Florida's congressional redistricting process is again facing legal scrutiny. After lawmakers passed a congressional district map, governor Ron DeSantis vetoed their selection and in the end the legislature wound up approving a map submitted by the governor’s office during a special session. Civil and voting rights groups say the governor’s map violates the Fair Districts Amendments and diminishes the voting power of minorities. To get the latest on this ongoing process we spoke with Ellen Freidin, a Miami-based attorney and leader of the Fair Districts Coalition.

Lee county added about 23,000 more residents in 2021. This pace of growth like that isn’t unique to Southwest Florida. Just take Charlotte County: data shows there will soon be 200,000 residents there, and yes, many more cars too. But it also means more jobs and more economic opportunity. What are the up-and-coming industries and job opportunities for you and your family?

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.

Spring beach-nesting season is in full swing for the birds of Southwest Florida. It can be a dangerous time for birds and their eggs when they come into contact with human beachgoers, so we discuss what you should be on the lookout for if you spend time at the beach. And we talk about what’s happening with bird migration as we move from spring into summer and the rainy season, as well as the 2022 Atlantic Hurricane Season, which begins on June 1.

While Florida is primarily known for producing agricultural products like oranges, tomatoes and other crops, a new first-of-its kind survey conducted by UF/IFAS has shown that tropical fish farmers in the state bring more than $172 million in sales annually to Florida’s economy. We learn more about the tropical fish industry, and the results of this new economic impact study.

As our loved ones get older it becomes increasingly important to have what can often be difficult conversations about their hopes and intentions around end-of-life issues. May is Older Americans Month, so today we’re going to have a conversation about ways to have those conversations. We learn about a program called Elderoscopy which is essentially a guide with tips for conversations between older adults and their loved ones that examines their wants and needs, and getting a handle on their hopes and intentions for things like end-of-life plans, finances, relationships driving, and more.

As the country continues to react to the disclosure by Politico of the draft of a Supreme Court opinion that would overturn the right to abortion established in Roe v. Wade, reportedly circulated by Justice Samuel Alito, we are revisiting a conversation we had last October on the history of the legality, and criminality, of abortion in the United States going all the way back to its founding.We also get a snapshot of the work being done by Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida.

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.

As Florida Gulf Coast University’s academic year comes to a close, we reflect back on the first year of the university Journalism program’s “Democracy Watch” initiative. It’s a collaboration between FGCU’s Journalism BA program and the WGCU-FM news team designed to give exceptional upper-level students real-world experience reporting in the field while also enhancing and expanding WGCU’s coverage of important local government actions that often go overlooked and unreported. We reflect back on this first year of the program with members of the inaugural class of “Democracy Watch” fellows.

As April marks Autism Acceptance Month, we talk with the founders of the Southwest Florida-based nonprofit Family Initiative about the broad scope of services they provide to empower ASD kids and their families.