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  • Aerial photographer Michael Collier captures radiant landscape images of the Earth from a single-engine airplane, all the while steering the aircraft with his feet.
  • The Florida panthers’ numbers dwindled so quickly over the the early 1900s that hunting them was banned in 1958. In 1967, panthers were the first animal to be put on the federal Endangered Species List, and in 1973 the puma, a big cat relative, was named a Florida protected species.
  • The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has approved Florida’s request for a disaster declaration stemming from tornadoes that touched down in Southwest Florida in January. The declaration opens the door for impacted residents and businesses to apply for SBA disaster loans.
  • Children in Florida might not wake up to a white Christmas, but they can wake up to a letter from Santa. A local hardware store is helping make that happen.
  • State health officials reported 6,236 new COVID-19 cases, Thursday, increasing the statewide total to 557,137 cases. Aug. 13 marked the 18th consecutive day the state has reported fewer than 10,000 new cases of the virus in a day.The Florida Department of Health also reported 148 new coronavirus-related deaths, Thursday, bringing the statewide death toll to 8,913 fatalities since the beginning of the pandemic.
  • Gov. Rick Scott stopped in Naples to cast his vote Thursday. He was also in town to kick off his “Get Out the Early Vote Bus Tour” for the last leg of his…
  • Bonita Springs City Council pledges $17 million toward trail project.
  • Hospitals in Southwest Florida continue to report declines in hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Lee Health officials say they plan to comply with a new Biden Administration rule requiring some employers to require workers to be vaccinated or to be tested for COVID-19 weekly.Child advocates and Democrats are criticizing Gov. Ron DeSantis after his administration passed on $820 million in federal funds to help feed children from low-income families who are out of school due to a COVID-19 infection or exposure.The Lee County School District has changed its policy to allow parents to opt their children out of mask-wearing in school without a doctor’s note.Thousands of Sarasota parents turned out for an event last weekend, where physicians were providing medical exemption forms to the school district’s mask mandate.Florida Deputy Secretary for Health Shamarial Roberson, who has been critical in the state’s COVID tracking and response, announced her resignation.Collier County officials have announced plans for spending $74 million in federal American Rescue Plan fundingA consortium of Sarasota arts organizations announced plans to adopt uniform COVID safety policies that require vaccines or proof of a negative COVID test.
  • Back in 2018 at the height of the red tide outbreak, WGCU reported on dead birds falling from the sky in Collier and Lee counties. Now, The Conservancy of Southwest Florida, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and Audubon Florida have concluded that those Common and Sandwich Terns died from diseases related to red tide blooms.
  • The disaster declaration includes Brevard, Charlotte, Collier, DeSoto, Flagler, Glades, Hardee, Hendry, Highlands, Hillsborough, Lake, Lee, Manatee, Monroe, Okeechobee, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Putnam, Saint Johns, Sarasota, Seminole and Volusia counties in Florida, which are eligible for both Physical and Economic Injury Disaster Loans.
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