Michael Braun
Managing editorMike Braun is formerly with the Fort Myers News-Press and Naples Daily News where he worked for 17 years as a page designer/copy editor and breaking news reporter.
He also worked for 25 years at The Vindicator in Youngstown, Ohio, serving as a general assignment reporter, rewrite editor, copy editor, Sunday edition editor, outdoors columnist, designer and chief of the design desk.
He graduated in 1977 with a degree in media communications from Youngstown State University where he was editor-in-chief of the school newspaper, The Jambar.
He lives in Fort Myers and is originally from Peoria, Illinois.
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A handful of protestors lined South Cleveland Avenue near Daniels Parkway Saturday in opposition to U.S. war activity in Iran. -
The size and scope of the wildfire that's been burning in the Big Cypress National Preserve for over a week took a small step back Friday with a reduction in fire area and a small increase in containment. Better mapping helped make those changes and placed the National Fire at 35,027 acres burned and at 67 percent contained by late Friday, according to a press briefing issued by the command structure of the wildfire. That was about 300 fewer acres and three percent more containment. -
The carcass of an eagle was recovered a little more than a mile from the North Fort Myers nest on Friday morning. There's no information yet from authorities if the dead raptor found was the missing female eagle F23. -
Fifty-Eight manatee deaths have been recorded in Lee County since Jan. 1 this year, the majority of those coming since the period of frigid weather hit Southwest Florida according to the final report regarding the recent mass death of manatees in Lee County and made Wednesday by the Florida Fish & Wildlife Commission. -
The Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park‘s Big Cypress Bend Boardwalk Expansion project came about after the walkway was damaged by Hurricane Ian and closed in 2022. Reconstruction began in 2024 and it reopened in late 2025. An official ribbon-cutting ceremony for the reopened boardwalk was held at the Collier County-sited park Saturday. -
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission examination of recent large-scale manatee deaths in Lee County said a shutdown of a power plant near the canal the animals use for warmth could be a mitigating factor in the deaths. -
The Florida Department of Health dashboard reports 66 measles cases in Collier County and one in Lee County from the beginning of the year until Feb. 14, which is the latest data they are making public. Statewide that number for the same period is 92. -
Reports of at least 25 dead manatees in Lee County have been received by Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission officials. A statement from the FWC says that they recently received an increase in reports of deceased manatees in the Orange River and surrounding areas of Fort Myers. -
Three hurricanes in two years took a toll on Florida Gulf Coast University's Vester Field Station. But, that's all behind the research and classroom facility now, it reopened Monday, February 16, and is ready to resume operations. -
Collier County Sheriff's Office units have responded to a report of a small, private plane seen in the water in the Everglades.
