Tara Calligan
Reporter/Producer/Social Media ManagerEmail: Tcalligan@wgcu.org
Twitter: @TlCalligan
Tara Calligan is an award-winning journalist and a public media producer, writer and online content creator at WGCU. She started her public media journey as a news intern for the station in 2015 and has been cranking out content ever since.
She has presented at several PBS and NPR conferences, including PBS TechCon. In January 2021, she became a member of PBS' Media & Marketing Advisory Council, providing direct, local station feedback to the Public Broadcasting Service.
She is one of the hosts and producers for the podcast Three Song Stories: Biography Through Music, which brings out the guests’ personalities, and personal histories, by mining the connections music has made during their lifetimes. She is also a producer for WGCU's radio talk show Gulf Coast Life. When she is not writing up a storm, editing, or booking shows, she assumes the alter ego Moria Midnight, Monarch of Macabre, a late-night horror host on WGCU HDTV.
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If no action is taken to reduce emissions by the end of this century, intense heat will cost Florida’s economy roughly $8 billion in lost work every year. And tens of millions of outdoor workers in the U.S. risk losing a collective $55.4 billion dollars in earnings each year by midcentury. -
Hearings began Aug. 23 in a lawsuit brought by parents challenging Governor Ron DeSantis' executive order barring school districts from imposing mask mandates for students. Hearings in the legal challenge are expected to continue through Wednesday.Florida Democrats seeking to unseat Governor Ron DeSantis have focused heavily on the pandemic since the most recent surge in COVID-19 cases. A recent survey of voters indicates this strategy isn't hurting at this time.Sarasota Memorial Hospital is now leasing a refrigerated trailer to serve as an expanded morgue. The trailer isn't currently in use, but was leased in preparation for an expected surge in COVID-19 deaths in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, Lee Health reported another record-high number of COVID-19 patients in its hospitals Monday, and capacity is stretched to the point that non-patient areas like cafeterias may be needed to care for patients.Sarasota Memorial Hospital is looking to boost the number of employees vaccinated against COVID-19 by offering $500 bonuses to staff who are fully inoculated by Oct. 1. -
Lee Health is hosting a live virtual town hall on Tuesday, August 24 at 2 p.m. EST in an effort to increase public awareness about COVID-19 and the highly contagious Delta variant. -
Hospitals around Florida are seeing COVID-19 cases in record numbers, and more younger patients are being admitted to hospitals in recent weeks than since the pandemic began nearly a year and a half ago. We're getting an update from Lee Health officials. -
The 2021-2022 school year starts in only a few days. The School District of Lee County and Bonita Springs Middle Center for the Arts have this advice to help get students and parents back into the swing of things. -
Florida added 20,133 cases Thursday, an increase over the last three days, continuing an upward surge from COVID-19.Statewide, another 400 patients were hospitalized in the last day, continuing a record-breaking surge of patients. Currently, more than 12,888 people are hospitalized statewide – and nearly 2,600 are in the intensive care unit.The State Board of Education is set to review a proposed policy, Aug. 6, that would allow for Hope Scholarship vouchers to be made available to students in public school districts with mask mandates, whose parents don't want their kids wearing masks in the classroom.Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried is now asking the federal government for additional school funding that could offset lost state dollars to districts that defy Gov. DeSantis’ executive order barring them from mandating masks.Lee Health and Sarasota Memorial Hospital officials say elective surgeries are being postponed in order to redirect staff and other resources amid the ongoing surge in hospitalized COVID-19 patients.Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings heads to court Aug. 6. The Miami-based company is requesting that a federal judge overturn Florida’s ban on vaccine passports.President Joe Biden said he’s buying struggling renters time with a new eviction moratorium that might not pass Constitutional muster. The new, more focused order only extends to areas of high COVID transmission. That includes all of Florida. -
With the 2021-2022 school year about to begin during a persisting pandemic, professionals share resources and advice for helping students cope with back-to-school anxiety, bullying, and more. -
As students, teachers, and staff prepare to get back into the familiarity of the classroom, Lehigh Acres Middle School is welcoming them all with some major upgrades, including a new location. -
Fueled by solidarity for the people of Cuba, approximately 1,000 people marched in Downtown Fort Myers Tuesday. -
As Tropical Storm Elsa passes along the coast of Southwest Florida, there are still feeder bands far from the center of the storm that is producing heavy rain over the region. Flood warnings are in effect over parts of Lee, Charlotte, and Sarasota counties. Florida Highway Patrol Lieutenant Greg Bueno urges motorists to drive cautiously on wet roadways.
