Punta Gorda church celebrates Pastor’s 45 years of serviceShift Coffee Bar in Fort Myers hosts annual Valentine’s Day Party
PUNTA GORDA Punta Gorda church celebrates Pastor’s 45 years of service The First Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church in Punta Gorda is alive with celebration as they honor a legacy of leadership.
FORT MYERS Shift Coffee Bar in Fort Myers hosts annual Valentine’s Day Party Shift Coffee Bar in Fort Myers held their annual Valentine’s Day pop-up/anniversary event on Sunday morning.
PUNTA GORDA Road rage leads to gunfire near US 41 bridge in Punta Gorda A road rage incident near the Gilchrist Bridge in Punta Gorda led to shots being fired, according to the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office.
the weather authority Warm, breezy day with evening rain ahead of a slight cold front The Weather Authority says Sunday is starting off warm across Southwest Florida with overnight lows in the upper 60s and 70s, staying warm throughout the day before a cold front sweeps south later this evening.
FORT MYERS Edison Festival parade lights up Fort Myers with floats and bands The Edison Festival parade was a spectacle of lights and sounds, drawing crowds to celebrate the legacy of Thomas Edison.
CAPE CORAL Goth Gala for the Forlorn; How the alt scene honored Valentine’s Day Love Your Rebellion hosted the Goth Gala for the Forlorn at Nice Guys Pizza in Cape Coral on Friday night.
FORT MYERS Fort Myers gears up for Edison Festival parade; road closures in place Downtown Fort Myers is buzzing with excitement as the Edison Festival of Light Parade is set to begin.
the weather authority Near-record heat with sun and clouds for your Saturday The Weather Authority says the above-normal temperatures that Southwest Florida has been experiencing will stick around yet again for Saturday.
LEE COUNTY Savannah Bananas bring fun on the diamond at JetBlue Park The Savannah Bananas amazed and entertained a sold out JetBlue Park Friday night for the first time in Southwest Florida.
CAPE CORAL Caught on Camera: Cape Coral mailbox hit by drifting car A Cape Coral homeowner was left in shock after a car sent her mailbox flying through the air and left tire tracks next to her home.
ARCADIA DeSoto County man sentenced for deadly DUI crash Justice for a mother and son killed by a man driving under the influence.
NAPLES Oldest Black-owned business in SWFL continues to serve community Cleveland Bass Movers, founded in 1969, stands as the oldest Black-owned business in Southwest Florida.
FORT MYERS BEACH Broken gate on Lovers Key Beach Resort frustrating residents Residents of Lover’s Key Beach Club in Fort Myers Beach are frustrated with a gate that remains wide open, despite “No Trespassing” signs, since Hurricane Ian struck two years ago.
St. James City Church plans $700k flood-proofing project for future safety Hurricanes have caused flood after flood, and one island church, The First Baptist Church of Saint James City, wants to build higher.
Romance scams rise in the US, AARP warns residents to beware Romance scams are on the rise, with the Federal Trade Commission reporting over 64,000 cases in the U.S. in 2023.
PUNTA GORDA Punta Gorda church celebrates Pastor’s 45 years of service The First Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church in Punta Gorda is alive with celebration as they honor a legacy of leadership.
FORT MYERS Shift Coffee Bar in Fort Myers hosts annual Valentine’s Day Party Shift Coffee Bar in Fort Myers held their annual Valentine’s Day pop-up/anniversary event on Sunday morning.
PUNTA GORDA Road rage leads to gunfire near US 41 bridge in Punta Gorda A road rage incident near the Gilchrist Bridge in Punta Gorda led to shots being fired, according to the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office.
the weather authority Warm, breezy day with evening rain ahead of a slight cold front The Weather Authority says Sunday is starting off warm across Southwest Florida with overnight lows in the upper 60s and 70s, staying warm throughout the day before a cold front sweeps south later this evening.
FORT MYERS Edison Festival parade lights up Fort Myers with floats and bands The Edison Festival parade was a spectacle of lights and sounds, drawing crowds to celebrate the legacy of Thomas Edison.
CAPE CORAL Goth Gala for the Forlorn; How the alt scene honored Valentine’s Day Love Your Rebellion hosted the Goth Gala for the Forlorn at Nice Guys Pizza in Cape Coral on Friday night.
FORT MYERS Fort Myers gears up for Edison Festival parade; road closures in place Downtown Fort Myers is buzzing with excitement as the Edison Festival of Light Parade is set to begin.
the weather authority Near-record heat with sun and clouds for your Saturday The Weather Authority says the above-normal temperatures that Southwest Florida has been experiencing will stick around yet again for Saturday.
LEE COUNTY Savannah Bananas bring fun on the diamond at JetBlue Park The Savannah Bananas amazed and entertained a sold out JetBlue Park Friday night for the first time in Southwest Florida.
CAPE CORAL Caught on Camera: Cape Coral mailbox hit by drifting car A Cape Coral homeowner was left in shock after a car sent her mailbox flying through the air and left tire tracks next to her home.
ARCADIA DeSoto County man sentenced for deadly DUI crash Justice for a mother and son killed by a man driving under the influence.
NAPLES Oldest Black-owned business in SWFL continues to serve community Cleveland Bass Movers, founded in 1969, stands as the oldest Black-owned business in Southwest Florida.
FORT MYERS BEACH Broken gate on Lovers Key Beach Resort frustrating residents Residents of Lover’s Key Beach Club in Fort Myers Beach are frustrated with a gate that remains wide open, despite “No Trespassing” signs, since Hurricane Ian struck two years ago.
St. James City Church plans $700k flood-proofing project for future safety Hurricanes have caused flood after flood, and one island church, The First Baptist Church of Saint James City, wants to build higher.
Romance scams rise in the US, AARP warns residents to beware Romance scams are on the rise, with the Federal Trade Commission reporting over 64,000 cases in the U.S. in 2023.
240 Ledge. (Credit: Dr. James Douglass, associate professor of marine science at the Water School at FGCU) A week-long voyage in the Gulf of Mexico has come to an end. Scientists aboard the Hogarth research vessel traveled south from St. Pete to Collier County to study Hurricane Ian’s impact on the Gulf. “Every time I went there, this was one of my favorite places to go dive in Southwest Florida,” said Cole Tillman, a marine science student in the Water School at Florida Gulf Coast University. “I was always excited to come out here.” There is a reef approximately 25 miles off Fort Myers Beach in the Gulf of Mexico called 240 Ledge. Tillman has dove this reef nearly two dozen times. 240 Ledge. (Credit: Dr. James Douglass, associate professor of marine science at the Water School at FGCU) “It was this really lush reef. It had a great abundance of soft corals, hard corals,” said Tillman. Dr. James Douglass, an associate professor of marine science at the Water School at FGCU, provided shared photos of 240 Ledge from before Hurricane Ian. It is one of many areas he’s studied. 240 Ledge before Hurricane Ian. (Credit: Dr. James Douglass, associate professor of marine science at the Water School at FGCU) “One of the reasons that we’re monitoring the sea bottom life is we want to see how it changes when there’s a disturbance like a red tide or, in this case, a hurricane happened to happen in the middle of our study, so we’re really interested to see how that affected the life,” said Douglass. 240 Ledge after Hurricane Ian. (Credit: Dr. James Douglass, associate professor of marine science at the Water School at FGCU) The life, as you can see from the photo above, taken by Douglass three weeks after Ian hit, is hurting. “There were just a few survivors from among that diverse community that was there before peaking their heads out of the muck,” Douglass said. “I was excited to be able to go down there since we were worried about the conditions before, but I wasn’t too excited about what we saw. It was very beat up down there, it almost looked like the moon.” A thick layer of clay-like mud now smothers the sea floor. Hard corals at 240 Ledge were completely wiped away. “One of the strangest things down there was this ledge that the site is named after was almost gone because the mud had filled in on the other side of the ledge,” said Douglass. They did spot a few fish down there, a positive sign, but a lot of native species were gone. That absence has allowed invasive species like the lionfish to move in. Invasive Lionfish on 240 Ledge. (Credit: Dr. James Douglass, associate professor of marine science at the Water School at FGCU) “It’s going to take mother nature a long time to rebuild. I don’t know how long. That’s what we’re trying to find out, actually. Could be decades, could be years, I don’t know,” said Tillman. “What we hope is in the meantime we don’t get any further after effects to the storm like algae blooms because if we have this physical disturbance of the waves and the burial in mud and then we have algae blooms afterwards that can really be a knockout punch for the life down there,” Douglass said. If the water quality improves, it could help chart the path toward recovery.