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.
President Donald Trump speaks during an “Evangelicals for Trump Coalition Launch” at King Jesus International Ministry, Friday, Jan. 3, 2020, in Miami. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci) President Donald Trump has always been a big numbers guy. He’s proved adept at taking even the grimmest numbers and giving himself a pat on the back or relying on a creative use of data to make himself look good. But his declaration that an unexpected dip in the unemployment rate marked probably “the greatest comeback in American history” was a remarkable level of hyperbole even for him. “This is a particularly clear example of his lack of cognitive complexity,” said Brian Ott, incoming director of the communication school at Missouri State University and author of “The Twitter Presidency: Donald J. Trump and the Politics of White Rage.” The Labor Department’s report on Friday that 2.5 million Americans were added to payrolls in May was clearly good news. In advance, economists had been projecting the loss of 8.3 million jobs, continuing the economic bloodletting caused by the coronavirus pandemic that has spurred the highest unemployment levels since the Great Depression. But economists say the notion that the coronavirus-battered economy is now on a glide path to recovery glosses over some of the hard truths that American workers will face for months, if not years. Justin Wolfers, a University of Michigan economist, notes that coronavirus pushed the economy into a massive hole and that it remains in a bad place. “This month’s rise in non-farm payrolls of +2.5 million is (easily!) the largest monthly rise ever recorded,” Wolfers tweeted. “But it’s still only one-eighth of last month’s monstrous decline of -20.7 million. (Also a record.)” The president’s premature claim to economic victory reflects an artful relationship with numbers that Trump has long displayed. Trump has repeatedly responded to the still-rising American death toll from the coronavirus — exceeding 109,000 — by saying that if not for his decision to restrict travel from China and Europe and other steps, the U.S. could have lost “maybe even 2.5 million or more lives,” as he put it Friday. ”Big move closing it up,” Trump offered appreciatively. Earlier this week, Trump took to Twitter to point to a Washington Post–ABC News poll that showed Trump supporters are more enthusiastic about voting for him than are people likely to vote for likely Democratic presidential nominee, Joe Biden. Left unsaid was that the same poll showed Biden held a 10 percentage point lead among respondents as their choice in November. Trump’s tendency to get creative with numbers started early. In his 1987 book about his rise in the New York real estate world, “The Art of the Deal,” Trump wrote that a “little hyperbole never hurts.” He framed his bankruptcies as smart legal maneuvers. “People want to believe that something is the biggest and the greatest and the most spectacular. … It’s an innocent form of exaggeration — and a very effective form of promotion,” Trump wrote in his book. As he toyed with making a White House run in 2011, Trump said his reluctance to run was due in part to having the “No. 1 show on NBC.” That was a stretch: Trump had been the network’s top- rated show the week prior to the interview, but ran third for the network for the entire season. On his first day in the White House, Trump dispatched his press secretary at the time, Sean Spicer, to inaccurately insist to reporters that Trump had drawn “the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period.” The economy is one of Trump’s favorite places to spin up a swirl of good numbers attributed to his stewardship. With 2.5 million workers added to the payroll in May, Trump said, the once-shuttered economy is coming back with “a bang.” But with the unemployment rate still standing at 13.3% — significantly higher than the low point of the Great Recession of 2008 — the president’s ebullience doesn’t reflect the reality that the climb back will take time and could be bumpy, said Claudia Sahm, director of macroeconomic policy at the Washington Center for Equitable Growth. “This was a good day for him,” said Sahm, who served as a senior economist on the Council of Economic Advisers during the the Obama administration. “But he took what was a good day and made it hyperbolic.” Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, warned that Trump’s disproportionate exuberance could backfire. “If the White House takes from this and Congress takes from this that we don’t need another round of stimulus, that’s going to be a problem,” Zandi said. “On the other side of Labor Day, the economy is going to go sideways or even go back into recession, because all of the rescue money is going to be spent by Labor Day.” Trump used a Rose Garden event on Friday to showcase the new jobs report and to suggest a stronger economy could contribute to racial equality. Left unsaid by the president was that African American unemployment inched up to 16.8% last month, the highest it’s been in more than a decade. Asian American workers’ unemployment rate also rose from 14.5% to 15%. Hispanic unemployment dropped from 18.9% to 17.6%. Trump scoffed at an African American reporter who noted the disconnect between Trump’s comments and what minority workers are enduring. “You’re something else,” he retorted. Biden, for his part, said Trump’s trumpeting of the data was tantamount to “hanging a Mission Accomplished banner,” a reference to President George W. Bush’s premature declaration of victory in the Iraq war less than six weeks into a conflict that would go on for years. “He’s out there spiking the ball, completely oblivious to the tens of millions of people who are facing the greatest struggle of their lives,” Biden said of Trump. Ott, the Missouri State analyst, said that Trump’s rosy take on the unemployment situation is part of his broader effort to spin dark numbers into gold. “If the sun comes up, Trump is responsible, and it’s the most beautiful sunrise in the history of the planet,” Ott said. “Conversely, when something negative happens, Trump blames others even if he is directly responsible for it.”