The city of Fort Myers went through a dramatic metamorphosis in the early 20 th century from a largely frontier cow town to a thriving metropolitan center for commerce, citrus production and, of course, tourism. The latest book from Southwest Florida historian and author Tom Hall explores that development through the lens of a series of major fires that nearly derailed the city’s development. In Volume Two of “ Epic Fires of Fort Myers: How a Series of Early Fires Influenced the Town’s

The State University System of Florida Board of Governors has selected the University of Florida to lead a statewide consortium studying health outcomes related to medical marijuana. UF will lead the Consortium for Medical Marijuana Clinical Outcomes Research , which will be composed of public and private universities engaged in research on clinical outcomes of medical marijuana.

Florida Gulf Coast University is taking the lead among Florida’s public universities when it comes to the broader world of medical cannabis. I t’s getting ready to offer its new Cannabis Education Certificate Program for the second time next month, starting on August 7th.

A little over six months ago, Florida Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services Nikki Fried was sworn into office, taking over a department of nearly 4,000 employees that has regulatory authority over everything from agribusiness to telemarketers to firearm permits and much more. We’ll get an update from Commissioner Fried about her work so far, including efforts on medical marijuana, fostering the growth of a hemp industry in Florida, consumer protection’s for Florida’s LGBTQ community,

Valerie’s House , which offers support services focused on children who have experienced loss, operates three homes in southwest Florida. They recently received a $100,000 grant from the Naples Children & Education Foundation that’s going to help them expand their services in Collier County. Valerie’s House gives children a home-like environment to identify, express and process their grief through art, music and other services, all overseen by licensed clinical social workers.

Lee County Commissioners will be holding a public mining adoption hearing this Wednesday, June 19 at 9:30 a.m. in the commission chambers in downtown Fort Myers. They’re considering changes to the county’s Comprehensive Land Use Plan that would change where lime rock mining could happen, and would remove the current requirement that means new lime rock mines can only be opened once it’s determined that there is enough demand to warrant them.

High volume releases of nutrient-rich, and blue-green algae laden water from Lake Okeechobee last summer led to massive algae blooms along the Caloosahatchee River, in Cape Coral canals, and in the river’s estuary. And this all happened as a prolonged red tide bloom persisted along the Southwest Florida coast. Now, three conservation groups are suing three federal agencies for what they say is a failure to address harm to Florida’s endangered species being caused by the releases.

On June 19th, 1865, Union Army Major General Gordon Granger issued an order that read: “The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor.

Florida fell from 6 th to 13 th place in the latest state-by-state ranking and report card on the quality of nursing home care. The report comes from the Texas-based non-profit nursing home resident advocacy group Families for Better Care, Inc . The results indicate a trend of declining inspection ratings for nursing homes across the country.

We’ve been hearing more and more stories lately about the various places plastics are showing up in our environment. Stories of dead dolphins washing ashore on local beaches with pounds of plastics in their stomachs; scientists breaking deep sea diving records, only to find a plastic bag and food wrappers ; researchers have even found microplastics in a remote area of the Pyrenees mountains .