Naples jet crash, one year later: new details on emergency responseLCSO cutting down law enforcement response times
Naples jet crash, one year later: new details on emergency response Sunday marks one year since a jet crashed after its pilots attempted an emergency landing on I-75 just outside of Naples. “Your mind goes back to everything that happened that day,” said Heather Mazurkiewicz, public information officer with the North Collier Fire Rescue. “I think about the fact that there weren’t more lives lost.” At […]
LCSO cutting down law enforcement response times The Lee County Sheriff’s Office is gearing up to implement “Prepared 9-1-1,” a new tool designed to enhance emergency response times.
How Harry Chapin Food Bank supports struggling families In the heart of Dunbar, a neighborhood in Fort Myers, the STARS Complex becomes a place of hope as the Harry Chapin Food Bank supports families in need.
MOORE HAVEN African American family breaking barriers in Moore Haven politics Breaking barriers is a family tradition for Rashondra Croskey and her godmother, Gloria Reese.
Charlotte County unlicensed contractor accused of fraud The Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office said that a contractor has been arrested after he was hired to build a room in a home without a license.
Studies show that menopause is linked to heart risks Menopause is a natural part of life for middle-aged women, typically occurring between ages 45 and 55. However, it can bring serious health complications, including an increased risk of heart disease.
FORT MYERS Local band Shy Blossom to open up for ’90s rockers Sister Hazel at The Ranch A Southwest Florida-based band will be opening for the legendary ’90s rock fusion group Sister Hazel.
golden gate Bear Brawl: Black bears duke it out in Golden Gate backyard Two black bears were caught on camera tussling for garbage in the backyard of a Golden Gate home.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral man accused of possessing child pornography A Cape Coral man has been arrested after allegedly possessing several files of child pornography on devices.
fort myers 7 people, 3 dogs displaced following house fire in Fort Myers The Fort Myers Fire Department responded to a house fire that has left seven people and three dogs without a home.
CAPE CORAL Island Coast High School employee accused of inappropriate behavior with 2 students We now have new details about the arrest of a Cape Coral instructional support aide at Island Coast High School accused of inappropriate relations with students.
PORT CHARLOTTE Port Charlotte woman reunites with husband’s ashes A Port Charlotte woman has been reunited with her husband’s ashes after struggling with the U.S. Postal Service to find them.
Tim Aten Knows: The Avenue set to break ground on Fifth An upscale mixed-use redevelopment project — The Avenue — will begin construction this quarter on a nearly two-block area of Fifth Avenue South from the former longtime property of St. George & the Dragon restaurant.
Demolition begins on former Winn-Dixie grocery in Estero The walls of the former grocery store at the northwest corner of Three Oaks Parkway and Coconut Road started coming down last month after reaching an agreement with nearby residents who filed suit to stop the project.
TALLAHASSEE Gov. DeSantis announces illegal immigrant enforcement collaboration with ICE Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has taken another step in tackling illegal immigration by announcing the state’s collaboration with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Naples jet crash, one year later: new details on emergency response Sunday marks one year since a jet crashed after its pilots attempted an emergency landing on I-75 just outside of Naples. “Your mind goes back to everything that happened that day,” said Heather Mazurkiewicz, public information officer with the North Collier Fire Rescue. “I think about the fact that there weren’t more lives lost.” At […]
LCSO cutting down law enforcement response times The Lee County Sheriff’s Office is gearing up to implement “Prepared 9-1-1,” a new tool designed to enhance emergency response times.
How Harry Chapin Food Bank supports struggling families In the heart of Dunbar, a neighborhood in Fort Myers, the STARS Complex becomes a place of hope as the Harry Chapin Food Bank supports families in need.
MOORE HAVEN African American family breaking barriers in Moore Haven politics Breaking barriers is a family tradition for Rashondra Croskey and her godmother, Gloria Reese.
Charlotte County unlicensed contractor accused of fraud The Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office said that a contractor has been arrested after he was hired to build a room in a home without a license.
Studies show that menopause is linked to heart risks Menopause is a natural part of life for middle-aged women, typically occurring between ages 45 and 55. However, it can bring serious health complications, including an increased risk of heart disease.
FORT MYERS Local band Shy Blossom to open up for ’90s rockers Sister Hazel at The Ranch A Southwest Florida-based band will be opening for the legendary ’90s rock fusion group Sister Hazel.
golden gate Bear Brawl: Black bears duke it out in Golden Gate backyard Two black bears were caught on camera tussling for garbage in the backyard of a Golden Gate home.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral man accused of possessing child pornography A Cape Coral man has been arrested after allegedly possessing several files of child pornography on devices.
fort myers 7 people, 3 dogs displaced following house fire in Fort Myers The Fort Myers Fire Department responded to a house fire that has left seven people and three dogs without a home.
CAPE CORAL Island Coast High School employee accused of inappropriate behavior with 2 students We now have new details about the arrest of a Cape Coral instructional support aide at Island Coast High School accused of inappropriate relations with students.
PORT CHARLOTTE Port Charlotte woman reunites with husband’s ashes A Port Charlotte woman has been reunited with her husband’s ashes after struggling with the U.S. Postal Service to find them.
Tim Aten Knows: The Avenue set to break ground on Fifth An upscale mixed-use redevelopment project — The Avenue — will begin construction this quarter on a nearly two-block area of Fifth Avenue South from the former longtime property of St. George & the Dragon restaurant.
Demolition begins on former Winn-Dixie grocery in Estero The walls of the former grocery store at the northwest corner of Three Oaks Parkway and Coconut Road started coming down last month after reaching an agreement with nearby residents who filed suit to stop the project.
TALLAHASSEE Gov. DeSantis announces illegal immigrant enforcement collaboration with ICE Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has taken another step in tackling illegal immigration by announcing the state’s collaboration with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
For the first time in 19 years, a team of scientists has detected a new strain of HIV. (CDC) For the first time in 19 years, a team of scientists has detected a new strain of HIV. The strain is a part of the Group M version of HIV-1, the same family of virus subtypes to blame for the global HIV pandemic, according to Abbott Laboratories, which conducted the research along with the University of Missouri, Kansas City. The findings were published Wednesday in the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes. HIV has several different subtypes or strains, and like other viruses, it has the ability to change and mutate over time. This is the first new Group M HIV strain identified since guidelines for classifying subtypes were established in 2000. It is important to know what strains of the virus are circulating to ensure that tests used to detect the disease are effective. “It can be a real challenge for diagnostic tests,” Mary Rodgers, a co-author of the report and a principal scientist at Abbott, said. Her company tests more than 60% of the world’s blood supply, she said, and they have to look for new strains and track those in circulation so “we can accurately detect it, no matter where it happens to be in the world.” Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said current treatments for HIV are effective against this strain and others. However, identifying a new strain provides a more complete map of how HIV evolves. “There’s no reason to panic or even to worry about it a little bit,” Fauci said. “Not a lot of people are infected with this. This is an outlier.” For scientists to be able to declare that this was a new subtype, three cases of it must be detected independently. The first two were found in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the 1983 and 1990. The two strains were “very unusual and didn’t match other strains,” Rodgers said. The third sample found in Congo was collected in 2001 as a part of a study aimed at preventing mother-to-child transmission of the virus. The sample was small, and while it seemed similar to the two older samples, scientists wanted to test the whole genome to be sure. At the time, there wasn’t technology to determine if this was the new subtype. So scientists at Abbott and the University of Missouri developed new techniques to study and map the 2001 sample. Rodgers said it was “like searching for a needle in a haystack,” and then “pulling the needle out with a magnet.” They were able to fully sequence the sample, meaning they were able to create a full picture of what it was, and determine that it was, in fact, subtype L of Group M. It’s unclear how this variant of the virus may impact the body differently, if it does act differently at all. Current HIV treatments can fight a wide variety of virus strains, and it is believed that these treatments can fight this newly named one. “This discovery reminds us that to end the HIV pandemic, we must continue to out think this continuously changing virus and use the latest advancements in technology and resources to monitor its evolution,” study co-author, Dr. Carole McArthur, a professor in the department of oral and craniofacial sciences at the University of Missouri, Kansas City, said in a statement. About 36.7 million in the world are living with HIV, according to World Health Organization. UNAIDS estimates that in 2016, some 1.8 million people became newly infected.