3 family members of teen accused in murder of Kayla Rincon-Miller arrestedDeath investigation in Fort Myers after body is found in truck bed
CAPE CORAL 3 family members of teen accused in murder of Kayla Rincon-Miller arrested New details have emerged surrounding the arrest of a woman whose 16-year-old son is accused of being involved in the murder of Kayla Rincon-Miller, and now her husband and sister are also in jail.
FORT MYERS Death investigation in Fort Myers after body is found in truck bed Fort Myers Police confirm that there is a death investigation at the corner of Market Street and brown street.
NAPLES Naples ‘celebrity bartender’ stirring up new cocktails at LoLa 41 Michael Slabach often researches ideas, finding a new balance of layers, color, texture and selective glassware to turn his drinks into art.
FORT MYERS New affordable housing program in Fort Myers begins Affordable housing is a rare sighting these days, but one city is making it a priority.
NAPLES ‘Live simply and never give up’ – Motto for Naples couple needing a helping hand A husband wants nothing more than to share the world with his wife while she is suffering from an illness determined to keep them separated.
NAPLES Music teacher dilemma at Gulf Coast High School leaves students anxious Parents are outraged, and students are unsure what the future holds after one of their two beloved music teachers was told they will have to transfer.
FORT MYERS Mom celebrates first Mother’s Day with cancer-free daughter We have one of the best weekends ahead, a time to celebrate mothers everywhere, and as any mother knows, celebrating with your family matters most.
Glades County Should commissioners have to live in the District they represent? WINK Investigates why one commissioner doesn’t The Glades District 1 Commissioner was elected while living in that district. He has since moved. What does that mean for his position?
FORT MYERS Boats stuck since Hurricane Ian being removed from Centennial Park area Boats that have been stuck since Hurricane Ian are in the process of being removed from a messy yard next to Centennial Park and Joe’s Crab Shack.
CAPE CORAL Man accused of waving knife at Metro PCS workers in Cape Coral Two women try to help a customer and end up fearing for their lives. One man started waving a seven-inch knife in the faces of two Metro PCS workers.
Overloaded circuit sparks house fire in Jamaica Bay community A Jamaica Bay community home was damaged in a fire sparked by an overloaded circuit, according to the South Trail Fire & Rescue Service District.
LEE COUNTY Could Guardian Caps make their way to high school football games? With the NFL allowing Guardian Caps during regular season games, could we see Guardian Caps during high school football games?
Florida insurer fined $1M over Hurricane Ian claims The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation issued the seven figure fine to Heritage Property and Casualty Insurance Company for violating a number of Florida laws when handling some of its Hurricane Ian- related claims.
New treatment stops essential tremors and shaking More than ten million people experience shakes known as essential tremors, which can make everyday tasks like eating and talking challenging.
NAPLES Ex-wife faces new charges for involvement in near-fatal Naples shooting The Collier County Sheriff’s Office has arrested the ex-wife of a shooting victim who nearly lost his life.
CAPE CORAL 3 family members of teen accused in murder of Kayla Rincon-Miller arrested New details have emerged surrounding the arrest of a woman whose 16-year-old son is accused of being involved in the murder of Kayla Rincon-Miller, and now her husband and sister are also in jail.
FORT MYERS Death investigation in Fort Myers after body is found in truck bed Fort Myers Police confirm that there is a death investigation at the corner of Market Street and brown street.
NAPLES Naples ‘celebrity bartender’ stirring up new cocktails at LoLa 41 Michael Slabach often researches ideas, finding a new balance of layers, color, texture and selective glassware to turn his drinks into art.
FORT MYERS New affordable housing program in Fort Myers begins Affordable housing is a rare sighting these days, but one city is making it a priority.
NAPLES ‘Live simply and never give up’ – Motto for Naples couple needing a helping hand A husband wants nothing more than to share the world with his wife while she is suffering from an illness determined to keep them separated.
NAPLES Music teacher dilemma at Gulf Coast High School leaves students anxious Parents are outraged, and students are unsure what the future holds after one of their two beloved music teachers was told they will have to transfer.
FORT MYERS Mom celebrates first Mother’s Day with cancer-free daughter We have one of the best weekends ahead, a time to celebrate mothers everywhere, and as any mother knows, celebrating with your family matters most.
Glades County Should commissioners have to live in the District they represent? WINK Investigates why one commissioner doesn’t The Glades District 1 Commissioner was elected while living in that district. He has since moved. What does that mean for his position?
FORT MYERS Boats stuck since Hurricane Ian being removed from Centennial Park area Boats that have been stuck since Hurricane Ian are in the process of being removed from a messy yard next to Centennial Park and Joe’s Crab Shack.
CAPE CORAL Man accused of waving knife at Metro PCS workers in Cape Coral Two women try to help a customer and end up fearing for their lives. One man started waving a seven-inch knife in the faces of two Metro PCS workers.
Overloaded circuit sparks house fire in Jamaica Bay community A Jamaica Bay community home was damaged in a fire sparked by an overloaded circuit, according to the South Trail Fire & Rescue Service District.
LEE COUNTY Could Guardian Caps make their way to high school football games? With the NFL allowing Guardian Caps during regular season games, could we see Guardian Caps during high school football games?
Florida insurer fined $1M over Hurricane Ian claims The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation issued the seven figure fine to Heritage Property and Casualty Insurance Company for violating a number of Florida laws when handling some of its Hurricane Ian- related claims.
New treatment stops essential tremors and shaking More than ten million people experience shakes known as essential tremors, which can make everyday tasks like eating and talking challenging.
NAPLES Ex-wife faces new charges for involvement in near-fatal Naples shooting The Collier County Sheriff’s Office has arrested the ex-wife of a shooting victim who nearly lost his life.
In this photo provided by the University of Maryland School of Medicine, David Bennett Jr., right, stands next to his father’s hospital bed in Baltimore, Md., on Jan. 12, 2022, five days after doctors transplanted a pig heart into Bennett Sr., in a last-ditch effort to save his life. Bennett, the first person to receive a heart transplant from a pig died Tuesday, March 8, at the University of Maryland Medical Center, two months after the groundbreaking experiment. His death was announced Wednesday.(University of Maryland School of Medicine via AP) The first person to receive a heart transplant from a pig has died, two months after the groundbreaking experiment, the Maryland hospital that performed the surgery announced Wednesday. David Bennett, 57, died Tuesday at the University of Maryland Medical Center. Doctors didn’t give an exact cause of death, saying only that his condition had begun deteriorating several days earlier. Bennett’s son praised the hospital for offering the last-ditch experiment, saying the family hoped it would help further efforts to end the organ shortage. “We are grateful for every innovative moment, every crazy dream, every sleepless night that went into this historic effort,” David Bennett Jr. said in a statement released by the University of Maryland School of Medicine. “We hope this story can be the beginning of hope and not the end.” Doctors for decades have sought to one day use animal organs for life-saving transplants. Bennett, a handyman from Hagerstown, Maryland, was a candidate for this newest attempt only because he otherwise faced certain death – ineligible for a human heart transplant, bedridden and on life support, and out of other options. After the Jan. 7 operation, Bennett’s son told The Associated Press his father knew there was no guarantee it would work. Prior attempts at such transplants — or xenotransplantation — have failed largely because patients’ bodies rapidly rejected the animal organ. This time, the Maryland surgeons used a heart from a gene-edited pig: Scientists had modified the animal to remove pig genes that trigger the hyper-fast rejection and add human genes to help the body accept the organ. At first, the pig heart was functioning, and the Maryland hospital issued periodic updates that Bennett seemed to be slowly recovering. Last month, the hospital released video of him watching the Super Bowl from his hospital bed while working with his physical therapist. Bennett survived significantly longer with the gene-edited pig heart than one of the last milestones in xenotransplantation — when Baby Fae, a dying California infant, lived 21 days with a baboon’s heart in 1984. “We are devastated by the loss of Mr. Bennett. He proved to be a brave and noble patient who fought all the way to the end,” Dr. Bartley Griffith, who performed the surgery at the Baltimore hospital, said in a statement. The need for another source of organs is huge. More than 41,000 transplants were performed in the U.S. last year, a record — including about 3,800 heart transplants. But more than 106,000 people remain on the national waiting list, thousands die every year before getting an organ and thousands more never even get added to the list, considered too much of a long shot. The Food and Drug Administration had allowed the dramatic Maryland experiment under “compassionate use” rules for emergency situations. Bennett’s doctors said he had heart failure and an irregular heartbeat, plus a history of not complying with medical instructions. He was deemed ineligible for a human heart transplant that requires strict use of immune-suppressing medicines, or the remaining alternative, an implanted heart pump. Doctors didn’t reveal the exact cause of Bennett’s death. Rejection, infection and other complications are risks for transplant recipients. But from Bennett’s experience, “we have gained invaluable insights learning that the genetically modified pig heart can function well within the human body while the immune system is adequately suppressed,” said Dr. Muhammad Mohiuddin, scientific director of the Maryland university’s animal-to-human transplant program. One next question is whether scientists have learned enough from Bennett’s experience and some other recent experiments with gene-edited pig organs to persuade the FDA to allow a clinical trial – possibly with an organ such as a kidney that isn’t immediately fatal if it fails. Twice last fall, surgeons at New York University got permission from the families of deceased individuals to temporarily attach a gene-edited pig kidney to blood vessels outside the body and watch them work before ending life support. And surgeons at the University of Alabama at Birmingham went a step further, transplanting a pair of gene-edited pig kidneys into a brain-dead man in a step-by-step rehearsal for an operation they hope to try in living patients possibly later this year. Pigs have long been used in human medicine, including pigskin grafts and implantation of pig heart valves. But transplanting entire organs is much more complex than using highly processed tissue. The gene-edited pigs used in these experiments were provided by Revivicor, a subsidiary of United Therapeutics, one of several biotech companies in the running to develop suitable pig organs for potential human transplant.