Gulf Coast Life

We get some history on mail in voting, around the U.S. and here in Florida, with Susan MacManus. She is Distinguished Professor Emerita in political science at the University of South Florida. And Charles Stewart, Kenan Sahin Distinguished Professor of Political Science at MIT.

We're discussing the instructional models the School District of Lee County is offering for students this upcoming fall. Our guests are Chief Academic Officer, Dr. Jeff Spiro, the Director of Curriculum for Elementary Schools, Dr. Bethany Quisenberry, and the Director of Curriculum for Middle/High School Candace Allevato.

Advances in technology, and the privatization of the space industry, have led to far more satellites being launched into space — small satellites to be exact. What once required a refrigerator-sized satellite can now sometimes be packed into one the size of a microwave, or even smaller.

Anyone who was in Southwest Florida during 2018 will remember the two massive, simultaneous harmful algal blooms that devastated marine animal populations, and hurt local economies. The blue-green algae — or cyanobacteria — bloom that originated in Lake Okeechobee, choking the Caloosahatchee River, the canals that line it, and its estuary met the offshore red tide bloom which was lining beaches with dead fish, dolphins, and other marine life. While the blooms fouled the waters, and kept tourists away, there is growing evidence the toxins they produced can be harmful to humans.