Charlotte Correctional prisoner arrested for death of another inmateConstruction near Dairy Queen eagle nest on Sanibel raises concerns
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.
Lee County Parks & Recreation to offer free parking this weekend for certain locations Lee County Parks & Recreation sites offering free swimming or free parking this weekend to include parks, beaches and boat ramps.
Tim Aten Knows: Construction expanding Shoppes at Vanderbilt in North Naples Two outparcel buildings under construction simultaneously on the north and west side of the CVS pharmacy at Airport-Pulling and Vanderbilt Beach roads will have new spaces for restaurants, stores and a variety of additional service concepts at the Galleria Shoppes at Vanderbilt, said P.J. Hill, leasing manager for the sprawling retail center in North Naples.
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.
Lee County Parks & Recreation to offer free parking this weekend for certain locations Lee County Parks & Recreation sites offering free swimming or free parking this weekend to include parks, beaches and boat ramps.
Tim Aten Knows: Construction expanding Shoppes at Vanderbilt in North Naples Two outparcel buildings under construction simultaneously on the north and west side of the CVS pharmacy at Airport-Pulling and Vanderbilt Beach roads will have new spaces for restaurants, stores and a variety of additional service concepts at the Galleria Shoppes at Vanderbilt, said P.J. Hill, leasing manager for the sprawling retail center in North Naples.
FILE – Pill Mann” made by Frank Huntley of Worcester, Mass., from his opioid prescription pill bottles, is displayed during a protest by advocates for opioid victims outside the Department of Justice, on Dec. 3, 2021, in Washington. Many families left heartbroken by opioid overdoses and addictions have been waiting for years to be able to tell another family – the Sacklers – about the damage their company, Purdue Pharma, did. Their chance arrives Thursday, March 10, 2022, in a federal court hearing to be conducted by video, during what could be the end of a long legal odyssey that will allow Purdue and the Sacklers to settle thousands of lawsuits. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File) Their advocacy helped send Purdue Pharma into bankruptcy and is forcing the family that has controlled the company for generations to relinquish ownership and provide billions of dollars for communities to combat opioid addiction. But what victims of opioid abuse and those who have lost loved ones to America’s long battle with addiction have wanted most was a chance to confront members of the Sackler family, who they blame for touching off a crisis that has cost some 500,000 lives over the past two decades. On Thursday, some of them will finally get their chance. In a hearing that will be virtual but is certain to be packed with emotion, roughly 20 people whose lives and families have been wracked by opioid abuse will give statements in U.S. Bankruptcy Court with some members of the Sackler family listening. They are likely to tell about the pain of losing children after years of trying to get them adequate treatment, about their own journeys through addiction and about caring for babies born into withdrawal and screaming in pain. The forum is an unconventional hearing for the White Plains, New York, courtroom of Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain, who on Wednesday gave tentative approval to key elements of a plan to settle thousands of lawsuits against the company. “No one can possibly underestimate how historic (Thursday’s) session will be,” Arik Preis, a lawyer representing Purdue’s creditors, told the judge Wednesday. The settlement agreement is estimated to be worth at least $10 billion over time. It calls for members of the Sackler family to contribute $5.5 billion to $6 billion over 17 years to fight the opioid crisis. That’s an increase of more than $1 billion over a previous version that was rejected by another judge on appeal. Most of the money would be used for efforts to combat the crisis, but $750 million would go directly to victims or their survivors. The overall settlement, which still requires actions by multiple courts to take effect, provides more than $150 million for Native American tribes and over $100 million for medical monitoring and payments for children born in withdrawal from opioids. As the settlement was hashed out with a mediator, the terms went beyond money. The plan also calls for family members to give up ownership of the company so it could become a new entity with its profits dedicated to stemming the epidemic. In exchange, Sackler family members would get protection from civil lawsuits over opioids. The family also agreed not to oppose any efforts to remove the Sackler name from cultural and educational institutions they have supported and to make public a larger cache of company documents. The mediator, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Shelley Chapman, also recommended the virtual hearing to be attended by at least two members of the Sackler family. The hearing is to last two hours. Drain said members of the Sackler family and others will not be given a chance to respond to the statements from the group of victims selected to speak by lawyers for creditors in the case. Some of the victims will address the Sacklers from a law office in New York; others will be at their homes in communities across the U.S. It has not yet been made public which Sacklers will attend the hearing or which victims will give statements. The hearing may be the closest thing to a trial for Sackler family members, who victims say helped spark and prolong the epidemic through the marketing of their signature painkiller OxyContin. It’s a crisis that has grown deadlier in recent years, driven largely by deaths from illicit forms of the potent synthetic opioid fentanyl. It’s not the first time for family members to appear in public venues dedicated to Purdue’s role in the opioid crisis. Two testified before a congressional subcommittee in 2020 and some were part of a virtual Purdue bankruptcy hearing last year. Sackler family members have expressed regret for the crisis, but they’ve never offered an unequivocal apology. Last week, they released a statement saying in part, “While the families have acted lawfully in all respects, they sincerely regret that OxyContin, a prescription medicine that continues to help people suffering from chronic pain, unexpectedly became part of an opioid crisis that has brought grief and loss to far too many families and communities.” Purdue Pharma started selling OxyContin, a pioneering extended-release prescription painkiller, in 1996. At the same time, Purdue and other drug companies were funding efforts to get doctors and other prescribers to think differently about opioids – suggesting they be used for some pain conditions in which the potent drugs were previously considered off-limits. Over the decades, there were waves of fatal overdoses — first associated with prescription drugs and then, as prescriptions became harder to obtain and some drugs became harder to manipulate for a quick high, from heroin. More recently, fentanyl and similar drugs have become the biggest killer. Purdue has twice pleaded guilty to criminal charges, but no members of the Sackler family have been charged with crimes. There are no indications that any such charges are forthcoming, although seven U.S. senators last month asked the Department of Justice to consider charges. Other drugmakers, distributors, marketers and pharmacies involved in the opioid industry have faced similar lawsuits from state and local governments, Native American tribes and other entities. Last month, drugmaker Johnson & Johnson and wholesalers AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson announced they were finalizing settlements worth a combined $26 billion. As in the proposed Purdue settlement, most of that money is required to be used to fight the crisis.