Sanibel Island

The annual Taste of the Islands brings food and an opportunity to support wildlife care on Sanibel.

Lee Commissioners approved two measures Tuesday to restore popular coastal areas: $245K to rebuild and landscape a beach dune and commit $2.1M to a Sanibel fishing pier. Commissioners also awarded a contract to provide construction engineering and inspection services on four disaster recovery projects that include work on Pine Island, Iona, Harlem Heights, San Carlos Park and more.

Three outdoor art fairs take place in Southwest Florida over Valentine’s Day weekend: the 20th Annual Coconut Point Art Festival in Estero, the 43rd Annual Sanibel-Captiva Rotary Club Arts & Crafts Festival on the grounds of the Sanibel Community House and the inaugural Wellen Park Fine Arts Festival in Venice.

Bats keep the mosquito population down. But they also are an important sentinel species as their health and population trends provide an early warning system for broader environmental threats, including humans.

Due to a beach renourishment project designed to strengthen and protect the shoreline between Blind Pass and Bowman's Beach Park, the Blind Pass Beach parking lot will be closed for staging equipment beginning tonight (Friday evening, November 21).

To welcome seasonal Sanibel and Captiva residents back to islands, Florida Trust Wealth Management hosted a seminar covering the basics of artificial intelligence (AI). The workshop gave residents an overview of AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude to make everyday tasks easier.

When Hurricane Ian severed the only access to Sanibel and Captiva Islands, a joint venture formed within 24 hours.

Mangroves are far more important than most people realize. Without them, barrier islands could wash away. With them, mangrove roots trap sediment, building land over time.

Sanibel is having a big party to celebrate getting through the summer. Last year, 900 people attended.

A local non-profit is offering free mental health services to uplift the community.