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The Florida Museum of Natural History is looking for your help to track two species of native bee that you’ll probably hear before you see. Southeastern plasterer bees live in scrub, pineland, and sandhill habitats; adjacent open areas; and along roadsides.

When developer Syd Kitson purchased the 91,000-acre Babcock Ranch in northeast Lee & southeast Charlotte counties in 2005 he said he was going to create a sustainable community and preserve most of the land. While many people were skeptical at the time, Kitson has gone on to build pretty much exactly what he said he would. About 67,000-acres became the Babcock Ranch Preserve, and more than half of the rest of the land has been preserved amidst the growing number of smart homes with high speed internet built to Florida Green Building Coalition standards. Mr. Kitson joined us on this show quite a few times during the early days of its development, long before groundbreaking and the first homes were built. We look back on the picture he painted back then, and how well it aligns with what's there today.

The holiday season brings people together, from parties for work, to family gatherings. And while it’s all done to bring joy and happiness to everyone…

People are being encouraged to stay at home as much as possible as the Covid-19 outbreak continues to spread, and restaurants have been ordered to close…

One of the more universal pastimes of Southwest Florida is dining out and for years people have been guided by the News-Press restaurant critic, Jean Le Boeuf. Of course, the food critic behind the nom de plume has not always been the same person. Recently, the last of the Jean Le Boeufs revealed that she — not he — is actually food writer Annabelle Tometich. We sat down with her to talk about the decision to reveal herself as the local restaurant critic and get the gastronomic low-down on the food scene in Southwest Florida, and the pressures of wielding a mighty pen and fork.

Did you know that scientists are working on ways to CO2 into solid rock in order to sequester it? Or that the same things that make water so critical to our world is also what makes it so potentially dangerous to us? Those are just two of the interesting concepts revealed in the new NOVA and PBS series Out of Our Elements that explores the magic of molecules and how much of the modern world is built on the interesting ways they interact. We’re joined by the two people who make it.

There are now more than 200,000 people in Florida who have received their Medical Marijuana Registry identification cards, and about 10,000 new patients…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ore2EMFAz4IWhy does it take a national disaster for people to live and work together and look out for one another? Why…

The Sea Turtle Conservancy's annual Tour de Turtles allows people to follow the marathon migration of four different species of sea turtles that have been tagged with satellite transmitters.

What’s wrong with Brazilian Pepper? Nothing – if it is growing where it is native in South America. As with so many exotics, the problems come when a species is introduced to an area where it is NOT native. It then may have the upper hand – no natural controls. The problem is that we – as a species – have a fascination with novelty – something new, something different, and we have a propensity to move species around – to flaunt or sometimes to financially benefit from the novelty of a species. So it was with Brazilian Pepper. During the Elizabethan era of the 1800s, elaborate Christmas holiday decorations came into vogue – and nearly eradicated our native American Holly. In search for an alternative, Brazilian Pepper was introduced to Florida and marketed under various trade names such as “Florida Holly”. The first mistake was introducing it. The second mistake was to make people think it was a holly, the third mistake was not eradicating it as soon as the first two mistakes were recognized. Now it’s too late. Brazilian Pepper is well entrenched in south Florida ecosystems. It has downsides that were not anticipated – highly competitive with native species, and positive sides that have often been ignored – a source of winter food and shelter for native wintering and resident birds and other wildlife.