As WGCU News has been reporting this week, the Florida Legislature’s newly approved budget includes severe cuts to cultural affairs programing. The new nearly $89 billion dollar budget would almost completely defund the Culture Builds grant program from the Division of Cultural Affairs .

Starting next month, Bailey Tract , a 100-acre part of the J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge , will close for a hydrological restoration effort. It’s one of the lesser-known trails at the preserve. Biologists say the plan involves partially filling the Ani Pond, reconnecting wetland habitat and other hydrological enhancements, to benefit the State-threatened Sanibel Island rice rat, as well as marsh birds and other species dependent on the marsh habitats. We’re joined by Jeremy Conrad,

We're joined by Raney Aronson-Rath , she’s Executive Producer of Frontline , one of public television’s most critically acclaimed, and long-running shows that pretty much sets the bar for in depth, documentary filmmaking. Since its launch in 1983 there have been more than 500 episodes. Aronson-Rath joined Frontline in 2007 as a senior producer. She was named deputy executive producer by the series founder, David Fanning , in 2012, and then became executive producer in 2015. She was in town for

Some Southwest Florida students walked out of their classes at 10:00 this morning on the one month anniversary of the day a 19-year-old walked into Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and opened fire with his legally-obtained AR-15 rifle, killing 17 people. Before school this morning, students at South Fort Myers High School assembled on the athletics field in the shape of a heart for a vigil. But, for the actual walkout there was some confusion in Lee County as to whether students would be

We’re joined by author Robert Wheeler to discuss his book, Hemingway’s Havana: A Reflection of the Writer’s Life in Cuba . The book captures the essence of Ernest Hemingway’s time in Cuba through beautiful and vibrant photographs and prose. It tells the story of why Hemingway felt most at home in Cuba, and illustrates the beauty of the people and the island-setting that most inspired him.

We’re joined by Kurt Goerke, Director of Health Promotions with the American Lung Association in Florida , to discuss Proposal 94 being considered by the state’s Constitutional Revision Commission that would redirect money from a landmark tobacco settlement from Tobacco Free Florida to cancer research.

Florida’s 2018 legislative session ended following a rare Sunday session, during which lawmakers approved an $88.7 billion budget. Sunday’s budget approval followed Governor Rick Scott signing into law, on Friday, a new gun control and school safety law (SB 7026) crafted in response to February’s mass shooting at a Broward County high school that took the lives of 17 people.

Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actress Jane Seymour is widely known for her work on the stage and screen including roles in the James Bond film “ Live and Let Die ,” and the television series, “ Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman ,” but over the past 25 years, she’s emerged as a celebrated visual artist as well, creating intimate watercolor and vibrant oil paintings. She also enjoys success as a designer including creating costumes and set designs for the Houston Ballet . We’ll talk with Seymour ahead of

Theatre Conspiracy at the Alliance for the Arts in Fort Myers is currently running productions of Henrik Isben’s play, “ A Doll’s House ,” through March 11. The production, set in a Norwegian town in the late 1800s, goes behind the façade of an ideal marriage and challenges audiences to consider the cultural limitations placed on women at the time and the stifling lack of opportunities available to women. The play questions the roles of men and women in a traditional 19 th century marriage,

It’s become increasingly apparent in recent years that talking to people with whom we disagree, either politically or socially, has become practically impossible. We’ve partnered up with Gulfshore Life Magazine to try to tackle the issue. We’re joined by Jennifer Reed, she wrote this month’s cover story called “Talk to me … Please?” to find out what she learned from the many Southwest Floridians who she met while writing the article. We're also joined by Dr. Cindy Banyai , she’s a researcher and