FL researchers testing Zika virus to fight childhood brain cancerCommunity Redevelopment Agency seeks public input for Cleveland Avenue project
FL researchers testing Zika virus to fight childhood brain cancer Neuroblastoma is one of the deadliest childhood cancers. Now, a team of researchers out of Nemours Children’s Hospital in Orlando are taking a novel approach to wipe out disease. Their studies involve the use of the Zika virus.
FORT MYERS Community Redevelopment Agency seeks public input for Cleveland Avenue project Mayor Kevin Anderson said Tuesday was an opportunity for the Community Redevelopment Agency and leaders to hear what the public thinks this redevelopment should look like.
FGCU professor agrees with US Surgeon General: gun violence is a public health crisis Gun violence: We’ve seen it here firsthand in southwest Florida. Many agree gun violence is a growing problem in the United States. Now, the U.S. Surgeon General is calling it a crisis.
Charlotte County Charlotte County now requiring condo and co-op inspections for building 25-years or older On the 3-year anniversary of the Champlain Towers South building collapse in Surfside, FL, many look to remember those lost and continue to learn from the tragedy.
FORT MYERS A third diamond interchange on its way to Southwest Florida The third iteration of a construction project that strikes fear into some drivers could be a tell-tell sign about the trends of Southwest Florida.
NAPLES Naples practice comes under fire from a former employee A Naples dermatology practice acknowledges it had issues when it first opened two years ago but says those issues are now behind them.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral hosts more FEMA hearings Red tags are rearing their ugly head. Cape Coral homeowners who were slapped with these tags and found non-compliant with city code permits are back to defend themselves.
4 local music shows to choose from in one day If you’re an indecisive local music fan, Friday will be a tough day for you.
FORT MYERS Walt Wesley Way unveiled in honor of local legend Take a drive down Lincoln Blvd. in Fort Myers and you will notice above the street sign is another that reads ‘Honorary Walt Wesley Way.’
LABELLE Man reunited with dog after she appears in LaBelle 2 years after disappearing in Maryland A man has been reunited with his dog after she went missing for two years and many states away.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA Several brands of ice cream, a variety of products, recalled for possible Listeria contamination Several brands of ice cream sold at Southwest Florida grocery stores are part of a massive nationwide recall involving 14 brands.
ARCADIA Arcadia man arrested after allegedly going on perversion spree A man in Arcadia has been arrested after police say he exposed himself to a minor and took photos of a woman wearing a skirt as she shopped.
FORT MYERS Hear from the candidates running for the next superintendent of Lee County Schools For the first time since the 1970s, Lee County voters will vote for the next superintendent of Lee County Schools. When you cast your ballot on November 5, either Victor Arias or Denise Carlin will become the elected superintendent of Lee County Schools to serve a 4-year term ending in 2028.
Police report: witnesses say fatal Firestone tire explosion caused by overinflation The Cape Coral Police Department has released its report regarding a tire explosion that killed a man at a Firestone garage on Sunday.
ALVA Neal Communities faces local opposition over Alva development On Tuesday, Neal Communities of Southwest Florida, Inc. held a public meeting to discuss their application for the Owl Creek Community.
FL researchers testing Zika virus to fight childhood brain cancer Neuroblastoma is one of the deadliest childhood cancers. Now, a team of researchers out of Nemours Children’s Hospital in Orlando are taking a novel approach to wipe out disease. Their studies involve the use of the Zika virus.
FORT MYERS Community Redevelopment Agency seeks public input for Cleveland Avenue project Mayor Kevin Anderson said Tuesday was an opportunity for the Community Redevelopment Agency and leaders to hear what the public thinks this redevelopment should look like.
FGCU professor agrees with US Surgeon General: gun violence is a public health crisis Gun violence: We’ve seen it here firsthand in southwest Florida. Many agree gun violence is a growing problem in the United States. Now, the U.S. Surgeon General is calling it a crisis.
Charlotte County Charlotte County now requiring condo and co-op inspections for building 25-years or older On the 3-year anniversary of the Champlain Towers South building collapse in Surfside, FL, many look to remember those lost and continue to learn from the tragedy.
FORT MYERS A third diamond interchange on its way to Southwest Florida The third iteration of a construction project that strikes fear into some drivers could be a tell-tell sign about the trends of Southwest Florida.
NAPLES Naples practice comes under fire from a former employee A Naples dermatology practice acknowledges it had issues when it first opened two years ago but says those issues are now behind them.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral hosts more FEMA hearings Red tags are rearing their ugly head. Cape Coral homeowners who were slapped with these tags and found non-compliant with city code permits are back to defend themselves.
4 local music shows to choose from in one day If you’re an indecisive local music fan, Friday will be a tough day for you.
FORT MYERS Walt Wesley Way unveiled in honor of local legend Take a drive down Lincoln Blvd. in Fort Myers and you will notice above the street sign is another that reads ‘Honorary Walt Wesley Way.’
LABELLE Man reunited with dog after she appears in LaBelle 2 years after disappearing in Maryland A man has been reunited with his dog after she went missing for two years and many states away.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA Several brands of ice cream, a variety of products, recalled for possible Listeria contamination Several brands of ice cream sold at Southwest Florida grocery stores are part of a massive nationwide recall involving 14 brands.
ARCADIA Arcadia man arrested after allegedly going on perversion spree A man in Arcadia has been arrested after police say he exposed himself to a minor and took photos of a woman wearing a skirt as she shopped.
FORT MYERS Hear from the candidates running for the next superintendent of Lee County Schools For the first time since the 1970s, Lee County voters will vote for the next superintendent of Lee County Schools. When you cast your ballot on November 5, either Victor Arias or Denise Carlin will become the elected superintendent of Lee County Schools to serve a 4-year term ending in 2028.
Police report: witnesses say fatal Firestone tire explosion caused by overinflation The Cape Coral Police Department has released its report regarding a tire explosion that killed a man at a Firestone garage on Sunday.
ALVA Neal Communities faces local opposition over Alva development On Tuesday, Neal Communities of Southwest Florida, Inc. held a public meeting to discuss their application for the Owl Creek Community.
Photo by Ryutaro Tsukata on Pexels.com Sold as children’s toys and some resembling candy, water beads are colorful, water-absorbing balls. Yet the products can also be hazardous to young children and even potentially deadly if swallowed as they can grow many times their size once inside a child’s body, advocates and a federal agency warn. That’s why parents and the chair of the Consumer Products Safety Commission are backing a congressman’s plan to propose legislation banning water beads marketed for kids. Often bought for older siblings, expanded water beads have been found in the stomachs, intestines, ears, noses and even lungs of infants and toddlers, Consumer Reports said in a recent report. CPSC estimates there have been 4,500 visits to hospital emergency rooms due to water beads since 2017. “Confusion and terror” Among those ER visits was one in 2017 involving Ashley Haugen’s infant daughter, Kipley. “I remember sitting in the waiting room, drenched in Kipley’s vomit, a mix of confusion and terror engulfing me,” Haugen, a resident of San Antonio, Texas, and founder of That Water Bead Lady, an advocacy group, said Monday at a news conference organized to rally support for the proposed bill from Rep. Frank Pallone, D., New Jersey. “The source of her ailment? Water beads, the seemingly harmless birthday gift we bought for her older sister’s 6th birthday. Unbeknownst to us, the bead material silently wreaked havoc inside Kipley’s small body for over 70 days.” Kipley survived, but the incident required surgery and extensive post-operative care. The bill, set to be introduced this week by Pallone, is the quickest way to protect children nationwide, according to Consumer Reports and the CPSC, which has issued public warnings about water beads and recalled multiple products. “Walmart, Amazon and Target, all sell these things in various forms,” Pallone said Monday outside the Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, New Jersey. “We did a recent search on Amazon and we got 3,000 results, so it’s very widespread.” “No warnings are going to be enough, they have to be banned,” he added. A slew of children’s toy sets and related products with water beads were available for sale at all three of the retailer’s sites, as well those of other toy sellers, CBS MoneyWatch found. “Children, as you all know, love to put things in their mouth, and once it reaches the stomach it can cause obstruction, and that is if they are lucky — once it reaches the small bowel, that’s a major operation,” Dr. Harpreet Pall, chair of pediatrics at Hackensack Meridian Health K. Hovnanian Children’s Hospital, said at the news conference. Water beads are also problematic in that because they are not metallic, they are more difficult to detect in x-rays, Pall noted. Baby’s death Another parent who spoke at the event described her baby’s death on July 7. “I walked into the unimaginable,” Taylor Bethard said in describing walking into her 10-month-old daughter’s room one morning. “My baby wasn’t breathing, she had no pulse, my kids watched as I screamed in terror and began CPR,” Bethard said. “Our sweet Esther Jo is gone all because of a toy.” A third mother described the stress of knowing that toys that hurt their children remain on the market. “Imagine the anxiety of going into the store and seeing these types of products, water beads, that you know are deadly sitting on the shelf directly targeting families and children,” Folichia Mitchell, of Berwick, Maine, whose daughter Kennedy was seriously injured by water beads in November 2022. Regulatory steps that can be taken by CPSC to prevent water beads from being on store shelves could take years and still face court challenges, CPSC Chair Alex Hoehn-Saric told the gathering. “Legislation is a much more direct way. It puts in protections much more quickly and definitely,” he said.