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A number of Southwest Florida offices of the state department of health have back to school wellness activities remaining on their schedules for the 2025-2026 school year.Information and other safety topics include dental hygiene, immunizations, and proper installation of child seats.

Funding will support states, territories, and Tribes in purchasing and distributing wholesome, locally produced food for food banks, schools, and child care facilities

The Florida Department of Health in Sarasota County is monitoring rabies among wild animals in the area. This is in response to a single confirmed case of rabies in a raccoon that was killed in the Bee Ridge area, off McIntosh Road between Proctor and Wilkinson Road in Sarasota County on January 25. All residents and visitors should be aware that rabies may be currently present in the wild animal population.

This is an ongoing entry for hurricane-related information. It will be updated as needed during the 2025 hurricane season.

The W.P. Franklin Lock on the Caloosahatchee River in Alva will be temporarily closed on Tuesday.

A forecast for inclement weather has prompted cancelations of a number of events planned for the Fourth of July across Southwest Florida.

According to a recent report from PEN America — it’s a century-old nonprofit that works to protect free expression through literature — Florida overtook Texas during the last school year for the number one spot when it comes to the number of books banned in public schools. There’s been a 33% spike in book bans nationally, and Florida now accounts for more than 40% of all documented bans. In response to these trends, PEN America just named its first-ever Florida Director, Katie Blankenship. She’ll be overseeing advocacy in defense of free expression across the state. Her office is being funded by a group of bestselling writers who have come together to fight censorship in Florida.We meet Ms. Blankenship, and learn about the work being done by what’s called The Purple Group to push back against issues like book bans. It’s a nonpartisan group of Lee County residents who believe high quality public schools that welcome all students and their families are the bedrock of our multicultural, multi-ethnic democracy.

When author and educator Carole Burns’ father Frank passed away earlier this year she found a small, simple notebook amongst his things that he’d carried with him during his time as a volunteer at the slough, where he’d led tours since 2001. She wrote an essay about finding that notebook and sent it our way, so we thought it would be a good reason to have a conversation about what the slough meant to her father, and what finding that notebook meant to her — and what the Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve has meant, and means, to so many of the people who’ve visited it over the past nearly half-century.

The Florida Panther Day Festival previously planned for Saturday at the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge on state route in South Immokalee had been canceled. Efforts were made successfully to get the event back in place.

The victim of a house explosion and fire in San Carlos Park Wednesday morning has been identified as South Trail Fire Department firefighter and EMT Mike McCarty.