WGCU Staff

Florida’s Supreme Court recently ruled that the state’s constitution does not protect abortion, allowing the state law passed in 2023 that bans abortion after six weeks to take effect next month. But in a separate decision, the Florida Supreme Court also just ruled that an amendment to guarantee abortion rights in the state’s constitution can go on the November ballot. As all of this unfolds we listen back to a conversation from 2021 when the first modern bill to restrict abortions in Florida was filed, to get a big picture history of the legality, and criminality, of abortion in America.

The Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island metro area led southwest Florida in annual job growth over the 12 months ending in February, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, besting the statewide figure by almost a half percent. Total nonfarm payroll employment for the Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island area grew by 2.7 percent year-over-year adding 4,500 jobs for a 173,700 employment total in that region.

Edward McGovern spent 22 years in local law enforcement with the Hallandale Beach Police Department. He retired as a major in 2020, but as far back as 2017 he began to see the need for law enforcement to bring communication tech into the modern age. So, he founded CERA-Critical Event Response Applications. It’s an app-based system that allows police to see the big picture view of what’s unfolding, and to communicate directly with people who are experiencing the mass shooting event, like students, teachers, or employees.

Big Cypress National Preserve has issued a temporary closure to promote visitor safety during prescribed fire activity beginning Friday, April 5, 2024. Closure includes all areas and trails within the treatment perimeter, trails on the perimeter of the unit will remain open for use. Please refer to the full list of closures. During the closure all recreational use including off-road vehicles, hiking, camping, hunting and commercial activities are prohibited in the designated areas.

In January of 1742, while sailing around waters south of Florida in search of Spanish vessels to "sink, burn or destroy" the British Royal Navy’s HMS Tyger ran aground at Garden Key in what’s now Dry Tortugas National Park. What unfolded after the Tyger ran aground at Garden Key is a fascinating narrative that is compiled in a new paper published in the International Journal of Nautical Archaeology titled “Hunting HMS Tyger, 1742: Identifying a Ship-of-the-Line in Dry Tortugas National Park” co-authored by Andrew Van Slyke & Joshua Marano. To get a sense of the Tyger and its crew's story, and the archeological efforts that go into this kind of identification, we talk with the team lead for the HMS Tyger identification effort.

Registration for Voluntary Prekindergarten is now open for summer programs in Lee, Collier, Hendry and Glades Counties. The free educational program is available to 4-year-olds that reside in Florida, regardless of family income.Voluntary Prekindergarten gives children a jump-start by preparing them for school and enhancing their pre-reading, pre-math, language, and social skills. VPK classrooms are taught by certified teachers with a focus on school readiness and social and emotional well-being. By developing the early skills children need to become strong students, they are more likely to be successful in school.

The Lastinger Center for Learning at University of Florida uses data-driven approaches to create programs and systems that can help teachers across Florida be more effective in their jobs. It’s basically an education innovation incubator whose work primarily focuses on impacting achievement across three educational milestones: kindergarten readiness, third grade reading, and algebra. We talk to its director, Dr. Phillip Poekert.

A failure at the South Water Treatment Plant for the City of Marco Island caused a pump to shut down and dropped water pressure, prompting a boil water advisory for the southern part of the island.The notice was lifted Monday morning.

Commercial weather forecasting company Accuweather on Wednesday repeated earlier forecasts about the intensity of the coming hurricane season. The company said a turbulent year in the tropics is expected, possibly approaching a record-setting pace that could run through the entire list of names for tropical storms and hurricanes -- and beyond.