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News Archive Index
09-30-2005
Hendry County is “preparing for aggressive growth” – and new impact fees are the first steps. Starting Saturday – a road impact fee will add almost 25-hundred dollars to the cost of building a single family home in Hendry. A public education impact fee will add another 51-hundred dollars. These are Hendry County’s first ever impact fees. The education fee WILL NOT affect new commercial construction - but road fees for commercial will range from 478 to nearly 14-thousand dollars. Commissioner Kevin McCarthy says the county is taking a proactive approach to handling the growth that’s already coming—and sure to continue.
“The people that come in have to pay for what they use. It’s one of the highest school impact fees in the state – but we realize that with growth comes responsibility. And again, we’re trying to identify and not make mistakes that our neighbors have made – and wait too long. And that’s what you typically heard, we wish we’d done this years ago…we didn’t do the planning.”
McCarthy says Hendry participated in the first rural county long-range transportation plan ever done in Florida. The 6-month study was partially funded by the state Department of Transportation.
In 2004, there were 277 permits for new construction in all of Hendry County. So far in 2005, there’ve been nearly 300…and it’s only September.
09-30-2005
Local advocates want to raise awareness of the challenges facing FEMALE farmworkers. It’s estimated a quarter of farmworkers in Florida are women. A group called The Sarasota/Manatee Farmerworker Supporters -- and several other organizations— have found 5 women who are willing to tell their stories to the public this weekend. President of the supporters, Marvin Mills, says women who work in the fields, packing houses, and greenhouses face added burdens, including…
“Harassment in the field by supervisors. They have the usual problems at home in relation to their menfolk—which is part of their cultural background. They really are a minority within a minority. And they suffer particularly.”
Female farmworkers tell their stories Saturday afternoon—2 o’clock—at the Selby Library in Sarasota. The event is free.
09-30-2005
With natural gas prices at record highs, pressure is mounting to increase drilling in the Eastern Gulf. Part of a new bill would open up the entire outer continental shelf to natural gas companies almost immediately, but Fort Myers Republican Congressman Connie Mack says he won’t let that happen. From our Capitol Hill Bureau, Terry Gildea reports.
09-30-2005
The Florida Department of Transportation held a workshop in Naples last night to discuss plans to increase tolls by a dollar. The 78-mile, four-lane highway that links South Florida’s two coasts needs some repairs. D-O-T spokeswoman Debbie Tower says the road should be repaved, lighting upgrades are needed and additional median guardrails would make it safer. Tower says the easiest way to pay for it all is hiking the toll to 2-50...especially since it’s remained the same for decades.
“It’s important that we kind of move forward with the times when we haven’t had an increase for car drivers since 1969. I think that probably is the only thing we can point to that hasn’t gone up in price in 35 years.
Last year, the state collected 14-million dollars in Alligator Alley tolls...Tower says the increase is expected to generate another five-million. Some of the new money would pay for 14 new Florida Highway Patrol positions.
“We see excessive speed on I-75/Alligator Alley and we all know the risks and the dangers associated with speeders. You know, additional presence, additional troopers would make a big difference in terms of heightened sensibilities towards safety.”
Twenty-three thousand motorists use Alligator Alley every day. Unlike other roads in Florida, the 78-mile stretch of highway is supported almost exclusively by toll revenues for operations and maintenance. Triple-A spokesman Randy Bly says his organization is usually against toll hikes...but not this one:
“We’re realistic and we realize that in Florida there is a tremendous pressure on our highway systems with the major industry, of course, being tourism and thousands and thousands of tourists on our highways in addition to Florida residents, puts a tremendous strain on the highway systems and the maintenance and the enforcement.”
The D-O-T wants the increase to begin in January...but officials are holding several workshops around south Florida before implementing it.
09-30-2005
Pets rescued from Hurricane Katrina will be among those at an adopt-a-thon this weekend in Fort Myers. Pam Geiser reports.
09-29-2005
HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER TOM DELAY WAS INDICTED BY A TEXAS DISTRICT ATTORNEY YESTERDAY AND STEPPED DOWN TEMPORARILY FROM HIS POSITION. LAURA STRICKLER CAUGHT UP WITH FLORIDA LAWMAKERS FOR THEIR REACTION.
09-29-2005
Democratic Florida Congressman Alcee Hastings is challenging the Republican majority in the US House. He filed a discharge petition that would force the House to consider an independent commission to investigate Hurricane Katrina response. Jill Morrison reports from Capitol Hill.
09-29-2005
Eighty-five infant sea turtles were released off the Florida Keys Tuesday. Their release was delayed a week due to Hurricane Rita. Eighty one of the silver dollar-size reptiles were endangered green sea turtles while four were threatened loggerheads.
The director of a turtle hospital in Marathon Richie Moretti says the animals were rescued on the beaches in the Keys about three weeks ago. They were either stuck in the bottom of their nests or tried to swim to sea, but couldn't. Moretti says the release took place on a sargassum weedline about 10 miles off Marathon.
"And they're going to stay in this weed for the next 15-20 years of their life. And they're going to go all around the Sargasso Sea. They're going to go up along North Carolina and turn right to the Azores. Alright. They're waving good-bye, thank you for the ride."
Weedlines are natural habitats that nurture young sea turtles. Early Tuesday, Moretti flew in a small plane off the Keys to find the weedline. The U.S. Coast Guard base in Marathon provided a boat and crew to transport him and the turtles to it.
09-29-2005
Commissioners from Lee and Collier Counties voted to ratify a resolution creating the SW Florida Expressway Authority. The purpose is to speed the widening of I-75 by funding the project with tolls. Valerie Alker has more.
09-29-2005
Manor Court was scheduled for demolition by the City of Cape Coral. The evacuees will be allowed to stay there rent free for about seven months.
Mike Kiniry reports.
09-29-2005
Guardrails are going up along the median of I-75 in Lee and Collier Counties. Crews are installing the rails one mile north and south of on and off-ramps. The main goal is to prevent “cross-over” collisions… when vehicles careen into oncoming traffic. Regional spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Transportation, Debbie Tower, says cross-over crashes are most common near interchanges.
“We see cars and trucks changing lanes. We see speeds increasing and decreasing near interchanges. And with that kind of movement and activity, there’s a greater tendency for cars to leave the interstate and drift into the median at still a very high rate of speed. And when cars go through the median and hit oncoming traffic—on an interstate, which is, of course, the last thing a driver expects. We see, typically very tragic consequences—very often resulting in fatalities.”
In January, 5 people died on I-75 in a cross-over crash near Daniels Parkway. The interstate was shut down for hours. Safety funds are paying for the new guardrails. The project will be complete early next year. Debbie Tower says crews can easily remove the railing once widening begins… and new lanes replace the median.
09-28-2005
Charlotte County has no official hurricane shelters. Much of the county is just slightly above sea level… and the Red Cross hasn’t found a safe enough spot. Evacuees flee North to Sarasota County, south to Lee, or east to Glades. But that could change… if an abandoned mental hospital can become a shelter—specifically for those with special needs. Valerie Alker reports.
09-28-2005
School districts across Florida are grappling with the newly passed Jessica Lunsford Act – part of which requires screening for workers who come onto school grounds. The law took effect September 1st – as a response to the rape and murder of 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford in Homosassa, Florida. It requires workers who might come into contact with students – including construction workers, delivery people and sports officials – to undergo background checks. Districts are expected to pay the roughly 80-dollar cost for each screening.
Lee County Schools Superintendent – Dr. James Browder – says there are unintended consequences… like making it harder to attract building contractors.
“This is another example of something that’ll drive the cost of construction up. If you have several sub-contractors, you have to get everybody on those teams that go into a school to, for instance reconstruct a portion of the building, all those folks have to have a level 2 screening, which means that they’re fingerprinted, and that goes through the FBI database.”
Browder says he’s already heard that some contractors would sooner STOP doing business with the district, than get all their workers screened. There’s also concern over ambiguities in the law – including who exactly gets screened, and whether people who work in multiple districts require multiple screenings. The Florida Legislature is expected to take up the issue during a special session in the coming months.
09-28-2005
Charlotte County Commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to continue moving forward with negotiations about the future of Babcock Ranch.
Most of the 91-thousand acre property is in Charlotte County. Developer Syd Kitson wants the county to enter into a 4-party agreement – and amend its comprehensive plan to accommodate more density. The 4 parties also include the state and Lee County. Kitson want to build nearly 20-thousand homes on about 17-thousand acres. Tuesday’s decision was NOT to enter into any agreement – but to continue gathering information.
Commission Chair – Sara Devos – says because there’s so much at stake—including the possibility of preserving a lot of the land—the commission needs more time.
“When you can preserve over 74-thousand acres of environmentally sensitive land, you take that very seriously. When we can get 10-million gallons a day of water, that’s pretty significant for our county. But on the flip side of that, we have to worry about what the impacts will be to our county overall.”
So far, Lee County Commissioners have been adamant about NOT amending their comp plan to allow for more density. About 50 members of the Babcock Preservation Partnership turned out in matching green t-shirts to support preservation of the ranch. Vice President of the Peace River Audubon Society – and partnership member - Carol McDougal – says she’s still fighting for preservation of all 91-thousand acres… not just a major chunk.
“And if that’s not possible, then come up with a better usage so we don’t change the comp plans. Mr. Kitson’s vision is to create a city that would be 2 to 3 times larger than Punta Gorda, and could be over 50-thousand people…and we just don’t have a mechanism in place to support that.”
Commissioner Devos in Charlotte says Kitson will provide she and her colleagues with a preliminary plan later this week. County staff will spend a month reviewing it. The commission will meet again in early November to reconsider Kitson’s proposal.
09-27-2005
Big Cypress National Preserve has a new superintendent. Karen Gustin has worked with state and federal land management agencies since 1978. Her career has included stints in Missouri, Georgia, Alaska, Guam & Saipan. Most recently, Gustin was superintendent at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Michigan. Big Cypress was created in 1974 to protect the watershed of the Big Cypress Swamp. It’s a combination of wet & dry forests – interspersed with wet prairies - and provides recreation, including off-roading, hunting and camping.
Gustin says she’s often asked what it means to be superintendent of a national preserve…
“Basically I explain it as being the general manager of a park…so it’s my responsibility to direct the overall supervision of the park staff and operations. For people that’ve never been here – because a lot of people have never of Big Cypress, everybody’s heard of the Everglades – how I explain this place to people is I say – I explain how big it is…that we share a boundary with Everglades National Park.”
Gustin has a staff of about 85 – including maintenance, education, resource management and law enforcement personnel. She says her job is very much like running a small community. Meanwhile, portions of the preserve will close to the public— because of high water conditions. Affected areas included the Loop Unit, Corn Dance Unit…and Zones 3 & 4 of the Stairsteps Unit.
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