Karl Schneider
 
| Naples Daily News

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Car collisions are the deadliest reported threat for the endangered Florida panther, and the public rallied behind the state animal during a task force meeting Wednesday for the southern section of a proposed statewide toll road system.

Of the 18 recorded panther deaths this year, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s website says 15 were caused by car collisions and one by a train.

The task force met to work on a draft report for its portion of the Multi-use Corridors of Regional Economic Significance...

Pamela McCabe
 
| Fort Myers News-Press

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A sorority at Florida Gulf Coast University has been suspended after being accused of hosting an event that went against the school’s COVID-19 health and safety guidelines. 

Delta Delta Delta was placed on immediate interim suspension Wednesday, reported President Mike Martin in an email to the campus community. The message went out Thursday afternoon with the subject line: “Decisions and consequences.”

The sorority is accused of holding “an off-campus event in violation of the University’s COVID-19 guidelines,” confirmed Susan Evans in an email...

Thaddeus Mast
 
| Naples Daily News

The Bonita Springs City Council will decide whether the nonprofit organization running the Everglades Wonder Gardens should continue a $1 yearly lease or changes are needed.

Board members of the Bonita Wonder Gardens Inc. will speak about extending the lease before councilors during an October public meeting.

The city invested public dollars to save the Wonder Gardens property in May 2017. It loaned the Bonita Wonder Gardens nonprofit $3.5 million to purchase the property in 2015. 

More: David Rahahę•tih Webb returns to Bonita Springs as leader of Everglades Wonder Gardens

More: Everglades Wonder Gardens CEO Thomas Hecker resigns

The Wonder Gardens was expected to make a payment of $1 million about two years after the purchase...

Cheryl McCloud
 
| Treasure Coast Newspapers

The state added 2,541 new COVID-19 cases and 177 additional resident deaths Thursday, according to data from the Florida Department of Health. 

The reported death toll for Florida residents since the pandemic began is now at 13,795.

There are now 693,040 confirmed cases in the state.

The number of Florida residents hospitalized with COVID-19 is 43,128 since the pandemic began...

Jake Allen
 
| Naples Daily News

A 14-year-old boy who was critically injured in a hit-and-run crash in East Naples returned home from the hospital last week, according to the Collier County Sheriff’s Office.  

The boy identified as Jamesly in a sheriff’s office Facebook post was struck by a vehicle while walking to school at 6:40 a.m. Sept. 3.  

Previous coverage: Boy critically injured in hit-and-run crash

The crash occurred at the intersection of U.S. 41 and Southwest Boulevard near Whistlers Cove apartment complex. The boy was using a crosswalk when he was struck.  

Jamesly was flown to Lee Memorial Hospital in Fort Myers as a trauma alert with injuries to both arms and his left leg.  

He spent the last few weeks recovering from multiple surgeries, according to the sheriff’s o...

Catie Wegman
 
| Treasure Coast Newspapers

Florida’s year-round tropical climate and award-winning beaches are hard to resist when considering retirement.

So, it may not come as a surprise that 11 Florida towns were ranked in the Top 20 “Oldest Cities in the U.S.”

Fort Myers — with a median age of 48.8 — and Naples — at 51.6 years old — ranked 17th and 10th, respectively, in a Coventry Direct study. The analysis used U.S. Census Bureau data across 50 major cities nationwide to analyze the population age ratios.

The Villages took the No. 1 spot, as residents averaged 67.5 years old. Other Florida cities included:

• The Villages — 67.5 median age (No. 1)
• Punta Gorda — 59.8 (No. 2)
• Homosassa Springs — 57.2 (No. 3)
• Vero Beach — 54.5 (No. 4)
• Sebring — 53.2 (No. 7)
• Sarasot...

Brent Batten
 
| Naples Daily News

Way back in 2012 NCH Healthcare System entered a partnership with the Minnesota-based Mayo Clinic that allows doctors to consult remotely, share best practices and even diagnose patients via video conference.

Do you suppose they knew something the rest of us didn’t?

The collaboration between the local health system and one of the nation’s top hospitals has paid off during the coronavirus pandemic when working remotely has the added benefit of minimizing person-to-person contact.

The two institutions seek to take their partnership to a new level beginning today with what they are calling a “cardiology community talk,” on Zoom at 11 a.m.

More: Immokalee could remain COVID-19 hotspot this fall, human rights group says

To join the video conference...

Rachel Fradette
 
| Naples Daily News

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Collier County’s School District is not releasing how many students and employees have had to quarantine due to close contact with more than 60 positive COVID-19 cases reported at school sites so far this year.

Forty-four Collier students and 19 employees have tested positive since the first day of school on Aug. 31, according to the district’s dashboard as of 4 p.m. Wednesday. 

Two weeks into the school year, after...

Cheryl McCloud
 
| Treasure Coast Newspapers

The National Hurricane Center is tracking one post-tropical cyclone in the Atlantic basin. No other activity is forecast over the next five days.

“The atmosphere is always trying to balance out its heat energy and we’ve had a lot of activity over the past three weeks. I think this is one of the balancing acts right now,” said AccuWeather hurricane expert Dan Kottlowski.

“You can have lulls, but you have to keep your eyes open.”

Hurricane season lasts through Nov. 30.

Here’s the latest update from the NHC as of Thursday, Sept. 24. 

More: Fall hurricane outlook: Florida has a 50/50 chance at another strike | WeatherTiger forecast

More: All quiet in the tropics for now, but soggy weather ahead for South Florida

What’s out there and wh...