Search results for

Here in Southwest Florida about 30% of the population is 60 and older. That translates to about 1.3 million people, and this population and percentage is growing. Demographic trends show an expected 38% increase in adults over 60 by 2040 and a 62% increase in adults over 70 by that same year. While southwest Florida has been a destination for older people when they retire for decades, this area’s aging population is chronically underserved. We learn about the work being done to address the need at Florida Gulf Coast University’s still relatively new Shady Rest Institute on Positive Aging.

A production of playwright August Wilson’s “Jitney” opens this week at the Alliance for the Arts in Fort Myers. The play marks the eighth chronological installment in Wilson’s series known as the American Century Cycle. Set in the late 70s, “Jitney” centers on the lives of some unofficial, unlicensed taxi drivers operating in Pittsburgh’s Hill District community, where traditional taxi services wouldn’t go. We take a deeper dive in a conversation with director Sonya McCarter and actor Shontae White.

During NASA’s Apollo missions during the late 1960s and early 70s astronauts collected lunar rocks, core samples, pebbles, sand, and dust, and brought those materials back to earth. Those samples have been tested extensively over the decades, but now, for the first time ever, a team of researchers at University of Florida have demonstrated that terrestrial plants can be grown in lunar soil, which is called lunar regolith.

Here in Southwest Florida about 30% of the population is 60 and older. That translates to about 1.3 million people, and this population and percentage is growing. Demographic trends show an expected 38% increase in adults over 60 by 2040 and a 62% increase in adults over 70 by that same year. While southwest Florida has been a destination for older people when they retire for decades, this area’s aging population is chronically underserved. We learn about the work being done to address the need at Florida Gulf Coast University’s still relatively new Shady Rest Institute on Positive Aging.

The myriad of animals living on News-Press story teller Amy Bennett William’s rural Alva homestead frequently add context or humor to her essays. This…

Luc Century is a self-taught artist got into etching while working at a resort engraving people’s names on snow skis, then a window washing job in the 70s…

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.”

West Nile Virus has now been detected in mosquitoes in both Lee & Collier Counties. Mosquitoes become infected with the virus when they feed on birds that have it, and it can be spread to humans through the bite of an infected mosquito. Both Lee and Collier Counties have robust mosquito control operations to protect human health, and human standard of living. And they have extensive monitoring operations to try and stay ahead of the flying pests, and track the presence of viruses like West Nile, Dengue, Eastern Equine Encephalitis, Chikungunya, and Zika.