Fort Myers Beach, Florida

The church of transportation was all fire and brimstone Tuesday night. Presented with one last opportunity to state their case in a public forum, Collier County residents spared no barbs for Florida Department of Transportation officials in railing against the proposed lease of Alligator Alley. The forum was held at the Hilton Naples from 6 to 8 p.m., with a turnout of about 40 people.

Carly Sharbaugh is 16, but she already knows where she wants to go to college. Tuesday evening, she took her mom to college so her mom could understand the process. “I just want us to be on the same page,” said Carly, a junior at Lorenzo Walker Technical High School, who hopes to attend Johnson & Wales University to study culinary arts.

The National Weather Service has issued a frost advisory for overnight Tuesday into Wednesday morning. Under clear skies and light winds, temperatures are forecast to hit the lower to mid 30s in portions of Glades, Hendry and Collier counties.

The National Weather Service has issued a frost advisory for overnight Tuesday into Wednesday morning. Under clear skies and light winds, temperatures are forecast to hit the lower to mid 30s in portions of Glades, Hendry and Collier counties.

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A senior resource center and a 24-hour hotline telephone number to enable seniors to access social services are two projects in the works by a new Leadership Council on Aging, formed this past summer by the Community Foundation of Collier County’s Women’s Initiative. Other endeavors will involve establishing a parish nurse program where retired nurses can visit the elderly in their homes and setting up a resource directory on the Internet, according to Jane Billings, a member of the women’s initiative executive committee.

The new spring training complex for the Boston Red Sox is expected to siphon off one of the 5 cents spent on short-term lodgings.

Collier County landscaping plans got a slight design change Tuesday, after some North Naples residents protested proposed allocations.
Transportation Director Norm Feder had proposed .8 million for three landscaping projects in the upcoming year: two phases of Vanderbilt Beach Road completion, and Rattlesnake-Hammock Road, from Polly Avenue to Collier Boulevard. Not so fast, residents said.

Building a road where endangered Florida panthers roam won’t cost Collier County taxpayers as much to meet federal environmental mitigation requirements under a plan approved Tuesday. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service requires the county, or any private developer in panther country for that matter, to offset habitat loss in the form of so-called Panther Habitat Units.

There may be a trolley in 2009. But it most likely won’t be the trolley proposed before Naples City Council this week. Naples City Council, acting as the Community Redevelopment Agency, on Monday rejected the current proposal. Council then voted 5-2 to rebid the project, in hopes of finding a new provider that would offer a trolley-style vehicle and allow for advertising to offset the cost of the service. Council is expected to formally reject the current proposal during Wednesday’s meeting.

Subway customers will continue to “eat fresh” tomatoes picked by Florida farmworkers. The Coalition of Immokalee Workers reached an agreement Tuesday morning on the first day of its scheduled 10-day protest tour against Subway. Coalition members visited Subway’s corporate Miami headquarters on Tuesday to demand the restaurant chain work with the coalition to ensure fairer wages and working conditions for the workers who pick their tomatoes.

Now that the Boston Red Sox will stay in Lee County for spring training, the million agreement means fewer tourism dollars for other local businesses. We found out how that remaining money will be distributed.

Leaders of Edison State College and Florida Gulf Coast University say they know how to jump-start the economy in Charlotte County; they just need lawmakers’ support.

One Southwest Florida clinic is taking drastic action because of the rising number of prescription drug thefts. The First Choice Pain Care Clinic of SWFL in Gateway has hired security guards armed with guns.

A Cape Coral man’s boat vanished from outside his home and then turned up in a nearby canal with the motor missing. Officials we spoke to say boat engines and other parts are a hot target for thieves looking for some quick cash.