Search results for

Pine Island was cut off from the mainland during Ian when the bridge that passes through Matlacha was washed away. In the true spirit of Pine Island, residents immediately got to work helping each other, and coordinating resources and volunteers. But, it quickly became clear that the collective recovery effort was going to need to be formalized to support long-term recovery efforts. And so the Greater Pine Island Alliance was formed in December of 2022, and they have not stopped in their mission to return every survivor to their home.

A natural part of living in Florida is sometimes interacting with wild animals — including Florida black bears. Wildlife officers trapped and tranquilized a black bear on Monday near downtown Fort Myers. Bears are pretty wily and mostly move around at night so most people have probably never even seen one, or even know that we have black bears in this part of Florida, let alone wandering through our neighborhoods. We talk with a bear expert with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission about bears in Florida, how they behave, and what we can do to minimize neighborhood interactions with them.

Here in Florida, when a youth’s bad behavior brings them into contact with law enforcement there is a chance they will be diverted into a program that will keep them out of the juvenile justice system — providing their offense is a misdemeanor and generally non-serious. The goal is basically to address behavioral needs of youth during their first contact with law enforcement in order to try and keep them out of trouble in the future — and keep them from winding up with a criminal record so early in their lives.

The Conservancy of Southwest Florida's von Arx Wildlife Hospital recently went a little ... batty. Recent storms contributed to many new patients at the wildlife hospital but especially bats with a colony of 156 pups being rescued. Since 2017, that's the most bats the hospital has had that were in need of examinations and re-nesting.

A federal lawsuit filed by immigrant advocacy groups in July accuses the Trump administration and its immigration enforcement agencies like ICE of engaging in systemic racial profiling during raids and detentions targeting individuals of color, primarily those perceived as immigrants. A U.S. District Judge issued a temporary restraining order, and the order was upheld by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Aug. 1. The Trump administration has appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing the restrictions hinder their ability to enforce immigration laws. We get some local context from South Florida immigration attorney, Amanda Velazquez. She represents several clients who have been detained in Key West while going about their daily lives, who had documents that allow them to be in the country while awaiting hearings, despite having no criminal record.

“Fort Myers Historic Hurricanes” offers a history of severe storms that have impacted southwest Florida dating all the way back to 1841, but also a dire warning about this area’s severe risk from hurricanes and storm surge in general. It opens with a hurricane in 1841 that swept across the region making landfall near Sanibel Island and bringing 14' of storm surge to the U.S. Army fort on Punta Rassa.

Katherine Stewart is an investigative reporter and author whose work focuses on issues around religious liberty, politics, policy, and education. Her work appears in the New York Times op ed, on NBC, in the New Republic, and in the New York Review of Books. In her latest book, "The Power Worshippers: Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism" Stewart lays out how the Religious Right in the United States has portrayed itself as a social movement focusing on cultural issues, but is actually a well-organized political movement that has evolved into a Christian nationalist movement that seeks to gain political power and to impose its vision on all of society.

There is a newly formed group called Floridians for Democracy — still in its infancy — that’s being created by southwest Floridians in response to what they say are growing autocratic trends here in Florida, and more broadly across the United States. We spoke with its co-founder and three of its founding members.

A new online platform launched by the Harry Chapin Food Bank helps area residents locate food pantries, distribution sites