Southwest Florida

Big companies are snapping up land along the I-75 corridor, bringing a type of boomtown to Charlotte, Lee and Collier counties. Local leaders believe higher-paying jobs are coming to the area, easing the past dependence on tourism to drive the economy.

The Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island metro area led southwest Florida in annual job growth over the 12 months ending in February, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, besting the statewide figure by almost a half percent. Total nonfarm payroll employment for the Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island area grew by 2.7 percent year-over-year adding 4,500 jobs for a 173,700 employment total in that region.

Gov. Ron DeSantis and the state Cabinet on Tuesday will consider a $122 million proposal to buy agricultural land in Southwest Florida and allow current owners to lease and manage the property. The purchase, which is tied to a statewide wildlife corridor, is among five proposed conservation deals, at a cost approaching $220 million, that will go before DeSantis and the Cabinet.

The big, silver StoryCorps Airstream has rolled into Southwest Florida and is ready to get the conversations flowing. StoryCorps has now helped nearly 700,000 people across the country have meaningful conversations about their lives, most of which are collected in the U.S. Library of Congress and in their own online archive.

Southwest Florida's most influential environmentalists share a report warning the next massive red tide or blue-green algae outbreak will be a multi-billion-dollar disaster.

A massive pump station to retrieve polluted water released from Lake Okeechobee into the headwaters of the Caloosahatchee River is completed — now it will sit idle

Charlotte county leaders and business owners are optimistic about the economic impact of Sunseeker Resort’s openingCounty and community leaders believe its impact will be significant countywide and beyond.

A number of appointments to boards and offices in Southwest Florida were made by Governor DeSantis late Friday.

Residents of Sanibel, and north Cape Coral, are being reminded about the drought unfolding in coastal Southwest Florida and to stick to the water restrictions.

Southwest Florida is in the midst of an abnormally dry to moderate drought.