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Englewood resident Sue Zipay played for the Rockford Peaches in 1953 and ‘54 as part of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. That was the team featured in the 1992 film A League of Their Own. Now, she is hoping to help instigate the creation of a girls baseball league here in Southwest Florida. And she dreams of a future that includes professional women’s baseball in the U.S.

We learn about the Fort Myers nonprofit My Autism Connection, which as brought adults on the spectrum together since 2012. Its mission is to provide experiential opportunities for adults diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome and Autism Spectrum Disorder to help them develop skills towards independence and building healthy relationships.

Back in early June when protests in response to the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers were rapidly spreading and growing across the country we assembled a panel comprised of members of southwest Florida’s Black community to talk about what was happening. While protests have mostly stopped, efforts continue to try and address systemic racism and police violence. And, with the election just a week away with these issues in many ways central on the ballot, both nationally and locally, we have invited them back to talk about what’s happened since the summer and where things stand today.

Englewood resident Sue Zipay played for the Rockford Peaches in 1953 and ‘54 as part of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. That was the team featured in the 1992 film A League of Their Own. Now, she is hoping to help instigate the creation of a girls baseball league here in Southwest Florida. And she dreams of a future that includes professional women’s baseball in the U.S.

The U.S. Food & Drug Administration recently issued an Emergency Use Authorization for convalescent plasma in part based on studies like one that Lee Health has been participating in. This local trial has been part of Mayo Clinic’s national COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma Study. The FDA approval means the use of convalescent plasma is now on hold at Lee Health.

The Florida Department of Health in Lee County has recently been issuing health advisories in response to blue green algae blooms in three Cape Coral canals. We talk with Calusa Waterkeeper, John Cassani, to discuss this new outreach effort, and get the current state of our local waters.

We explore why this season is so active with Jeff Huffman, Chief Meteorologist and Director of the Florida Public Radio Emergency Network. We also discuss hurricane preparedness, and get some shelter advice during the time of COVID-19 with Jennifer Trammell, Board Chair for the Florida Gulf Coast to Heartland Chapter of the American Red Cross.

Pollinators are responsible for assisting about 80% of the world's flowering plants to reproduce, and that includes quite a few crops grown for food. So, it’s fair to say that pollinators play a crucial role in not only our ecosystems, but our economies and lives.We learn about the work being done by pollinators all around us, and get some tips on how to attract them to our yard, and how to keep from harming them by misusing pesticides.

We talk with a professor at Florida Gulf Coast University who is working with a team of researchers at the University of Geneva in Switzerland to try and help the World Health Organization decrease the number of deaths and disabilities caused by venomous snakebites by half by 2030. Their team has developed a web-based app called Snake ID that uses visual pattern recognition algorithms to help doctors and patients identify venomous snakes. The technology can also be used to help healthcare systems determine what kinds of antivenom treatments to have on hand in particular geographic areas.

Shortly after Governor DeSantis signed SB 90 a group of Florida-based civil rights organizations sued state and local election officials seeking to block the new restrictive voting measures. We dig into what the new law says with Patti Brigham, President of the League of Women Voters of Florida, which is leading that legal challenge; and Dr. Micah Kubic, Executive Director of the ACLU of Florida.