A small group of Falun Gong practitioners held a peaceful demonstration outside the Marco Island Resort and Spa recently, while the American Society of Transplant Surgeons attended their annual conference indoors. WGCU’s Christine Buckley reports on the spiritual movement and the physicians.

Florida Gulf Coast University President William Merwin stepped down yesterday afternoon at an emergency meeting of FGCU's Board of Trustees. WGCU's Christine Buckley was there and has this report.

Americans eat more than 4 pounds of shrimp per person each year, making it our most popular seafood. And more shrimp are off-loaded and processed in Lee County than anywhere else in Florida. Yet despite numbers that should indicate a thriving local industry, Fort Myers Beach shrimpers say they’re barely getting by. In part 2 of our series on the San Carlos Island shrimping fleet, WGCU’s Christine Buckley has more.

Shrimping came to Fort Myers Beach in the early 1960's - soon after record numbers of jumbo pink shrimp were discovered in the Gulf of Mexico, 25 miles off Naples. The fledgling fleet soon outgrew the Naples docks and settled in San Carlos Island, where it's been based ever since. What might appear to be nothing more than a tiny fishing hamlet in the shadow of Matanzas Pass Bridge is actually an important contributor to Lee County's coffers. WGCU's Christine Buckley spent the afternoon with some of the local shrimp industry's main players to explore the trade.

Babcock Ranch developer Syd Kitson and his partners made a generous gift to Florida Gulf Coast University today – in the form of land and cash.

Florida Gulf Coast University just got a lot bigger. This afternoon FGCU President William Merwin announced its receipt of 67 acres of land in two parcels at the Babcock Ranch site, which sits in eastern portions of Lee and Charlotte counties. One parcel will be established as an environmental research center – the other as an outreach facility– both run by FGCU. The land also comes with a 3-million-dollar endowment.

FGCU President William Merwin thanked Kitson from the “bottom of his heart”:

“This means generations and generations of students not yet here, that are in the graded schools, will have an opportunity to work in a center…a center for environmental research and outreach in Charlotte County.”

The State of Florida Courtelis Fund will match the gift, effectively creating a 6-million-dollar trust dedicated to building the state-of-the-art facilities.

Syd Kitson says he and the university share a commitment to assuring that sustainable growth and preservation work hand-in-hand:

“I really feel very fortunate to be involved with the people of this university, and the outstanding work that you are doing to meet the long-term environmental planning challenges of Southwest Florida.”

The center will be accessible not only to the university community, but area residents—who will be able to attend public seminars, faculty presentations of research findings and courses on the ecology of Babcock Ranch.

The Seminole word “Immokalee” means “my home”. Each winter, the rural Collier county settlement of that name becomes home to migrants from Mexico, Central America, Haiti and neighboring nations. These workers come to pick the area’s citrus, tomatoes, and other crops. They have made Immokalee the state’s largest farm worker community and a major supplier of the country’s winter produce. With Florida’s growing season now in full swing, WGCU’s Christine Buckley visited a market where the locals do their shopping - and socializing.

Domestic Violence Awareness Month wrapped up this week. But unfortunately more people are victimized every day. W-G-C-U’s Christine Buckley discovered that local focus is on the need for more transitional housing, a key stop on a woman’s precarious road away from her abuser.