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.
Donefor, SWFL band performing at the Ranch on 2-10-24. CREDIT: Tori Silva A Southwest Florida band has surpassed 100,000 streams on Spotify for their anthemic “You’re Welcome,” which was mastered by a two-time Grammy award-winning engineer. DONEFOR is a pop-punk metalcore quintet based in Fort Myers and founded by former Florida Gulf Coast University students. Frontman Parker Shogren, also a teacher, started the band. Once he had songs recorded, he signed up for Eagle Radio Music Festival in 2022, an FGCU-centric concert where any accepted bands can perform on the library lawn in the heart of campus. Though Shogren had recorded songs, he didn’t have a band, so he assembled a few fellow classmates. The next thing he knew, he was fronting a band. “It was probably the coolest feeling in my life,” said Shogren, “because it was just all my friends and everyone, and that was always something I wanted to chase, and then we ended up with all the music I had written, and I’m like, OK, let’s just write it as a band.” It took the band just over a year to release their breakout hit, “You’re Welcome,” released in March of 2023. The song ended up making their album, “Sleep on It,” released in August of 2023. The song ended up making it onto local radios and soon amassed 100,000 streams on Spotify. Shogren credits the song’s success to support from local radio stations and even Grammy award-winning music engineer Vlado Meller. Meller has mastered songs for the Beastie Boys, Johnny Cash, Celine Dion, Michael Jackson, Paul McCartney, Pink Floyd, Shakira, Weezer, Metallica and many more. “It was really cool as an accomplishment that people are actually listening and enjoying a song, which is something that is kind of hard to do in today’s music world,” he said. “Because there’s so much content and music out there that people aren’t necessarily looking for it. You’ve got to find it and throw it at them.” DONEFOR plays “You’re Welcome” at shows all across SWFL, particularly in venues such as Ollie’s Pub and the Ranch. The “Sleep on It” album release party was held at Ollie’s in 2023. To Shogren, “You’re Welcome” is DONEFOR’s anthem, which can be traced to its catchy hook and familiar pop-punk sound. It’s one of the many songs played at their show at The Ranch in Fort Myers on Feb. 10. Donefor, SWFL band performing at The Ranch in Fort Myers on 2-10-24. CREDIT: Tori Silva Being a band in SWFL Shogren noted the difficulties of being a band in SWFL. He stated the struggle of getting a promoter for local music here and how DONEFOR took matters into their own hands and became their own promoter. “Years ago, we stopped relying on promoters or venues to try to get us. We said we’re going to make the venue, we’re going to make the shows, and we would promote it ourselves,” he said. He said that being a local band in Southwest Florida, you have to fight for your spot. “You’ve got to be able to really be able to show that you’re a quality band first of all and that you’re able to sell an experience or give an experience to people that they’re going to remember,” he said. DONEFOR tries to play shows all across the state, but Shogren said it’s difficult for local bands to earn their stripes. “It’s hard to land these national shows because they want to bring bands from other things. Especially in Orlando, they’ll take the opening bands there that live in Orlando, but down here, they’ll take bands from other states and bring them down, so local bands here don’t even get the chance to be a local band and an opening spot anymore. It’s a small market,” he said. He also said that a local band’s success isn’t just measured by the music but by the ability to promote shows and songs on social media while selling and restocking merch and making sure the band can come together and practice in between work and life responsibilities. He said that the band has members scattered throughout SWFL and even one who lives in Jupiter who commutes to shows and practices. Despite difficulties, Shogren believes that the local music scene has strengthened over the past few years and is optimistic for its future. Donefor, SWFL band after performing at the Ranch on 2-10-24. CREDIT: Tori Silva The band’s future Shogren wants to continue to play shows in SWFL and all over the state but also expand DONEFOR’s reach and recognition. “The idea is to be based out of Southwest Florida and East Florida and to branch out to other areas a little bit more,” he said. “We’ve played shows and Broward, Orlando, Tampa, in West Palm and that little radius. We hope to keep pushing out and find shows that are worth it.” An example is Sunfest. DONEFOR is in a competition right now to get a show at the music festival in West Palm Beach. The competition hopes to give a local band a chance to open at the festival (Click here to vote). “The idea is to branch out, especially [with] new music, and try to reach out to new fans in person online, through newspapers and news interviews,” Shogren said. Shogren believes the best way to find bands is to expand your outlook and explore what Southwest Florida has to offer. “We can do a call to action for people to go out and see the local bands because there’s a lot of talent,” he said, “support these local businesses that help support these local bands is so important and helps people get their dreams,” he said. To learn more about upcoming local shows, click here. Click here to learn more about DONEFOR.