Pam James

This spring, The Water School at FGCU deployed a new artificial reef complex eight miles off shore from the county line between Collier and Lee. While WGCU is producing a documentary about the reef and the scientific research it hopes to study, we will keep our friends informed of the progress of the reef and the documentary with Dispatches from Kimberly’s Reef. Here is the second dispatch which tells the story of the creation of the reef complex from cement culverts donated by Oldcastle Infrastructure in Cape Coral.

A unique classroom is literally growing beneath the waves off the coast of Florida. In the Gulf of Mexico, seven and a half miles due west of Bonita Beach and 30 feet below the surface grows Kimberly's Reef, an artificial reef complex created by The Water School at Florida Gulf Coast University. WGCU is producing a documentary about the reef and the planned scientific research around it. In the meantime, WGCU’s Pam James will keep folks informed of progress on the reef and the documentary with the occasional "Dispatch from Kimberly’s Reef." Here is the first.

The group called The SanCap Citizens for a Resilient Future held a third townhall on Monday, May 15, on Sanibel. The focus this time was to assess the emergency response on the islands and the lessons learned after Hurricane Ian. Two themes emerged: pivot and evacuation.

Weather dictates much of what we are able to do outside in Florida. Storm events, like Hurricane Ian, obviously cause major disruptions. But even an off-shore breeze can prevent a job on the water from being done. That was the next hurdle when it came to deploying FGCU’s newest artificial reef in the Gulf of Mexico.

Resiliency is the focus for the three town halls sponsored by the SanCap Citizens for a Resilient Future. The first townhall in March featured dramatic personal experiences of surviving the storm. The second townhall in April centered on how well the environment held up and how it possibly helped mitigate storm damage. A third townhall is scheduled for Monday, May 22 at Big Arts on Sanibel, with a focus on the emergency response.

Bob Dylan walked out of a dress rehearsal of the Ed Sullivan Show on May 12, 1963 when CBS lawyers prohibited him from singing the song of the day, "Talkin' John Birch Paranoid Blues."

Bailey Matthews National Shell Museum on Sanibel reopened to the public on February 1st after Hurricane Ian shut the island down for months. Now, alongside their popular shell displays, is another unique and interactive exhibit.

Gilbert Green is not an ordinary storm chaser. A software engineering major at Florida Gulf Coast University, who is also minoring in physics and mathematics, Green spent the summer of 2022 chasing and photographing lightning around Southwest Florida.

As the barrier islands of Sanibel and Captiva continue to assess the damage to homes and businesses after Hurricane Ian, some community organizations and concerned citizens have joined to create the SanCap Citizens for a Resilient Future. Their goal is to spark conversations on how to rebuild on the islands so that structures and people can become more resilient for future storms. The group recently hosted the first of two formal gatherings .

Karen Moore, publisher of Southwest Florida Business Today, recently attended the 22nd District Commercial Real Estate Outlook Conference hosted by CCIM (Certified Commercial Investment Member). With the grand opening of Margaritaville on Fort Myers Beach scheduled for late 2023, the developers of the project forecast a grand vision for rebuilding the devastated barrier island.