News

While council chose to delay making several costly decisions, an audience of residents let out an audible moan following a close council vote in support of spending about $484,000 to design a new "green" utility building.

Edward Maglietta’s life wouldn’t be affected much by a ban on plastic shopping bags. The 76-year-old, who winters here, has been toting reusable bags into area grocery stores for two years. He is in favor of what other municipalities across the United States and countries around the world have done: regulated them.

A bookkeeper who embezzled $58,000 from a non-profit agency that feeds Haitian children was sentenced Monday to a year in jail and probation after she pleaded for leniency — citing her own children.

 

There is no shortage of important environmental land for sale in Lee County. What the county does face is a shortage of money to buy that land.
The county Conservation 2020 program has spent $270 million in property taxes buying just under 21,000 acres. The program is fed by a tax of 50 cents for every $1,000 in taxable value. Voters approved the tax in a non-binding 1996 referendum and commissioners have adopted it every year since.

City Council's meeting began for the first time in months without a cement wall between City Hall and neighbor Andrew Guidry's physicians' office. With parking once again open and shared between City Hall' and its neighbor, as decided in a December meeting, Council began Monday afternoon addressing a new dispute between the city and three contracting firms regarding bids on sewer construction.

The next time you’re driving in Lee County and you get the feeling Big Brother is watching you, you may be right. The county will test red light cameras at the intersection of Colonial Boulevard and Summerlin Road over the next several months. There will be no tickets issued because of this surveillance — at least not yet.

At 11 a.m. Tuesday, on the football field at Golden Gate High School, a fully-grown Kevin Rambosk will be sworn in — in full color — as the seventh sheriff in Collier County’s 86-year history. He takes the reins from outgoing Sheriff Don Hunter, who steps down after 20 years at the agency’s helm and amidst one of the longest sustained declines in total crime in the county’s history.

The automotive industry’s woes are leading to consolidations and layoffs from one of Southwest Florida’s largest dealerships.
The DeVoe Automotive Group announced Monday it will consolidate some of its Naples and Bonita Springs franchises in order to restructure and streamline its dealerships. The decision was made due to the downturn in vehicle sales over the past two years as economic conditions worsen.

Marco Community Bank funds city's tennis program for children.

An accident on the southbound side of Collier Boulevard near the road to Isles of Capri, CR-952, sends three victims, including an infant, to the hospital.

It has been quite a year. A historic precedent was set when Barack Obama was elected president, a recession was declared and etc published its first edition.

When you arrive at 599 S. Collier Blvd., and first enter Captain Brien’s Seafood and Raw Bar, the aromas of fresh seafood and seasonings waft through the air in a family friendly, casual dining area. It is equipped with simple wooden tables and chairs, with nautical and fishing gear decor

In many ways every poem is original in that it expresses the particular and unique world view of the poet who is relating his/her own life experience, personal observation, or individual thought in a brand new way. Like the song composed by Paul Anka which Frank Sinatra made his signature piece, essentially, every poet does it “My Way.”

Lucky you. This holiday, you received a bookstore gift certificate. That means two things: one, that somebody knows you well and that you love books; two, you had better to get to a bookstore, pronto!

Some of the most impressive works of art in Collier County aren’t found in the galleries, museums or art centers. They are secured in private homes, admired by collectors who appreciate works by masters such as Picasso, Calder and Chagall. Now, the von Liebig Art Center is letting the public get a glimpse of these magnificent treasures that are rarely seen in public. The art center is hosting a Naples Collects exhibition Jan. 10 through 25 in its galleries at 585 Park Street in downtown Naples, in the northeast corner of Cambier Park.

Two days before Christmas, Nancy Kanelopoulos, a quadriplegic, arrived back in Southwest Florida, greeted with renewed friendships from a lifetime ago. On New Year’s Day, she enjoyed her 49th birthday in the outside patio of her new Fort Myers nursing home, soaking up the sun and banter with her new support network. Members of the Lely Class of ‘78 are a determined bunch, wanting to bring dignity into her life after eight years of nursing homes in Asheville, N.C., with few, if any, visitors. “I just think you all are awesome,” Nancy said at her birthday party. “From the beginning, I wanted to come back home. I’m just happy.”

 

Bonita Springs City Council will decide Wednesday whether its contractors should be required to verify the authenticity of their employees’ documents through the federal government’s E-Verify online database. Though the move may make it easier for contractors to quickly check the authenticity of their employees’ documents, the online database has received criticism for being inaccurate and local contractors may view the step as an unnecessary level of bureaucracy that singles their industry out.

Kathleen Reynolds is finding out that in a tough economy, it is difficult to solicit money for good causes.
Reynolds, the chief executive officer of the Early Learning Coalition, learned that lesson last month when she asked Collier County Commissioners for about $150,000 to fund childcare for underprivileged working families.
The money would be the county’s match for a $3.5 million grant that would contribute to the Early Learning Coalitions’ school readiness program. The program, which serves more than 1,100 children in the county, allows low-income families to receive free childcare from about 100 childcare providers in Collier County.