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.
In this courtroom sketch, Ghislaine Maxwell, left, pulls down her mask to talk to one of her lawyers, Jeffrey Pagliuca, during Maxwell’s sex trafficking trial, Monday, Dec. 27, 2021, in New York. (AP Photo/Elizabeth Williams) The Ghislaine Maxwell sex trafficking trial was a four-week winding road featuring sordid testimony by four women who accused the British socialite of grooming their teenage selves for abuse at the hands of financier Jeffrey Epstein. The defense maintained the abuse could have been real, but Maxwell wasn’t part of it. It all came to a climax earlier this week with a guilty verdict in federal court in Manhattan, delivered after five full days of jury deliberations. The jurors’ identities were kept secret. Still, there were clues in the record about who they were and hints about how they reached a decision that hung in the balance for five days amid a surge in COVID-19 cases in New York City that threatened to derail the trial. Here are some reflections on the players involved and how the deliberations unfolded: THE JURORS They were six men and six women from varying educational and career backgrounds who survived a selection process by showing they had no preconceived notions about the case. None had much interest in or imprint on social media. One juror, asked what she does for fun, answered: “I love to clean.” Some of their jobs foreshadowed the aptitude they displayed for the laborious, tedious procession toward a solution: bank trader’s assistant, city clerical worker, government contract specialist, life science company vice president, home health aide, health plan project manager. Identified only by numbers, they seemed attentive throughout the trial. Once deliberations began, they sent notes with occasional questions and requested transcripts of most of the trial’s key testimony, never once hinting at a deadlock. “Our deliberations are moving along and we are making progress,” they informed the judge Tuesday in a matter-of-fact note presaging the next day’s verdict. THE JUDGE After a decade on the bench, U.S. District Judge Alison J. Nathan had landed her biggest case yet with Ghislaine Maxwell. During the trial, Nathan learned she was being appointed to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan, a promotion that forced her to suspend the trial for three days while she went to Washington to answer questions from the senators considering her confirmation. In making rulings, Nathan seemed confidently decisive and mostly immovable once she had arrived at a conclusion. Nobody knew that better than Maxwell, who watched Nathan deny her bail requests, again and again. But during the deliberations, the judge acknowledged that it was the jury that was in charge. She accepted their wishes around work hours even if it went against her own instructions, noting that they were “not shy to indicate” what they wanted. THE RACE AGAINST COVID Nathan did not hide her anxiety from the jury over the possibility that a coronavirus outbreak among jurors could force a mistrial. During the first week of deliberations, she invited jurors to meet a third day before the Christmas holiday. They declined. By Monday, she had stepped up the pressure, asking them to stay an extra hour each night — again declined. She revealed her worries to lawyers Tuesday, telling them her request was “because we are seeing an astronomical spike” in New York City’s coronavirus cases, fueled by the omicron variant. She kept her fears from the jury after defense lawyers worried it would unduly pressure them to reach a verdict. By Wednesday, she was ready to step up pressure even further, telling jurors they would work on New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day and even Sunday if they hadn’t reached a verdict. Later that day, Nathan, breathing heavily, took the bench at 4:58 p.m. to announce there was a verdict. MAXWELL’S LAST DAY The last day of the trial started well for Maxwell. A jury that had already deliberated for four full days sent the judge an early morning note saying it wanted the transcripts of testimony from a half-dozen witnesses. Jurors also wanted that of an expert who threw shade at the veracity of the memories of Maxwell’s accusers. Was it a signal they were undecided and that an acquittal or hung jury was still in the cards? As the judge sorted matters out with the jury outside of the courtroom, a buoyant Maxwell appeared to think so. Her eyes beaming above her face mask, she deliberately turned her chair at the defense table in the direction of two courtroom sketch artists and struck a pose for them. Deliberations went forward. The jury went silent. No more notes for hours. But at the end of the day a last note finally came. “We have a verdict,” the judge said as the courtroom went silent. A defense team that had engaged in constant public displays of affection with Maxwell sat completely still with her as the verdict was read. On most days, she had hugged her lawyers coming and going from the courtroom. This time, there were no hugs.