ALVA Woodpeckers build home in Alva 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 Alva 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.
(Bob Self/The Florida Times-Union via AP) A year after the COVID-19 outbreak temporarily shuttered much of the economy and plunged the nation into debates over masks and lockdowns, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis convened a hand-picked panel of health experts at his state Capitol on Thursday to help validate the actions he took against the pandemic. One by one, the experts provided vindication for DeSantis, whose insistence on lifting lockdowns, reopening schools and undermining mask mandates came under scrutiny as the public health crisis unfolded. The Republican’s handling of the virus will no doubt be a key issue when he faces reelection next year. The experts he convened hailed from some of the world’s most prestigious institutions but their views have been rebuked by many mainstream scientists, including U.S. infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci, who last year called the anti-lockdown, pro-herd immunity push “nonsense.” Thursday’s panel echoed the governor’s assertions that lockdowns and mask mandates did little to slow the spread of the virus – and might have even done more harm than good by damaging people’s mental health and stoking fear among some to not seek medical help at the risk of exposing themselves to the virus. “I think the lockdowns were the single biggest public health mistake,” said Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, a professor at Stanford Medical School, who helped write the Great Barrington Declaration – a petition that contends that lockdowns and other measures have spawned a host of unintended consequences that could adversely affect long-term public health. The declaration’s two other writers, Dr. Martin Kulldorff of Harvard University and Professor Sunetra Gupta of Oxford University, also joined the governor during Thursday’s roundtable. Also taking part was Dr. Scott Atlas, a radiologist who had no formal experience in public health or infectious diseases when then-President Donald Trump tapped him last summer as a key pandemic adviser. Atlas later resigned. “It’s obvious by now that these lockdowns and contact tracing and masks were not able to prevent a resurgence of the disease during the winter,” said Kulldorff, a professor of medicine at Harvard. At one time Florida was among the epicenters of the disease, prompting DeSantis a year ago to shutter businesses and call for social distancing. As the Florida economy hemorrhaged jobs, he pushed to reopen the economy. He then moved to reopen schools. “The data could not be clearer that our state has fared far better than many others, particularly those that imposed harsh lockdowns on their residents,” DeSantis said in a statement after the roundtable. Researchers have amassed troves of data about the spread of the coronavirus, which has infected more than 121 million worldwide and killed nearly 2.7 million. In the United States, the pandemic has been responsible for the deaths of at least 538,000 people, including more than 32,000 in Florida. Some studies indicate that masks and limiting group activities such as indoor dining can help slow the spread of the coronavirus, but less clear is why states with greater government-imposed restrictions have not always fared better than those without them. California and Florida have drawn particular scrutiny because of their similar results despite differing approaches. Despite California’s more cautious tack in reopening, its COVID-19 case rate was similar to that of Florida, according to data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The death rates for both states ranked near the middle. New York, which like California has been relatively stringent in restrictions, has had one of the worst records in deaths per capita after it was the nation’s early coronavirus epicenter. Some researchers cautioned against interpreting data too simplistically. “There are a range of other factors that have to be taken into consideration to understand why death rates are different in very different parts of the country,” said Professor Glenn Morris, the director of the Emerging Pathogens Institute at the University of Florida. Despite assertions by the governor’s panelists that masks, social distancing and contact tracing have been ineffective, Morris contends that those measures are in fact slowing the spread of COVID-19. “It doesn’t make sense not to use every tool that we have to slow disease transmission, prevent deaths and long-term complications, and limit the opportunities for further coronavirus evolution, which is resulting in the emergence of new strains and strain variants that are transmitted more quickly and can cause more severe disease,” he said in an email to The Associated Press. Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, a potential Democratic rival in the governor’s race, chided DeSantis for “elevating disinformation.” “We don’t need a roundtable to know that expanding vaccine access is what must be done to save lives and jobs,” Fried tweeted. While DeSantis is gradually lowering the age criteria for access to coronavirus vaccines – it now stands at 60 years old – his critics are urging him to do so more quickly. Watch a replay below or click here.