Fort Myers Beach, Florida

The registration efforts for the Salvation Army’s holiday help program is winding down.

A new marker was placed on the grave of Colonel Samuel Sampler, identifying him as a Medal Of Honor recipient Saturday.

The U.S. Coast Guard received report of sailboat that had sunk off Sanibel.

About 7,000 people are packing Lakes Park in south Fort Myers to see a country concert headlined by Kellie Pickler and Sugarland.

Customers are invited to help raise money for children in an effort to end poverty through education. On Tuesday, from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., Whole Foods Market Naples, 9101 Strada Place, will donate 5 percent of the day’s net sales to One Laptop South Florida, which provides low-cost, high-quality laptop computers and critical thinking lessons to fourth-graders in Immokalee and other economically disadvantaged parts of Collier County.

Hazardous material crews were called to Immokalee on Saturday morning to respond to a material spill of two bags on a field near State Road 82 and County Road 850, officials said.

Saturday was a perfect day for a walk in the park for Southwest Floridians looking for one-of-a-kind art.Hundreds of families and friends roamed through Cambier Park in downtown Naples, exploring about 50 local arts and crafts exhibits at the Fine Art and Craft Show hosted by The Naples Artcrafters.

Elephants are said to have good memories, so the Alzheimer’s Support Network held a fundraiser Saturday at the Naples Zoo in honor of National Alzheimer’s Disease Month. It was aptly named Elephant Fest 2008. The motto for the event was “Remembering Those Who Forget.”

Other than a little wind, July 22, 2006, was a gorgeous day for a wedding in Northern Virginia. At a Catholic church in Oakton, about 15 miles west of Washington, D.C., about 200 guests watched as Cara Defrank married the love of her life, Jamie Vernon. Aside from a broken air conditioner in the limousine, Cara Defrank, now 28-year-old Cara Vernon, said the wedding was everything she had hoped it would be.

Today the Lee County Tourist Development Council released comparison tourism numbers for this September and September of 2007.

After months of laying the groundwork and creating a brownfields coalition, Collier County leaders have given the go-ahead to apply for a 0,000 federal cleanup grant. Collier County commissioners recently gave the Bayshore/Gateway Triangle Community Redevelopment Agency officials approval to seek the grant. It would come from the Environmental Protection Agency under a Community-Wide Brownfields Assessment program.

Even after months of preparation, Shirley Altuna didn’t realize all the work that goes into being a mother until her son, Jax, was born late last year.
At first, caring for Jax after a long day of classes could be overwhelming for Altuna, a high school senior at the time. “All my friends who had kids or were in the process were saying how easy it is,” she said. “But after I had him, I learned about paying bills and staying up late to feed him, all while trying to do well in school. It was like, ‘Whoa, I didn’t sign up for this.’”

Brent Batten’s column for Sunday, Nov. 9, 2008

The registration efforts for the Salvation Army’s holiday help program, is winding down to a close.