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News Archive Index
03-31-2006
“We need help now” – that’s the message Governor Jeb Bush got Thursday from a group of southwest Florida mayors. The Sanibel, Cape Coral, Naples, Bonita Springs & Fort Myers Beach mayors traveled to Tallahassee to meet with the Governor about their concerns about freshwater releases from Lake Okeechobee into the Caloosahatchee River. Sanibel Mayor Carla Johnston says they appreciate the Governor’s fast tracking of long-term Everglades restoration projects. But if something doesn’t change soon, southwest Florida’s economy will suffer irreparable damage.
“All you have to do is to look at the photographs of what’s happened to Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge and to what’s happened to the canals in Cape Coral and the riverfront in Fort Myers and the beaches all the way down to Naples. And it’s clear that we can’t do that again because if the bay doesn’t survive, the people who come here, won’t come.”
Last year, there was twice as much water released than the year before. The billions of gallons of nutrient-rich freshwater have been blamed for massive algae blooms, which have choked the river and its estuary. The mayors want the ‘release schedule’ - determining when, and how much water is released into the Caloosahatchee River – to be modified to reduce the need for so many high-volume releases. And they did get some immediate results. The mayors came away from the meeting with a copy of a letter Governor Bush is sending to the U-S Army Corps of Engineers urging immediate action toward reducing the releases.
03-31-2006
The February unemployment rates for Collier and Lee Counties remain unchanged from the previous month. But they’re still some of lowest levels in all of Florida. Lee checked in at 2-point-3 percent and Collier, 2-point-4. Sarasota was also 2-point-4 percent and Charlotte was a bit higher at 3-percent. Economists consider levels that low to be full employment. That’s good news for workers and tough for employers who have higher turnover or feel the pressure to pay employees more to retain them. State labor analyst Warren May says Southwest Florida is a major job engine for the rest of the state.
“You’re attracting a lot of business there -- some of the highest-growing areas in the nation. So you continue to have people move in and you continue to have good companies move in there too and it’s really driving the economy in that area.”
Still, May says there’s room for improvement. Hendry County had the highest jobless rate in Florida at 5-percent.
Florida’s unemployment rate for February was a microscopic 3-point-2 percent. The state has added nearly 300-thousand jobs this year alone. Professional and business services remained the leading industry sector followed by construction. In Southwest Florida, the job figures were even better. Lee County tied for the lowest unemployment rate in the state at 2-point-3 percent. Collier was just behind at 2-point-4. State labor analyst Warren May says this region’s economy is strong despite recent challenges.
“We rebounded very quickly from the hurricanes that hit us and you even see areas like Charlotte County so heavily hit in 2004 and 2005. Their unemployment rate dropped by 1.7% over the year. So we’re seeing continued economic growth and strong recovery from hurricanes.”
Out of a total statewide workforce of 8-point-8 million people…just 279-thousand were without a job last month.
03-31-2006
Drivers crossing the Sanibel Causeway will notice the first major change in preparation for the new causeway next week when they’ll be directed through a new temporary toll booth. Using a temporary toll booth on the Sanibel Causeway will reduce construction time by some four months according to the Lee County Department of Transportation. The switch from the existing toll booth to the temporary one will begin Tuesday at 6 p.m. says Lee County Department of Transportation Deputy Director Paul Wingard.
It’ll take us all night to get it switched over but we’re going to put the traffic through the temporary plaza which is behind the existing plaza just for the safety of the traveling public while we’re doing the new building.
The temporary toll booth, located near Punta Rassa west of the current one, will have the same number of lanes as the old one. Commuters will be able to use their toll discount transponder in all three. The new road rejoins the current causeway immediately beyond the toll booth.
The permanent toll plaza, which is expected to be completed early next year, will have office buildings on top of the booths. The next major development will be completion of the center bridge this summer. The 70 foot high span bridge, which replaces the 40 year-old drawbridge, will be done by early fall and the last bridge, the one closest one to Sanibel, will be ready by the end of the year.
Wingard says the project is on schedule and construction should be substantially complete before high season in February.
By the time people come back next year which pretty much happens after the first of the year we’ll have the construction pretty well done.
The causeway island beaches will remain basically the same. Additional docks will be added to the boat ramp west of the toll plaza. The beach just east of the toll plaza will be replaced by a saltwater pond.
For WGCU News, I’m Wendy Humphrey on Sanibel Island.
03-31-2006
This weekend marks the 26th Florida International Airshow at the Charlotte County Airport in Punta Gorda. This year’s Air Show “Pioneer In Aviation” is retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Joseph Kittinger Junior of Orlando. He’ll be honored today (March 31st ).
Colonel Kittinger is best known for his accomplishments as an early "space hero," a characterization which first appeared in the cover story of the August 1960 issue of Life magazine. He still holds the record for the highest parachute jump and first man to exceed the sound barrier in free-fall. He was born in 1928 in Orlando…
03-31-2006
A national and state aging coalition has launched an effort to educate seniors about the new Medicare prescription drug plans. It’s being done in a traveling cargo van, which makes a special trip to Southwest Florida this weekend.
The first round of open enrollment for the Medicare prescription plan ends May 15th. Seniors who have not yet enrolled need to or they won’t be able to join until next fall and at that time they face a penalty for the delay.
June Noel is the regional manager for the national council on aging for the My Medicare Matters campaign. She says seniors should visit the van in North Fort Myers on Saturday.
“The best thing for them to bring with them is a list of their current medications and the dosages because some of the 40 plus insurance plans that are available to seniors will offer a medication but only at certain dosages.”
She has 6 markets in Florida – each with a van and a team of educators. They give independent advice and look up information to help seniors choose which part D medicare prescription plan is best for them.
The Senior Fun Fest event offers free health screenings as well – it’s from 9 to 4 Saturday at the Del Tura Plaza in North Fort Myers.
03-30-2006
The deadline for Florida residents made homeless by hurricanes in 2004 to move out of FEMA housing has been extended. The new deadline is September giving the approximately 26 hundred family six more months to find a place to live. But where will they go? In Charlotte County that’s problematic. WGCU’s Valerie Alker reports.
03-30-2006
The Florida Agriculture Department reported Wednesday that its new marketing programs have increased sales of Florida products by more than a billion dollars.
Four years ago, the Florida Ag Department began larger media and P-R campaigns to encourage supermarkets and others to stock Florida products both here in this country and abroad. Those that sign on--increase their orders of Florida produce and include the ‘Fresh from Florida’ logo in their advertising. State Agriculture Department spokesman Dan Sleep says it’s paid off.
“There’s 44,000 farmers in the state and somewhere in the vicinity of 6 or 700,000 people that are dependent on or directly or indirectly find their employment from that industry. So it’s important to every single person in some way.”
A recent University of Florida survey found agriculture is worth an estimated 87-billion dollars to the state economy annually.
There are 44-thousand farmers in Florida and more than three-quarters of a million people are directly or indirectly employed by the industry. Ag Department spokesman Dan Sleep says ‘farming’ remains strong in Florida.
“They are committed to growing the best products in the world. They’re committed certainly to continually improving their ability to compete and to put products out there that the consumer wants. They’ve been fantastically capable of overcoming what hurricanes and other calamities have dealt them in the past two years.”
Sleep says the enhanced agriculture marketing will continue for the foreseeable future. He says it’s money well-spent because it directly impacts all Floridians.
03-30-2006
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement arrested a Hendry County social worker on public corruption charges for illegally obtaining prescription drugs from his clients.
51-year-old Jose Serrano of LaBelle is charged with official misconduct of a public official, bribery by a public official and public assistance fraud.
The FDLE’s Larry Long says Serrano was allegedly using his authority as a Hendry County Case Manager to get prescription narcotic pain medications from clients.
“Through our investigation we received information that he was using his position to obtain narcotic pain medications by basically bribing individuals that were his clients or actually making threats against individuals, possibly pulling their funding if they did not turn over their pain medication to him.”
Members of FDLE’s Fort Myers Pharmaceutical Diversion Response Team spent seven months investigating. It looks into the criminal misuse of prescribed medications and how those medications get into the hands of the people that are using them in illegally. This is the year-old team’s first case to come to fruition but there are others being investigated in SWFL.
He was allegedly bribing his clients with the potential loss of their payments if they didn’t give him their pain medication.
The FDLE’s Larry Long says this case is quite unusual.
“To see this type of public corruption involving prescription pain medication. Unfortunately public assistance fraud is not that uncommon. But it is uncommon for us to see an individual who has the power to be able to release funding to individuals abuse that position and able to obtain prescription medication illegally by doing so.”
Investigators say Serrano allegedly falsified applications for clients making them eligible for certain programs in return for narcotics such as oxycotin and xanex.
Serrano is believed to have fraudulently issued more than 2400 dollars in Hendry County benefits during a seven-month period.
03-29-2006
Members of the AARP will be in Tallahassee today to talk to state lawmakers about their 2006 legislative priorities. The 80-member delegation includes Clark Dahlgren of Lee County. Dahlgren says AARP’s top priority is to stop a state plan to force needy seniors into Medicaid managed long-term care facilities. He says lawmakers need to consider long term care in a much broader context that gives seniors greater choice.
“These services can be provided at home – in the community – in an assisted living facility or in a nursing home but currently – 78 percent of all funding goes directly to the nursing home without fully exploring the other options that could be made available at the home or in a community based setting.”
Other AARP legislative priorities include increasing staff to patient ratios in nursing homes and protecting seniors from identity theft. AARP has 2.3 million Florida Members.
03-29-2006
Former Soviet Union president Mikhail Gorbachev told a crowd of spectators at Florida Gulf Coast University last night that world peace is possible -- but only if leaders work together.
Mikhail Gorbachev spoke for more than hour to some 4-thousand residents. The former Soviet leader said there are waves on instability in the world and the growing violence in Iraq concerns him. He says people are right to criticize politicians for not producing better results. Gorbachev says the possibilities for the United States are endless.
“America has a right to lead because of its power, because of its democratic traditions, because of its cultural and democratic potential and influence. But this leadership should be realized not through domination, but through partnership with other countries.”
Gorbachev says the most important task is to understand and then react to a rapidly changing world...something, he said, many world leaders don’t do.
More than four-thousand people turned out last night to hear former Soviet Union president Mikhail Gorbachev speak at Florida Gulf Coast University. His hour-long discussion was titled ‘Peace in the 21st Century.’ He said people are right to be critical of their leaders when they disagree about wars, unrest and poverty.
“People are alarmed. People are concerned. Everywhere people are asking the same question: ‘what kind of future do we have in store? What kind of future to expect?’ People are very concerned and very uncertain about the future.”
Gorbachev encouraged the crowd to be more pro-active and get involved. He says there are three main challenges the world faces: poverty, a declining environment and war.
You can hear more of Gorbachev’s speech and a special interview with the former Soviet leader today on Gulf Coast Live at two-o-clock.
03-29-2006
Lee County School Superintendent – Dr. James Browder – says he likes most of Governor Jeb Bush’s proposed A-Plus-Plus education plan, except when it comes to funding. The Governor’s proposal calls for a shift in the way Florida’s middle and high schools operate – including the addition of major areas of study for high school students, and the inclusion of more math and science courses in middle school. Browder says overall – the initiative adds accountability to the state’s education system. But he says it fails to address a major shortfall.
“One of the things we’ve gotta get to is Florida, in per pupil spending, is in the middle 40s out of 50 states. We’ve got to do something to get the funding of public education back on track in the state of Florida.”
Browder also says the proposed A-Plus-Plus Plan does nothing to help attract teachers…something the state is in desperate need of.
Florida school districts must hire 32-thousand new teachers before August to keep up with demand.
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Governor Jeb Bush’s so-called A-Plus-Plus Plan aims to give Florida high school students a quote “more Rigorous and Relevant education”.
If the plan is approved, students would major in an area they’re particularly interested in, or have talent for…that’s the Relevant portion of the plan.
The Rigor part of Governor Bush’s proposal would mean each student would be able to choose the level of challenge they want to achieve in their major area.
Lee County School Superintendent – Dr. James Browder – says the plan provides framework to prepare ALL youngsters for life after graduation.
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“We need to do a better job of getting youngsters and parents to focus on that. When you ask the 9th grade class that comes in who’s going to college, everybody raises their hand. Well we know that about 40-percent of those will not go.”
Browder says the education system needs a way to train those 40-percent for the career they want to pursue.
The plan outlines a so-called “Ready to Work” program – which would prepare some students to enter the workforce directly out of high school, if that’s their choice.
03-29-2006
A group that spent more than 100,000 dollars trying to oust Lee County Commissioner Ray Judah from office two years ago has been fined for failing to file financial reports. Charlie Whitehead has the story.
03-29-2006
A bill in the Florida House that would create an independent advisory board to look at the impact of freshwater releases from Lake Okeechobee was thought to be dead last week. But it’s been revived.
House Bill 1241 is on the agenda for the Water and Natural Resource Committee meeting today. It sets up the Caloosahatchee / St. Lucie Rivers Corridor Advisory Council. The group would look at the effect of freshwater releases needed to keep Lake Okeechobee at a safe level, on the rivers and estuaries. Republican State Representative Trudi Williams of Fort Myers says Southwest Floridians spoke up when the bill was threatened and lawmakers listened.
“It’s amazing what some squeaky wheels from SWFL can do. I mean it was going to basically die from lack of support from the other members and when they realized how important it was to SWFL and also there were a lot of people missing from that last committee meeting. So I’ve you know rallied the troops around that and Donna Clark opted to put it back on the committee.”
Clark is a Republican from Sarasota. Williams is a former member the South Florida water management district’s governing board. The District has said the council is unnecessary. Williams says, however, the South Florida Water Management district has asked for two amendments.
“You know I don’t have a problem with sending a proclamation to the Army Corps of engineers saying we don’t like how they run their water release schedule but I mean I don’t think that’s going to do anything. They know that already. And their other amendment was to put this oversight board under the water management district. And I think that’s exactly what we want to avoid. I think we need an independent set of eyes.”
The Council would look into alternatives to the current flood control system. Nutrient laden water from the lake gets flushed east and west down the rivers and has been causing algae blooms on both coasts. The blooms kill marine plants and animals. The issue has the communities worried about tourism and recreation.
03-28-2006
A group of about 30 volunteers pitched in on Sanibel Island recently to lend mother nature a helping hand. Their task? To plant mangroves. WGCU’s Valerie Alker reports.
03-28-2006
Final preparations are underway for Mikhail Gorbachev’s visit to Fort Myers tonight. The former Soviet Union leader is speaking at Florida Gulf Coast University. More than 4-thousand people are expected to crowd into FGCU’s Alico Arena to hear the former Soviet premier speak beginning at 6 p-m. Gorbachev will spend about 30-minutes talking about ‘peace in the 21st century’ – then he will take about 25-minutes of questions from the audience. Mikhail Gorbachev won the Nobel Prize for his role in helping to end the Cold War in the early 1990s. Gorbachev has donated his 125-thousand-dollar speaking fee to his private foundation and Green Cross International. His appearance is part of the University’s Lecture Series and he also offered to hold a fundraising dinner after the speech to collect more money to expand the series for future dignitaries to address the region. Tune into Gulf Coast Live tomorrow at two for a special interview with Mikhail Gorbachev.
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