Hooked
Byron Stout has spent the last 70 years fishing. For more than half that time he’s also written about it.THERAPISTS ARE UNPREDICTABLE. And sometimes mercurial, inspiring, demanding and downright dangerous. Also peerlessly beautiful, at least in Byron Stout’s view. The first time he met his therapist (he thinks of her as a muse) he’d turned 6 just the day before. Outfitted in shiny new birthday cowboy boots, his first ever, young Byron was investigating a water-filled ditch outside the […]
FSW research class aims to prevent turtle poaching, habitat destruction
In a secret location in Southwest Florida, before even the sun has fully risen for its day, Florida SouthWestern State College biology professor Jordan Donini and his independent research class are treading through knee-deep water in a Florida marsh. Unfazed by the snakes, spiders and insects that cross their path and buzz their ears, they are there every Friday morning, […]
A messy good
COMMENTARYThere’s been a lot of talk, mostly On Nov. 8, 1994, the day 50.8% of voters gave “Walkin” Lawton Chiles, the incumbent, a slim victory over challenger Jeb Bush in the race for Florida governor, 74% of voters did something even more remarkable: They passed a constitutional amendment requiring the state to ban entanglement nets — so-called gill nets — […]
Here come the constitutional amendments
The good news is there will be only six constitutional amendments on the ballot this year as opposed to a staggering 12 in 2018. The bad news is few people have a clue what any of the amendments are about. Here’s a quick summary. Amendment 1 tinkers with wording on who can vote in Florida, changing “Every citizen of the […]
Dean Park Historic District 100th House Tour postponed
Dean Park Historic District is postponing its 100th Anniversary Historic House Tour until further notice. The tour had originally been scheduled for March 28, then postponed to Dec. 5, due to the coronavirus pandemic. A new date for the tour will be announced at a later date. Dean Park, one of the oldest subdivisions in Fort Myers, officially came into […]
Lee coalition warns against drowsy driving
Drowsy driver crashes caused 2.4 percent of the 153,297 fatal crashes from 2011 to 2015 and 2 percent of the 8.1 million crashes that involved injuries, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Wrecks caused by drowsy drivers can occur virtually any time — late at night, early pre-dawn hours or midafternoon. Drowsiness leads to impaired attention and slows […]
Scripps: Breaking COVID-19’s “clutch” may stop spread
Scripps Research chemist Matthew Disney, Ph.D., and colleagues have created drug-like compounds that, in human cell studies, bind and destroy the pandemic coronavirus’ so-called “frameshifting element” to stop the virus from replicating. The frameshifter is a clutchlike device the virus needs to generate new copies of itself after infecting cells. “Our concept was to develop lead medicines capable of breaking […]
The Sunshine State is home to 700 types of land animals …
DID YOU KNOW?Florida is home to an impressive array of fish, wildlife and the habitats in which they live. The breakdown goes something like this, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The state is home to over 700 types of terrestrial animals, FWC says. It also is home to more than 500 species of our feathered friends, according to […]
NEWS OF THE WEIRD
Least-competent criminal Convicted drug smuggler Mike Gielen, 24, hired a helicopter at Deurne airport near Antwerp, Belgium, on Sept. 25, then hijacked the aircraft in mid-flight and forced the pilot to fly to Berkendaal women’s prison south of Brussels to free his wife, Kristel Appelt, 27, who is being held there on suspicion of murdering an ex-boyfriend, The Guardian reported. […]