No More Drinking, Holiday Spending & Ageless Baseball | 11-28-2025 | WGCU News

In this episode of Southwest Florida in Focus, we explore compelling local stories shaping our community:

What are Consumers Doing This Holiday Season?: Economic uncertainty surrounds the United States, due in part to rises in tariffs, a soft job market and the recent government shutdown. Yet that doesn’t seem to be dissuading shoppers this upcoming holiday season. The National Retail Federation forecasts that for the first time ever, shoppers are expected to spend more than one trillion dollars during the holiday season. We spoke with Brittany Billings, Chief Marketing Officer for TraxRetail, to understand how people are going to be spending their hard-earned dollars for the season of giving.

Drinking on the Decline in America: It’s the time of year when the eggnog and festive cocktails will be running rampant through social gatherings. However, a recent Gallup poll shows that only 54-percent of US Adults say they consume alcohol. Those numbers decline even further, the younger the generation. So, why are more and more American’s going for the mocktail instead? We talk with Dr. Denise Torres, an Addiction Medicine Physician with Lee Health, to get an understanding of this trend and the health benefits that come from passing up on the booze.

The Dilemma of Basketball and Gambling: The National Basketball Association season got off to a rocky start after players and coaches were arrested as part of a federal investigation into illegal gambling. One of the players involved was Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, who was accused of removing himself from games in order to secure player prop best on gambling websites. WGCU’s Teddy Byrne spoke with author Shea Serrano to learn is anything can be done to limit players interference with the world of gambling.

A Lifelong Love for America’s Pastime: It was 100 years ago when the Philadelphia Athletics brought their gear to Fort Myers and started a spring training tradition. Over the decades, baseball and Southwest Florida have had a rich partnership, with the region hosting two teams in The City of Palms every spring, The Boston Red Sox and Minnesota Twins. But that’s not the only part of America’s Pastime that spends times in Fort Myers. WGCU’s Mike Walcher recently stopped by the Roy Hobbs World Series, to meet one many who has spent decades mastering the diamond.

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