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.
As Black History Month begins in 2023, people who live in the Dunbar community say they’ve come a long way, but there’s more to do. Keoshia Brown, a science teacher at Dunbar High School, has a message for Black parents and anyone else who wants to listen. “We are Black history, I am Black history, and it is our responsibility to make sure we remember it and we discuss it and talk about it and teach our children,” Brown said. “You don’t send your Black child to school to learn about Black history. Wake up.” Marian Smallwood Jackson believes that to understand the present state of the Black community, you have to talk to those who lived Black history themselves. “I was born in 1948, and I remember it so well, and during that time we didn’t have any paved streets—it was all dirt road,” Jackson said. Jackson grew up in Dunbar and used to shop in the stores that lined Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard drive in the 50s, long before it even bore that name. “Growing up, that was my store,” Jackson said. “But when I was younger, that was Mom and Melvin’s store. They always carried me there because they had the fine stuff. I remember so well. And I can see them right now in the back there, trying on those beautiful dresses.” People like Charles Barnes, who grew up watching his father patrol the streets of Dunbar in the 60s and now chairs the Lee County Black History Society, feel it’s their mission is to save and preserve places like the ones Jackson remembers. “It was the first school building that was government-funded to educate Black kids in Lee County, but it actually served the three surrounding counties,” Barnes said. Neighbors so engrained in Dunbar’s past and its present can point out what’s changed for better and for worse. “We didn’t have Black politicians; now we have three Black politicians sitting on city council,” Barnes said. “In my time, you didn’t hear no shooting and carrying on and people hating each other and trying to bring harm; you could leave your screen doors open at that time, ’cause we had screen doors back in the old days,” Jackson said. “Everybody knew each other, and we loved each other, but now, oh my God.” What’s next? What needs to change going forward? Keoshia Brown has an idea. “If you don’t have the necessities, if you don’t have shelter, if you don’t have food, if you don’t have health insurance, you don’t have transportation, you can’t do anything,” Brown said. “You can’t really expect much, so until we fix that first, we really don’t have much of a foundation to build on.” The people of Dunbar believe it’s going to take the lessons of the past and the people of the present to lay that foundation for the future. “We can see this community moving up: There’s a project in this park that we are behind as far as a Black cultural center,” Barnes said. “We want to expand what we’re teaching and what we’re doing.” “My parents always say, ‘Keoshia, you can’t save ’em all,'” Brown said. “‘If you save one, then you’ve done your job.’ But I’m like, ‘One is not good enough; one is not good enough. I wanna save all of them.'”