Students affected by COVID-19 able to graduate for the first timeDeadly crash on State Road 29 in Hendry County
FORT MYERS Students affected by COVID-19 able to graduate for the first time For many young people, COVID stripped away one of their greatest rites of passage: graduation.
Deadly crash on State Road 29 in Hendry County Authorities are at the scene of a deadly crash on State Road 29 in Hendry County on Friday afternoon.
Celebrating Free Comic Book Day in SWFL JP Sports store manager Jonathan Powell said this is a generational event that brings families together to reminisce on comics and other hobby-related knickknacks.
FORT MYERS Group rescues dogs before getting put down in Lee County Our animal shelters are packed with amazing puppies who have the sole desire to be loved.
FORT MYERS FGCU student beats all odds and is able to graduate Nearly four years ago, Marisa Manning had her heart set on going to Florida Gulf Coast University but never thought she’d find her passion for studying parasites.
Victim in MLK Blvd. shooting identified as social media influencer The victim of the Martin Luther King Boulevard shooting has been identified as a local social media influencer.
FORT MYERS Could a Ferris wheel in downtown Fort Myers work? Right now, there are talks to bring a Ferris wheel to downtown Fort Myers, but several things are still up in the air.
LITTLE HICKORY BAY Improving ‘Hell’s Gate’ safety, a notoriously dangerous waterway for boaters A push to make an area known as “Hell’s Gate” safer since it’s a dangerous stretch of water with several blind corners within Little Hickory Bay.
Fixing failed back surgeries More than a million and a half people in the U.S. undergo back surgery each year. However, classic back surgery has one of the highest failure rates of any surgery.
WINK NEWS Getting an inside look at the FEMA discount controversy Picking up the pieces after Hurricane Ian has been difficult for many and moving on can impact our wallets.
FGCU FGCU pitcher Dylan Wolff playing for hometown team after labrum injury FGCU pitcher Dylan Wolff is living the dream playing for the hometown team after he overcame a labrum injury.
LEHIGH ACRES Frustrated Lehigh parents want action after violent school fights go viral online Violence at a Lehigh Acres Middle school was captured and posted online.
Turtle Club beachfront restaurant relaunches in Naples After a series of private friends and family events this week, The Turtle Club will reopen May 5 and begin taking reservations again May 6.
Jimmie The Beef Guy opens in Fort Myers Jimmie “The Beef Guy” Hart opened the first Jimmie The Beef Guy in 2021 on the southeast corner of Bonita Beach Road and U.S. 41.
SARASOTA Distressed endangered sawfish euthanized nearly a month after rescue Wildlife officials euthanized a distressed smalltooth sawfish that was rescued from Cudjoe Bay in the Florida Keys where it was swimming in circles.
FORT MYERS Students affected by COVID-19 able to graduate for the first time For many young people, COVID stripped away one of their greatest rites of passage: graduation.
Deadly crash on State Road 29 in Hendry County Authorities are at the scene of a deadly crash on State Road 29 in Hendry County on Friday afternoon.
Celebrating Free Comic Book Day in SWFL JP Sports store manager Jonathan Powell said this is a generational event that brings families together to reminisce on comics and other hobby-related knickknacks.
FORT MYERS Group rescues dogs before getting put down in Lee County Our animal shelters are packed with amazing puppies who have the sole desire to be loved.
FORT MYERS FGCU student beats all odds and is able to graduate Nearly four years ago, Marisa Manning had her heart set on going to Florida Gulf Coast University but never thought she’d find her passion for studying parasites.
Victim in MLK Blvd. shooting identified as social media influencer The victim of the Martin Luther King Boulevard shooting has been identified as a local social media influencer.
FORT MYERS Could a Ferris wheel in downtown Fort Myers work? Right now, there are talks to bring a Ferris wheel to downtown Fort Myers, but several things are still up in the air.
LITTLE HICKORY BAY Improving ‘Hell’s Gate’ safety, a notoriously dangerous waterway for boaters A push to make an area known as “Hell’s Gate” safer since it’s a dangerous stretch of water with several blind corners within Little Hickory Bay.
Fixing failed back surgeries More than a million and a half people in the U.S. undergo back surgery each year. However, classic back surgery has one of the highest failure rates of any surgery.
WINK NEWS Getting an inside look at the FEMA discount controversy Picking up the pieces after Hurricane Ian has been difficult for many and moving on can impact our wallets.
FGCU FGCU pitcher Dylan Wolff playing for hometown team after labrum injury FGCU pitcher Dylan Wolff is living the dream playing for the hometown team after he overcame a labrum injury.
LEHIGH ACRES Frustrated Lehigh parents want action after violent school fights go viral online Violence at a Lehigh Acres Middle school was captured and posted online.
Turtle Club beachfront restaurant relaunches in Naples After a series of private friends and family events this week, The Turtle Club will reopen May 5 and begin taking reservations again May 6.
Jimmie The Beef Guy opens in Fort Myers Jimmie “The Beef Guy” Hart opened the first Jimmie The Beef Guy in 2021 on the southeast corner of Bonita Beach Road and U.S. 41.
SARASOTA Distressed endangered sawfish euthanized nearly a month after rescue Wildlife officials euthanized a distressed smalltooth sawfish that was rescued from Cudjoe Bay in the Florida Keys where it was swimming in circles.
Gov. Ron DeSantis (Credit: Pool) Saying organizations that accredit colleges and universities have an “inordinate amount of power,” Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill Tuesday that will force schools to periodically change accreditors. The measure (SB 7044) also significantly changes the process of reviewing professors’ tenure, a provision that has drawn ire from the state’s largest faculty union. “It’s all about trying to make these institutions more in line with what the state’s priorities are, and quite frankly the priorities of parents throughout the state of Florida,” DeSantis said during a bill-signing event in The Villages. Colleges and universities under the law will be required to change accreditors at the end of each accreditation cycle, a process that can take as long as 10 years. The law will take effect on July 1. The state university system’s Board of Governors and the State Board of Education, which oversees the college system, will be directed to identify organizations that are “best suited to serve” as accreditors for the schools. The accrediting bodies will have to be recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. The governor took aim at accreditors before signing the measure. “The role that these accreditation agencies play, I don’t even know where they come from. I mean, they … are effectively self-anointed. They have an inordinate amount of power to shape what is going on at these universities,” DeSantis said. The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, or SACSCOC, accredits Florida’s colleges and universities. The relationship between SACSCOC and state higher-education officials was strained last year after the organization weighed in on two high-profile issues at universities. The agency raised questions about a potential conflict of interest involving state Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran when he was a candidate to become president of Florida State University. Later in the year, SACSCOC took preliminary steps toward an investigation into whether the University of Florida faced “non-compliance issues” related to a decision to block three professors from serving as expert witnesses in a high-profile voting rights lawsuit. SACSCOC President Belle Wheelan defended the inquiries and said it is common for accrediting organizations to ask such questions of schools. Wheelan on Tuesday said the bill signed by DeSantis will have an “unfortunate” impact on Florida’s colleges and universities. “Accrediting bodies are governed by the member institutions themselves, sharing their expertise in various disciplines across higher education. While institutions may contribute when associated with other colleagues across the nation, our member institutions found value in collaborating with colleagues from a region with similar values, histories and cultures. It is unfortunate that Florida institutions may no longer have this opportunity,” Wheelan told The News Service of Florida in an email. The new law also will authorize the Board of Governors to adopt a regulation requiring university professors to undergo a “comprehensive post-tenure review” every five years. Such reviews would take into account accomplishments and productivity, assigned duties in research and teaching, performance metrics, compensation and “consequences for underperformance.” “I think the thing is, you know, tenure was there to protect people so that they could do ideas that maybe would cause them to lose their job or whatever, and academic freedom,” DeSantis said Tuesday. “I don’t know that that’s really the role that it plays, quite frankly, anymore. I think what tenure does, if anything, it’s created more of an intellectual orthodoxy.” The governor’s approval of the bill drew an immediate objection from United Faculty of Florida President Andrew Gothard. The union has argued that individual schools already have processes to review faculty tenure. “All of Florida’s faculty already undergo an extensive performance review process, tenured or otherwise; they are already held accountable by their peers and employers,” Gothard said in a statement. “The only missing piece in that equation is that tenured faculty cannot be fired for political reasons, meaning the passing whims of the latest politician in power cannot be used to harm the future of Florida’s students and institutions.” Gothard, who is a professor at Florida Atlantic University, also criticized state leaders for “playing political games” with the futures of university students. “Tenure protects the right of faculty to teach and research honestly and accurately without the threat of politicians who would fire them for doing their jobs, and it protects the rights of students to learn about whatever interests them without being told by big government how to live their lives,” Gothard said in a statement. Facebook Twitter Email Print Save