Low concentrations of red tide have once again been reported in the Gulf from Sarasota to Collier counties. WGCU's Christine Buckley got an update on the latest research into the problem at a workshop organized by the Rookery Bay Environmental Learning Center in Naples.

One Winter Saturday art festival in Southwest Florida is the culmination of a year's worth of work, and the money raised supports local art and music programs in Lee County Schools. Kathleen Moye reports. The Edison Celebration of Art is Saturday from
10 to 5 in the Fort Myers River District. Details are online
At www.edisoncelebration.com.

The city of Ft. Myers received a one million dollar gift Friday from the widow of a former downtown business owner. WGCU’s Valerie Alker reports.

A small group of Falun Gong practitioners held a peaceful demonstration outside the Marco Island Resort and Spa recently, while the American Society of Transplant Surgeons attended their annual conference indoors. WGCU’s Christine Buckley reports on the spiritual movement and the physicians.

The 22nd annual Everglades Coalition Conference is underway in Orlando. One of this year’s key speakers is Secretary of the Department of the Interior, Dirk Kempthorn. Conference organizer John Adornato with the National Parks Conservation Association says the presence of Secretary Kempthorn is a good way to remind the federal government of its pledge to help pay for Comprehensive Everglades Restoration.

“We have some critical natural resources, Everglades National Park, Biscayne National Park, Big Cypress, we have national wildlife refuges, I think there’s sixty eight endangered species within the everglades ecosystem and those are the responsibility of the department of the interior.”

The theme of this year’s Everglades Coalition Conference is ‘Kissimmee to the Keys…Standing firm for Everglades Restoration.
Speakers also include Florida’s Senior United States Senator Bill Nelson. Next year’s conference is in Ft. Myers.

Florida Gulf Coast University President William Merwin stepped down yesterday afternoon at an emergency meeting of FGCU's Board of Trustees. WGCU's Christine Buckley was there and has this report.

Lee County Library patrons can now download audio books and videos directly to their portable media players… over the Internet.

Library officials say it’s another step in a trend toward more digital libraries. Actual audio books – what used to be called ‘books on tape’ – are available for download to MP3 devices, PDA’s and even some newer cell phones.

All it takes is a high speed Internet connection, a library card… and a bit of technical knowledge.

Heather O’Connell is community relations coordinator for the Lee County Library System.

“Right from the front page of the library website you’ll see Download Library. Once you click on that you’ve got very clear instructions on where to go from there. And you can see the different types of audio books and videos that we have available. And we also have some help to get you started.”

O’Connell says it does require a quick software download – but that it’s really quite simple. There’s one caveat - it only works on PC’s – not MAC’s, which includes iPods.

Right now about 4-thousand titles are available for download. Or patrons can come into the Lakes Regional Library in south Fort Myers and plug in their device and download it directly. O’Connell says one of the best parts of this service…no late fees. The downloaded files automatically deactivate once they’re due back.

----

The Lee County public library system has joined the growing number of libraries offering audio book downloads directly across the Internet.

All it takes is a high speed connection and library card.

Community relations coordinator – Heather O’Connell – says the rate of audio books and videos being checked out has been on the rise in recent years…and now with new technologies like MP3 players becoming more popular…

“Our patrons have been telling us that they’ve been using mp3 players and that they wanted to start getting their audio books to their mp3 players and their PDA’s. So this is a good way to catch up on those recent titles, and do it in a format that’s very easy for you, and very convenient.”

O’Connell says there’s no chance for late fees – because at the end of the loan period, titles will expire and be automatically 'returned' to the library.

There are about 4-thousand titles so far, but O’Connell says the list will grow. The same service is also available from the Collier and Charlotte County Library systems.

Representatives from the National Weather Service were at the Collier County Emergency Operation Center yesterday – briefing staff on updated procedures for measuring the intensity of tornadoes.

Hurricanes get most of the attention in the Sunshine State – but Florida is also in the top ten for the number of tornadoes that strike in any given year. National Weather Service Meteorologist Robert Molleda says enhancements to the Fujita scale for measuring tornadoes will benefit forecasters and disaster planners.

“it gives us a record and also it helps us to identify future storms and also helps emergency management officials in promoting or instituting better building codes – and overall serves the community by keeping a record of the storms that hit the area.”

The Enhanced Fujita scale ranks tornadoes in intensity from 0 to 5. Forecasters will begin using it February 1st. Molleda says tornadoes are most likely to strike in Florida during late winter and early spring.

-----

Forecasters and Disasters planner have an improved tool for measuring the intensity of tornadoes. The National Weather Service starts using the “Enhanced Fujita Scale” February 1st. Forecasters from the National Weather service in Miami were at the Collier County Emergency operation center yesterday to brief staff on the changes. Meteorologist Robert Molleda says Florida is a top tornado spot.

“Florida in most years ranks above the top ten states as far as number of tornadoes are concerned, at least more than people think. The main difference between Florida and other states, especially out on the central plains, is that Florida tornadoes generally tend to be weaker”

Tornadoes raced through central Florida on Christmas Day causing some significant damage. The Fujita Scale measures the intensity of tornadoes on a scale of zero to five. The measurement is determined by analysis of the damage left behind.

The Fort Myers City Council decided to postpone its vote last night on an ordinance that would make it illegal to distribute free food in the city’s public parks. Which critics say translates to making it against the law to feed the homeless.

Ordinance number 3371 follows a similar resolution passed unanimously by the Fort Myers City Council last year.

It doesn’t actually include the word homeless – but it creates requirements for the distribution of donated or complimentary food in Fort Myers’ city parks.

Michael Stoops is the Executive Director of the Washington D-C based National Coalition for the Homeless.

“We want to go on record that this is a tragedy. And that the impact of this will be copied and emulated around the rest of the country. And when Fort Myers passed the first resolution in April 05 it was a chilling impact and a number of church groups quit feeding the poor because they did not want to go to jail.”

Stoops says Orlando passed a similar law last summer – which his organization is challenging in court. Only Las Vegas has a similar law against feeding the homeless in city parks. Stoops says if passed he fears other cities are likely to follow.

The Council will address the issue again in March.

The Tamiami Trail was once considered a Scenic Highway but it may not stay that way. Now advocates are trying to keep the designation.
The League of Women Voters of Collier County holds a public session today on the need to have the Tamiami Trail remain a Florida Scenic Highway. It was first designated in 1998 from Collier Seminole State Park to the Miami Dade county line. Since then more than nine million dollars of improvements have been brought in. But in 2005 the designation was put in jeopardy, says Ellee Kreir, executive director of the Southwest Florida land preservation trust. She says if those who want the designation dropped win, there will be ramifications.

“The roadway per say will not change but we will cease to have a local voice that can comment on plans. We will cease to have the ability to use the designation to get higher rankings for grant applications. The designation will not allow us to form what is called a corridor management entity and it is that entity that provides a voice for citizens as to what happens in that corridor.”

Kreir has been in the forefront of the effort to try to get the designation reconsidered by the county’s Metropolitan Planning Organization this winter. The luncheon about the highway is at the Norris Center in Naples today at 12:30.


------------

There’s an effort to save the Florida Scenic Highway designation for the Tamiami Trail. Some folks want to do away with the label and the county’s Metropolitan planning organization is about to agree. Now people like Ellee Kreir, executive director of the Southwest Florida land preservation trust, hope to reverse that. The road was given the title in 1998 and has since seen more than 9 million dollars in improvements.

“The Kirby Storter roadside pull out, which is on the south side used to be just sort of a pull out for cars. It now is an absolutely beautiful facility with parking, simple restrooms and then a beautiful elevated boardwalk that goes down a long a slough to the south. It’s a gorgeous walk”

There have also been improvements at Turner River Road canal, a popular alligator viewing spot. Kreir speaks to the League of Women Voters of Collier County today at noon about the Scenic Highway issue. The public event is at the Norris Center in Naples.