WGCU Staff

The W.P. Franklin Lock was reopened to traffic Thursday. The facility closed Wednesday by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers due to silting by the gates.

Old tires are notoriously effective mosquito-breeding habitats. Lee County Mosquito Control will accept passenger car tires at an event rescheduled for Jan. 11 due to Hurricane Milton in October.

According to 2024 data from the American Medical Association, around 40% of physicians surveyed indicated they were likely to reduce their clinical hours in the next year. One in 5 physicians say they intend to leave the profession entirely within the next two years, with nearly 28% of doctors surveyed reporting dissatisfaction with their current healthcare jobs. Our guest left direct patient care behind in 2022 after practicing as a Gynecologic Oncology surgeon for just four years. Dr. Wilbur then embarked on a project to conduct a series of one-on-one interviews with doctors like herself who had either recently left practice, or were strongly considering doing so, to shine light on this growing trend and what factors were driving it. We talk with her about her new book that came out of those conversations, “The Doctor is No Longer In: Conversations with U.S. physicians.”

The Florida Department of Health in Collier County advises caution due to the presence of red tide near Vanderbilt Beach found in water samples taken this week.Meanwhile, a similar caution has been lifted at Bowman's Beach in Lee County.

The W.P. Franklin Lock is closed to traffic until further notice.A notice of the closing was issued Wednesday by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

South Florida Fire & Aviation will conduct a series of prescribed fire operations across Big Cypress National Preserve over the coming months, as weather conditions and other parameters permit. The planned treatment areas cover approximately 115,639 acres in three separate burn units, strategically placed throughout the preserve as part of a multi-year fuels treatment plan.

Land and conservation easements worth $318 million and designed to protect more than 85,000 acres of Florida’s most important wildlife habitats and rural ranchlands were approved for purchase by the state Cabinet Tuesday.Many of the proposed easements are part of the Florida Wildlife Corridor.The purchased conservation lands cover 134 square miles, or 2.5 times the size of the City of Miami, and constitute the largest increment of conservation land and easement purchases ever proposed on a single Cabinet agenda. House and Senate leaders in the Florida Legislature included strategic appropriations for conservation land acquisitions and easements in Florida's budget—an important investment in Florida's economy, ecology, and quality of life.

A Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office deputy killed in the line of duty Sunday has been posthumously promoted to the rank of sergeant.The deputy, Elio Diaz, was killed by a man he had pulled over for a traffic stop Sunday afternoon.

According to the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, as of late 2023, the U.S. immigration court system faced a backlog of more than 3 million pending cases. This number has more than doubled since 2019 and continues to grow, placing immense pressure on the system. Immigration judges are currently being asked to handle an average of 4,500 cases each and so struggle to manage their caseloads effectively. This backlog includes a mix of individuals seeking asylum, appealing deportation orders, or addressing other immigration-related issues. To get some insight into the challenges the system faces we talk with a retired Immigration Judge who spent 24 years hearing cases.