The earth vibrates and jagged sound waves swarm the air. From everywhere, it emanates, resembling the sound of a lion’s roar melded with a buzzing chain saw. Hundreds of bikers revved up Sunday morning at North Collier Regional Park before motoring en masse to Fort Myers, capping the eighth annual Bikers for Babies weekend benefitting the March of Dimes.
A roadblock has been thrown in front of the state’s controversial plan to put Alligator Alley up for rent. On Friday, state Sen. Dave Aronberg, D-Greenacres, announced that he had filed a bill seeking to prohibit deals like the one under consideration by the Florida Department of Transportation. In April, the department publicly began steps to lease the 78-mile toll road to private investors for 50 to 75 years.
Sandpiper Street, just east of Naples’ Golden Shores and Royal Harbor neighborhoods, is a divided road. Not just because one side of it is owned by the city and the other side by Collier County, but because “Vote for Sen. John McCain/Gov. Sarah Palin†and “Vote for Sen. Barack Obama/Sen. Joe Biden†signs compete on side-by-side front lawns, or just across from each other on the narrow side street.