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During the first part of today’s show we were exploring the ways people can reduce the amount of water and fertilizer they use on their yards in order to…

Allergy season in Southwest Florida is only loosely associated with regular seasons, but suffice to say- right now many people are suffering with watery…

Animal control agencies are encouraging pet adoptions during the holiday season, a practice that used to be discouraged. Now, if people are considering…

Regionwide-destruction caused by Hurricane Ian is beginning to come into focus today after Ian made landfall yesterday afternoon as one of the strongest hurricanes ever to hit the United States. Ian flooded homes and destroyed a portion of the Sanibel Causeway leaving the island with no access besides by boat. At its peak, Ian knocked out electricity to 2.7 million FL homes and businesses and there are curfews in place in Lee and Charlotte counties where emergency officials are urging people not to go out and tour the damage. On today's show we are going to connect with some of our reporters and producers out in the field surveying damage to try to get a sense of what we're facing and begin to consider what it's going to take to try to recover.

As bad as the reported numbers are, the actual toll is likely much worse. India's relentless virus surge is leading to deadly shortages of hospital beds, medical oxygen and drugs.

On any weekday, it’s common to see a line of people in Miami-Dade County courts trying to get their driver’s license reinstated largely due to unpaid...

While many large tracts of land in Southwest Florida have been forever lost to development over the past century or so, quite a bit of it has been preserved thanks to the dedicated efforts of countless people and organizations — and the local, state, and federal elected officials who environmental advocates could convince that wetlands were valuable for their own sake. For example, more than 70% of land in Collier County has been preserved as public land. Think Fakahatchee Strand State Park, Picayune Strand State Forest, Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, Big Cypress National Preserve, Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, and the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge, just to name a few. We explore some of this fascinating history with the co-authors of the new book, “Enjoyment of the Same: A History of Public Lands in Southwest Florida.”

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, and the state legislature — which is dominated by Republicans who have supermajorities in both chambers — have implemented a series of policies and laws in recent years that critics say are demonstrating tendencies toward autocracy. We speak with three people who count themselves among the critics who are decrying what they see as autocratic tendencies in Tallahassee and here in Florida. They are all members of the nonprofit, Floridians for Democracy, which was formed in April, 2023 to bring together voices from across the political spectrum to push back against this rising trend.

Collier County is a wealthy county. According to data from the financial technology company SmartAsset, Collier County is the second wealthiest county in Florida. But, alongside that wealth many country residents are struggling. According to the Collier County Community and Human Services Division nearly 53,000 people commute to work every day from outside the county, and 35% of jobs in the county pay less than $35k a year. We talk with the Collier Community Foundation’s President & CEO to go over the highlights of a new community assessment that identifies the challenges county residents are facing, and the challenges the community foundation faces in trying to support them.

New legislation passed during the 2024 session modifies the rules by which the state commission, and local ethics boards, can operate. Critics say these changes will gut the effectiveness of the state commission and local boards. Supporters say the changes will prevent the state and local ethics boards from having to spend their time investigating politically motivated accusations. We dig into the details on Senate Bill 7014, which has yet to be signed by the governor, with two people who have spent their lives focusing on politics in Florida and its ethics system.