Friday on Gulf Coast Live features WGCU's contribution to the statewide Decision Florida collaborative reporting project: an in-depth report looking at a proposed ban in Florida to hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as "fracking," and other fracking-like oil and gas well stimulation treatments in the state.

A growing number of states, including Florida, are contracting our long-term medical care with what's known as managed care organizations. It's a way for states to consolidate care for large groups, ranging from pregnant women, to people with specific disabilities, to long-term care for aging Floridians. And it's increasingly changing the way states spend Medicaid dollars, and how the aging or disabled access healthcare. Providers in Southwest Florida say its also limiting their abilities to

Few animals arouse the instinct to hunt quite like the Burmese Python. The invasive species has slithered across the Everglades and into every corner of South Florida, taking over habitat from native species and consuming thousands of pounds of prey animals.

Losing the ability to see can have devastating impacts on people, and a local non-profit group called Lighthouse of Southwest Florida seeks to help those who have lost their vision adjust.

The FGCU student government has passed a resolution calling on university administrators to work toward adopting a "sanctuary campus" policy. The designation is considered by many a reaction to the Trump administration's pledge to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, instituted by the Obama administration in 2012 to provide protections against deportations for undocumented immigrants who arrived in the United States at a young age.

Gulf Coast Live is on location today at JetBlue Park , the home of spring training for the Boston Red Sox, taking look at the players on the field and the off-field efforts that make spring training tick in Southwest Florida.

Pet owners are increasingly signing up to have their animals certified as “comfort” "therapy" or "emotional support" animals . The certification can be helpful for some conditions, like post-traumatic stress disorder or anxiety, but significant differences separate comfort dogs from medical assistance dogs , including training, certification, and where they are legally allowed to go under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Telling stories may be one of humanity's oldest traditions, and the proliferation of storytelling projects like Snap Judgment and The Moth are bringing personal stories to mass audiences in ways traditional media never have. This weekend, Storytellers Creative Arts in Naples is focusing a storytelling workshop on the Naples community with its HeART of Storytelling Conference beginning on Friday. Organizers say the conference is focused on "capturing, creating, and communicating" the stories of

The prevalence of autism in the United States is today estimated by the CDC to be about one in every 68 births. The Autism Society notes mores than 3.5 million Americans live with a disorder on the autism spectrum.

A Southwest Florida group focused on spreading agricultural awareness and education around the globe is building a "global garden" test bed as part of its efforts to end world hunger.