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.
Bay County leaders might be some of the few people who understand what it’s like to have a monster hurricane slam into their community. They experienced a lof of the things that Southwest Florida experienced during Ian when Category 5 Hurricane Michael hit their coast. Within weeks of Hurricane Ian, Bay County officials traveled to Lee County to see what the hurricane did. The Sanibel Causeway was gone. The same thing happened to Highway 98, which runs through Mexico Beach. The only way off the beach was blanketed by trees. When Hurricane Michael ripped through the panhandle in 2018, Griff Griffitts was a Bay County commissioner. Now, he serves as a representative in the Florida House. “You, you learn from your mistakes, and you try to teach the people that are going through it after you, what the pitfalls were, what we did, right what we did wrong,” Griffitts said. His first tip: Make a record of everything. “The people in southwest Florida started paying attention,” he said. ” Make sure every meeting is documented, whether handwritten notes or audio notes, because a lot of times people forget what they say. “I think Michael had been largely forgotten.” After Hurricane Michael hit, the national media was there for a week, and then they were gone. “We don’t have a very large population where Hurricane Michael hit,” Griffitts said. “The eight affected counties is probably less than a million people. Where, you know, Lee, Charlotte, Hillsborough, there’s millions of people down there.” While the population is different, Bay County Manager Bob Majka said to look at the debris. “Everywhere you look, trees were down,” Majka said. “Most of the debris field was the result of trees coming down. So kind of different than what happened in South Florida with Ian, where you had what I would call more structural damage.” A lot of the structural damage came from the massive storm surge. In some places, it was from 15 to 18 feet. “These large vessels and ships and boats that are all on your streets. And you got to notify all these people before you can touch them, you know, you would think you just push them out of the way and open doors or open the road, but you can’t. So that was the difference,” said Bay County Commissioner Robert Carroll. In Bay County, they got rid of all of the debris in 10 months. In Southwest Florida, it’s unclear when all the debris, boats and cars submerged because of Ian will be hauled away. More than four years later, Bay County is still in recovery mode. Griffitts said the first lesson is “it’s a very long process.” “Recovery is not quick. It takes years. Two, you got to have a lot of patience,” he added. “It’s about helping each other everyone come together, come to the table and help each other out,” Carroll said. After Michael, Bay County created a recovery task force. They had a representative from every city, the school district, the county and other community leaders. Together they devised a plan and then asked FEMA for reimbursement. That’s the kind of advice Bay County passed on to Lee County.