. The schools emphasize that their courses aren’t about just playing video games. “People are unaware of the industry that goes behind esports,” said Matt Huxley, a lecturer at Staffordshire University’s Digital Institute London, a new outpost the university, near Birmingham, England, opened so students could be closer to game companies in the British capital. Huxley, who teaches a class on organizing tournaments, said learning about esports was akin to studying sports management. “If you were to go and study to be a director of football you’re not playing football, you’re learning the business behind how (player) transfers work, how you run a stadium and all those kind of operational things.” A pro gamer lecturer Chichester University hired former pro gamer Rams Singh, known as R2K, as a senior lecturer for its program, which includes playing games such as FIFA and League of Legends as part of the course. Ohio State is poised to launch an esports and game studies undergraduate major that will include the application of games to health and medicine. A business focus helps to ease worries among students and parents about paying tuition for degrees that have no track record. In Britain, standard tuition fees are set at 9,250 pounds ($11,430) a year while the U.S. programs charge as much as $36,000 a year. “There’s always going to be risks but I have zero regrets,” said Ellis Celia, 26, who is also starting the Staffordshire course. The industry “can only go up at this point,” she said.