News

The Collier County School Board voted 4-1 Thursday evening to accept a $555,000 settlement in the Baker lawsuit. Board Vice Chairwoman Pat Carroll was the lone dissenter.

Collier County School Board member Kathleen Curatolo surprised her fellow Board members Thursday afternoon by proposing that the district add two members to the School Board. The two members would be considered at-large.

Monday will be a hectic first day for Marco Island’s newest City Manager Steve Thompson. Thompson, the city’s second ever city manager will begin with a budget workshop Monday morning, followed by meetings with the council, department heads and community. Then, he will cap the evening off with his first regular City Council meeting in Marco. That doesn’t intimidate Thompson who will be arriving at his new island home this Saturday.

Budget workshops begin Monday and the first session will focus on funds that do not use property tax as a funding source. These funds are self-supporting and are not subject to the spending cap, which limits the amount the city can spend by 3 percent plus the cost of living adjustment which is 2.3 percent.

Raising a child is a precious gift, but it also is a great challenge. Here are 10 tips to help ease the burden of getting your children to adulthood.

This weeks’ CERT (Citizen Emergency Response Team) session, taught by Team Leader Russ Rainey introduced us to Light Search and Rescue Operations. This consists of a systematic size up of the task and developing a safe, well-orchestrated rescue plan to achieve the most possible in the shortest amount of time.

On Friday, May 16, 2008 Naples Zoo at Caribbean Gardens and the Friends of the Florida Panther Refuge are celebrating the country’s third annual Endangered Species Day.

They’re throwing a farewell party for teachers Esther Scuderi and Debbie Schlinder May 28 at Tommie Barfield Elementary School, but neither really wants to be there. They will attend, though, no question about that.

Nico de Vries and Ana Segura met in Colorado in the summer of 2002. It was one of many running camps that Lely High cross country and track coach Mark McGarity has run over the years to improve his runners and to do a little bonding. Both worked for Nico and Ana who married this year on Feb. 9.

Often people hope a temp job becomes permanent. That isn’t the case for Interim City Manager Dana Souza. Souza said he’s ready to return to his job as director of Parks and Recreation and leave his other temporary title, interim city manager, behind.

Local art aficionados gathered at Marco Island’s Orion Bank on Wednesday night to mingle and be inspired by local talent Malenda Trick. Trick displayed many of her paintings, examples of her licensed products and even created an original painting during “An Evening with Malenda Trick,” which is part of the Artist Appreciation Series.

Marco attorney Donald “Dusty” Rhodes starts his first day in a seven month term to the Florida Elections Commission Monday. Rhodes, 67 is one of six members recently appointed by Governor Charlie Crist to the Florida Elections Commission.

The daughter of Palestinian immigrants, and one of five children in the family, Hawa Itayem chose summer study to cut a year of high school and recently graduated from Florida Gulf Coast University magna cum laude in secondary education. Now, at 19 and about to embark on her master’s degree, Itayem talks about her background, her multi-cultural approach to life and her hopes for her own future as well as that of America.

Even though it’s just a couple of minutes before going live, it’s quiet and orderly in the Tommie Barfield Elementary television studio. Some of the news team of eight fifth-grade students make final adjustments to their cameras and mixing equipment, while those who will appear on-camera silently practice some of their lines. Yet others ensure the power point scripts for the various presenters are ready to roll, and the sound man does his necessary checks.

Nail biters were again the feature of Marco Baseball League games last weekend. In the Minor Division the Indians edged the Dodgers, 13-12 and the Cubs slipped by the Marlins, 8-5 to stay undefeated. In the Rookie Division, the Yankees put on a last-inning rally to nip the Mets, 14-13 and the White Sox slipped by the Astros, 13-12.

Each Saturday morning, at Winterberry Park, kids play T-Ball as part of the Marco Island Baseball League. Unlike teams in other divisions, they do not keep score, they are busy learning the game. That means they don’t have the opportunity to see their names, or even photos in the paper every week. This weekly feature gives a chance to give them some recognition.

My fifth grade son hates to read. It is that simple. This is extremely frustrating because he has a great memory and loves to learn by watching TV. He doesn’t miss a program about animals, and he knows more about history than me.

The Golden Gate High School (GGHS) Titan Band is pleased to announce its offerings of four summer band camps specifically targeted at current and incoming middle and high school students for the 2008-09 school year.

Time for a change? Living here in southwest Florida we don’t get the chance to experience the change of seasons. We don’t really go from spring weather to the summer weather in the traditional ways. After just spending a week in Michigan, I was reminded about how nature takes on changes.

The first thing you notice about writer-director David Mamet’s “Redbelt” is that it doesn’t rely on his trademark verbal choreography. Or maybe it does, but this time silence is as crucial as dialogue.