WGCU Staff
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Codty Pierce, a local charter boat captain with deep roots in Southwest Florida’s environment, became the Calusa Waterkeeper just about two years ago. The Lee County native grew up fishing the local waters and observing the hydrology and environments of Pine Island Sound, Charlotte Harbor, and Estero Bay and had experience in wetlands restoration and native landscaping.Today, the environmental organization he helmed is in mourning with the news that Pierce died Monday."As the heart and soul of our organization, Codty’s unwavering commitment to protecting the waters of Southwest Florida and his fearless advocacy for the environment have left an indelible mark on all who knew him," Connie Ramos-Williams, the Calusa Waterkeeper Executive Director, said in a statement about Pierce's death.
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How different news stories are presented by various news sources is rarely uniform. Different news outlets have different takes, or present different aspects of a story or highlight different facts about it, and this shapes what consumers of that news take away from the story. Add the internet and social media algorithms and you wind up with what are referred to as "filter bubbles" where, depending on which news sources you pay attention to, different people develop fundamentally different understandings of the same events or stories. We learn about AllSides Technologies, whose team uses various methods to estimate the perceived political bias of news outlets and then presents different versions of similar news stories from sources they’ve rated as being on the political right, left, or center, with a mission to show readers news outside their filter bubble and illustrate media bias.
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The W.P Franklin Lock on the Caloosahatchee River will be closed from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Wednesday for a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers diving survey.
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Sarasota County is continuing upgrading water meters throughout unincorporated Sarasota County to enhance the utilities system and improve response times during weather events and year-round. This project started in 2023 on Siesta Key and is expected to take five years to complete the remaining meter replacements throughout unincorporated Sarasota County.
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Several volunteer advisory positions are open in Collier, Charlotte and Lee counties.
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Time is running out to submit entries for the Friends of Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve 2025 Photo Contest honoring Carolyn Babb. The deadline is Jan. 31.The contest is limited to amateur photographers and only digital entries can be submitted. Photos must be of native species and must have been taken at the Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve, which includes Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve North.
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Before too much longer a kitschy example of Old Florida — the Shell Factory & Nature Park in North Fort Myers — will be a thing of the past.However, there are still chances to capture a little bit of the site's nostalgia in the guise of Elvis, Sinatra, Zoltar the fortune teller, a giant shell and several other remaining artifacts.
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The Sarasota County Fire Department will continue its monthly open house events in 2025, inviting the community to connect with local firefighters and learn about fire safety.
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Bestway Sandwiches Inc. recalls frozen chicken and cheese taquito products due to possible foreign matter contamination.