Punta Gorda church celebrates Pastor’s 45 years of serviceShift Coffee Bar in Fort Myers hosts annual Valentine’s Day Party
PUNTA GORDA Punta Gorda church celebrates Pastor’s 45 years of service The First Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church in Punta Gorda is alive with celebration as they honor a legacy of leadership.
FORT MYERS Shift Coffee Bar in Fort Myers hosts annual Valentine’s Day Party Shift Coffee Bar in Fort Myers held their annual Valentine’s Day pop-up/anniversary event on Sunday morning.
PUNTA GORDA Road rage leads to gunfire near US 41 bridge in Punta Gorda A road rage incident near the Gilchrist Bridge in Punta Gorda led to shots being fired, according to the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office.
the weather authority Warm, breezy day with evening rain ahead of a slight cold front The Weather Authority says Sunday is starting off warm across Southwest Florida with overnight lows in the upper 60s and 70s, staying warm throughout the day before a cold front sweeps south later this evening.
FORT MYERS Edison Festival parade lights up Fort Myers with floats and bands The Edison Festival parade was a spectacle of lights and sounds, drawing crowds to celebrate the legacy of Thomas Edison.
CAPE CORAL Goth Gala for the Forlorn; How the alt scene honored Valentine’s Day Love Your Rebellion hosted the Goth Gala for the Forlorn at Nice Guys Pizza in Cape Coral on Friday night.
FORT MYERS Fort Myers gears up for Edison Festival parade; road closures in place Downtown Fort Myers is buzzing with excitement as the Edison Festival of Light Parade is set to begin.
the weather authority Near-record heat with sun and clouds for your Saturday The Weather Authority says the above-normal temperatures that Southwest Florida has been experiencing will stick around yet again for Saturday.
LEE COUNTY Savannah Bananas bring fun on the diamond at JetBlue Park The Savannah Bananas amazed and entertained a sold out JetBlue Park Friday night for the first time in Southwest Florida.
CAPE CORAL Caught on Camera: Cape Coral mailbox hit by drifting car A Cape Coral homeowner was left in shock after a car sent her mailbox flying through the air and left tire tracks next to her home.
ARCADIA DeSoto County man sentenced for deadly DUI crash Justice for a mother and son killed by a man driving under the influence.
NAPLES Oldest Black-owned business in SWFL continues to serve community Cleveland Bass Movers, founded in 1969, stands as the oldest Black-owned business in Southwest Florida.
FORT MYERS BEACH Broken gate on Lovers Key Beach Resort frustrating residents Residents of Lover’s Key Beach Club in Fort Myers Beach are frustrated with a gate that remains wide open, despite “No Trespassing” signs, since Hurricane Ian struck two years ago.
St. James City Church plans $700k flood-proofing project for future safety Hurricanes have caused flood after flood, and one island church, The First Baptist Church of Saint James City, wants to build higher.
Romance scams rise in the US, AARP warns residents to beware Romance scams are on the rise, with the Federal Trade Commission reporting over 64,000 cases in the U.S. in 2023.
PUNTA GORDA Punta Gorda church celebrates Pastor’s 45 years of service The First Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church in Punta Gorda is alive with celebration as they honor a legacy of leadership.
FORT MYERS Shift Coffee Bar in Fort Myers hosts annual Valentine’s Day Party Shift Coffee Bar in Fort Myers held their annual Valentine’s Day pop-up/anniversary event on Sunday morning.
PUNTA GORDA Road rage leads to gunfire near US 41 bridge in Punta Gorda A road rage incident near the Gilchrist Bridge in Punta Gorda led to shots being fired, according to the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office.
the weather authority Warm, breezy day with evening rain ahead of a slight cold front The Weather Authority says Sunday is starting off warm across Southwest Florida with overnight lows in the upper 60s and 70s, staying warm throughout the day before a cold front sweeps south later this evening.
FORT MYERS Edison Festival parade lights up Fort Myers with floats and bands The Edison Festival parade was a spectacle of lights and sounds, drawing crowds to celebrate the legacy of Thomas Edison.
CAPE CORAL Goth Gala for the Forlorn; How the alt scene honored Valentine’s Day Love Your Rebellion hosted the Goth Gala for the Forlorn at Nice Guys Pizza in Cape Coral on Friday night.
FORT MYERS Fort Myers gears up for Edison Festival parade; road closures in place Downtown Fort Myers is buzzing with excitement as the Edison Festival of Light Parade is set to begin.
the weather authority Near-record heat with sun and clouds for your Saturday The Weather Authority says the above-normal temperatures that Southwest Florida has been experiencing will stick around yet again for Saturday.
LEE COUNTY Savannah Bananas bring fun on the diamond at JetBlue Park The Savannah Bananas amazed and entertained a sold out JetBlue Park Friday night for the first time in Southwest Florida.
CAPE CORAL Caught on Camera: Cape Coral mailbox hit by drifting car A Cape Coral homeowner was left in shock after a car sent her mailbox flying through the air and left tire tracks next to her home.
ARCADIA DeSoto County man sentenced for deadly DUI crash Justice for a mother and son killed by a man driving under the influence.
NAPLES Oldest Black-owned business in SWFL continues to serve community Cleveland Bass Movers, founded in 1969, stands as the oldest Black-owned business in Southwest Florida.
FORT MYERS BEACH Broken gate on Lovers Key Beach Resort frustrating residents Residents of Lover’s Key Beach Club in Fort Myers Beach are frustrated with a gate that remains wide open, despite “No Trespassing” signs, since Hurricane Ian struck two years ago.
St. James City Church plans $700k flood-proofing project for future safety Hurricanes have caused flood after flood, and one island church, The First Baptist Church of Saint James City, wants to build higher.
Romance scams rise in the US, AARP warns residents to beware Romance scams are on the rise, with the Federal Trade Commission reporting over 64,000 cases in the U.S. in 2023.
LONDON – JULY 18: Magic Mushrooms sit in a fridge on July 18, 2005 in London, England. The sale of fresh mushrooms has been prohibited as of today due to the reclassification of the drug to Class A. (Photo by Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images) A single dose of psilocybin, a compound found in “magic mushrooms,” provides long-term relief of anxiety and depression in cancer patients, a new study finds. In fact, cancer patients who were given psilocybin reported reductions in anxiety, depression, hopelessness, demoralization, and death anxiety more than four years after receiving the dose in combination with psychotherapy. “Our findings strongly suggest that psilocybin therapy is a promising means of improving the emotional, psychological, and spiritual well-being of patients with life-threatening cancer,” said Dr. Stephen Ross, associate professor of psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry at NYU Langone Health. The findings build on improvements first reported by the team in 2016, in which 29 patients with cancer-related anxiety and depression were given either a single dose of psilocybin or a vitamin placebo called niacin. Seven weeks later, they were given the opposite. This was in combination with nine psychotherapy sessions. By 6½ months, after all patients had received psilocybin, about 60% to 80% showed clinically significant reductions in depression, anxiety and existential distress and and improved attitudes toward death. Fifteen of the original participants were then followed up 3.2 and 4.5 years later and showed sustained long-term improvements, with more than 70% of them further attributing “positive life change’s to the therapy experience, rating it among ‘the most personally meaningful and spiritually significant experiences of their lives,” according to the study published Tuesday in the Journal of Psychopharmacology. “This approach has the potential to produce a paradigm shift in the psychological and existential care of patients with cancer, especially those with terminal illness,” Ross said in a statement. Ross believes an alternative means of treating anxiety and depression among cancer patients is urgently needed, stating that a third of people diagnosed with cancer will developing anxiety, depression and other forms of distress. Though his team does not fully understand how psilocybin has such effects on the mind, they previously suggested it could be because our brains have a level of neuroplasticity — the ability to adapt and change with various experiences. “These results may shed light on how the positive effects of a single dose of psilocybin persist for so long,” said Gabby Agin-Liebes, lead investigator and lead author of the long-term follow-up study, and co-author of the 2016 parent study. “The drug seems to facilitate a deep, meaningful experience that stays with a person and can fundamentally change his or her mindset and outlook.” The study has its limitations, such as the small number of patients monitored in the latest study and its overlap with the previous trial. “The conclusions that can be drawn are limited because the original trial was a crossover design,” says James Rucker, who leads the Psychedelic Trials Group at the Centre for Affective Disorders at Kings College London in the UK. “This means that in the original trial every participant eventually received psilocybin. Because of this, there is no control group in this current study. This means that we do not know whether the participants might have improved long term anyway, regardless of the treatment.” The findings do, however, build on growing evidence supporting the benefits of psilocybin on mental health. “This trial provides some useful reassurance to ongoing clinical trials, particularly in treatment resistant depression,” added Rucker, who was not involved in the study. Multiple studies to date have found benefits in using psilocybin to treat people with depression when combined with supportive therapy. There were an estimated 18 million cases of cancer globally in 2018, according to the World Health Organization, and research has shown depression to be more common among patients with cancer than the general population. “This could profoundly transform the psycho-oncologic care of patients with cancer, and importantly could be used in hospice settings to help terminally ill cancer patients approach death with improved emotional and spiritual well-being,” Ross said.