WGCU Staff

Those using water from the Island Water Association for irrigation on Sanibel and Captiva are being asked to adhere to approved local watering schedules.The IWA issued a caution that ongoing dry weather and increased turf and landscape replanting related to redevelopment activity have created extremely high irrigation demands.

Lee County Utilities will end its routine free chlorine flush on May 21. It will convert its disinfection process back to the use of chloramines. The flush began May 1.

Florida Power & Light has a few tips for avoiding common utility scams - which may take the form of fake websites, suspicious phone calls, or fraudulent door to door salesmen.

Former Hendry County Sheriff’s Office deputy Tyler Williams will serve nearly three years in federal prison for violating an individual’s civil rights and obstructing justice.The 30-year-old Williams was found guilty in February by a federal jury and was sentenced Tuesday by United States District Judge Sheri P. Chappell. Williams was also a former Fort Myers police officer fired for not reporting suspected child abuse. Williams was fired from the Hendry County force at the close of the investigation in 2023.

About 1 in 5 women experience some negative feelings after the birth of a child or a mental health condition during pregnancy. About three quarters of these women do not receive any treatment, especially in underserved communities. Untreated mental health issues can lead to things like disrupted child bonding, impaired infant development, and even some serious health outcomes for the child and mother – suicide and overdose are among the leading causes of maternal death in the U.S., especially in the late postpartum period. Since its founding in 1977, Healthcare Network of Southwest Florida has had a mission to provide quality healthcare that is accessible to everyone, regardless of their financial means or insurance status. We sit down with its Chief Medical Officer to have a conversation about women's mental health.

Winston Scott grew up in Miami and attended Florida State University to study music. While at FSU he started getting into engineering and at one point the word astronaut flashed briefly through his mind. So, after graduating in 1972, he entered Naval Aviation Officer Candidate School and two years later became a Naval Aviator and served as a production test pilot flying the F/A-18 Hornet at A-7 Corsair. Mr. Scott was then selected by NASA to become an astronaut and reported to the Johnson Space Center in 1992. These days he’s Director of Operational Excellence at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor’s Complex and in that role was touring last week so we brough him by the studio to talk about being an astronaut, and what goes on at the KSC Visitor’s Complex.

At the 32nd Annual Southwest Florida Model United Nations conference at Florida Gulf Coast University in March, high school teams were challenged to imagine solutions for the problem of land-based plastics and the micro and nano plastics that we now know are in the world all around us. Cypress Lake High School’s Model UN team took top honors and a $1,000 prize for their presentation proposing a creative and actionable — and ambitious — plan to address plastic pollution along Southwest Florida’s Gulf Coast. We learn about their plan from one of the team's members.

Normal is Overrated is an annual event designed to help young people break barriers and improve communication about their own mental health and well-being and open up about their own personal challenges and the kinds of help they’ve received. We get a preview of this year's event that's happening on Sat., May 3 from 11am to 2pm at Florida Southwestern State College in Fort Myers.

A negotiated settlement in an NCAA infractions case has been made with Florida Gulf Coast University.The negotiated resolution, announced Friday, stems from an infractions case from July 2023 to May 2024 within the university's men's tennis program. The penalties levied by the NCAA against FGCU in the case include a $25,000 fine; the men's tennis program was prohibited from recruitment efforts January 6-21, 2025; the issuance of a 2-year probation; and vacation of selected team contests.