Rachel Iacovone is a reporter and associate producer of Gulf Coast Live for WGCU News. Rachel came to WGCU as an intern in 2016, during the presidential race. She went on to cover Florida Gulf Coast University students at President Donald Trump's inauguration on Capitol Hill and Southwest Floridians in attendance at the following day's Women's March on Washington.Rachel was first contacted by WGCU when she was managing editor of FGCU's student-run media group, Eagle News. She helped take Eagle News from a weekly newspaper to a daily online publication with TV and radio branches within two years, winning the 2016 Society of Professional Journalists Mark of Excellence Award for Best Use of Multimedia in a cross-platform series she led for National Coming Out Day. She also won the Mark of Excellence Award for Feature Writing for her five-month coverage of an FGCU student's transition from male to female.As a WGCU reporter, she produced the first radio story in WGCU's Curious Gulf Coast project, which answered the question: Does SWFL Have More Cases of Pediatric Cancer?Rachel graduated from Florida Gulf Coast University with a bachelor's degree in journalism.
Sarasota County School Board members on Tuesday gave cautious support to the district’s strategic plan to reduce vacant space — while pressing for answers about its cost and whether it will be enough to keep charters out.
During an October meeting of Sarasota MAGA Patriots — a rightwing coalition pursuing a range of issues, from anti-vaccine activism to emergency preparedness — attendees railed against a new state law curbing local oversight of development and the Republican lawmakers who backed it.Their ire reflects tensions inside Florida’s dominant party, between Tallahassee’s power brokers and the populist base that helped put them there.
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) reminds small businesses and private nonprofits in Florida that they have until Dec. 8 deadline to apply for low interest federal disaster loans to offset economic losses caused by the drought occurring Feb. 11, 2025.The disaster declaration covers Broward, Charlotte, Collier, DeSoto, Glades, Hendry, Highlands, Lee, Martin, Okeechobee, Palm Beach and St. Lucie counties.
There is talk in Tallahassee of giving new help to homestead property owners, more than 30 years after Florida voters approved a constitutional amendment to restrict increases in real estate tax assessments on owner-occupied residences.
A federal judge in Rhode Island has ordered the Trump administration to find the money to fully fund SNAP benefits for November. The ruling Thursday was in response to a challenge from cities and nonprofits complaining that the administration was only offering to cover 65% of the maximum benefit. The Trump administration said last month that it would not pay benefits at all for November because of the federal shutdown. Last week, two judges ordered the government to pay at least partial benefits using an emergency fund. It initially said it would cover half, but it now says it will cover 65%.