The 82 thousand registered voters in Florida House District 73 get to choose between two political newcomers on Election Day. The district includes much of Lee County, including the city of Ft. Myers. The open seat was vacated by Republican Bruce Kyle – who was term limited out. W-G-C-U’s Valerie Alker has this look at the two candidates vying to replace him.

An effort launched to try to rescue a manatee spotted on a Mississippi River tributary near downtown Memphis, Tennessee was called off late Friday afternoon. The rescue team searched the area throughout the day on Thursday and Friday using boats, sonar equipment, and a helicopter, but did not have any luck locating the endangered animal. Biologists say it’s an unprecedented journey – at least in modern times. Fossil records show manatees once thrived far up the Mississippi River, well beyond Memphis, Tennessee. But now it’s rare to see them anywhere but Florida…especially during this time of the year. Save the Manatee Club’s Executive Director – Pat Rose – says while a manatee did make it all the way to Rhode Island a few months ago…this trip is far more surprising.

“Swimming that far up the Mississippi River is even more unusual. So its distance isn’t quite as great perhaps but that’s a major journey to go against the current and so forth and to be this far up. We don’t know of any other historical known event when a manatee has swam that far north up the Mississippi.”
Biologists are concerned because it’s in water that’s well-below 68-degrees…the temperature at which manatees begin suffering cold stress, which can kill them. It’s estimated the manatee swam more than 700 miles against the current and dodged busy boat traffic to reach the Memphis destination.

Rescuers have ended their search for a wayward manatee seen swimming in a tributary of the Mississippi River near downtown Memphis Tennessee last week. The Save the Manatee Club says the endangered animal couldn’t be found but that’s not unusual and they’ll be back if anyone see it again. In the winter months, manatees are found primarily in Florida. The club’s director Pat Rose says the semi-tropical species cannot usually tolerate water temperatures much lower than 68 degrees for long periods of time. The river was at 65 degrees Friday.

“When manatees are exposed to water below 68 degrees for an extended period of time they start suffering signs of cold stress and they’ll actually stop eating and their metabolic system and their digestive systems begin to shut down. And if they stay in too cold of water it can actually cause them to die ultimately.”

Water temperatures below 70 degrees usually cause manatees to move into warm water refuge areas such as natural springs or warm water effluents of power plants. A few manatees may range as far west as Texas and as far north as Virginia. One was even sighted as far north as Massachusetts this summer, but these sightings are rare.

More than 17-thousand Florida families moved into FEMA housing. The deadline to move out is October 31s. But a new program could give them more time.

It allows occupied units to be donated to eligible non-profit groups, or county governments…giving residents more time to find somewhere else to live. So far ownership of all FEMA mobile homes in more than a dozen counties has been transferred to non-profits. In return they provide insurance and let the families stay at least another year.

FEMA Public Affairs Officer Mildred Acevedo says they hope non-profits also take over in Southwest Florida.

“We’ve been working very closely with Charlotte County, and Desoto and Hardee where we have the majority of residents. And there’s still time. There is a plan in progress to work with these families.”

About 100 FEMA trailers remain occupied in Southwest Florida. Residents also have the option to buy the mobile homes directly from FEMA. Acevedo says the price is based on income. And she says many of the remaining families have already made moving plans. Mike Kiniry, WGCU News.

President George W. Bush was on the stump Tuesday in Sarasota - giving a boost to the campaign of Vern Buchanan who's in a tough race with Democrat Christine Jennings to take over the congressional seat vacated by Katherine Harris.

About a thousand enthusiastic Republicans paid twenty dollars each to hear the President speak. WGCU's Valerie Alker was there and has this report.

This year’s hurricane season was very peaceful – following two years of dramatic storms that impacted much of the peninsula and traumatized many Floridians. But director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management Craig Fugate says emergency managers must plan for more than just dealing with hurricanes.


In fact people sometimes ask what do you do when you’re not dealing with hurricanes and we remind people that as great as the state of florida is we still face hazards every day from technology, man made to weather and we don’t know when the next disaster is going to strike and often disasters don’t give us warnings like hurricanes do…


Fugate says the conference with emergency operations directors from Florida’s 67 counties gives them the opportunity to face to face and learn to work as a team – no matter what kind of emergency may threaten. Valerie Alker W-G-C-U news.

Early voting for the November 7th General Election got underway yesterday in Florida. It’s aimed at voters looking for flexibility and who are knowledgeable about the candidates. The last two weeks before the general election is the time candidates go into high gear – spending lots of money to get their message to voters – via TV, radio and print ads. Lee County Supervisor of Elections, Sharon Harrington, says early voters need to already be aware of the candidates’ positions on the issues.

“if somebody is hasty in their choices and go to the polls early there’s no way you can take it back because once you vote you’re done – you can’t go back and change your ballot or change your mind. So you have to pretty sure before you actually get into the early voting booth that this is who you actually want to vote for”

The state first made early voting available in 2002 – and it become law in 2003. Other states are now also adding early voting to voter’s options.

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Florida voters who may not be able to cast ballots on Election day – can vote early. Early voting got underway yesterday. Lee County Supervisor of Elections, Sharon Harrington, says it’s aimed at people who need flexibility.

“it’s to provide voters with another option to absentees – if they’re not going to be at the polls on election day because of scheduling – families, kids in school mom and dad working – it can be difficult sometimes to be restricted to one day in a one shot deal if you can’t make it on that day you don’t get to vote.”

Early voters can cast ballots on Saturday and the voting places are open until 6:30 in the evening. Multiple polling places are provided. To find their locations – google your county’s supervisor of elections office.

A coalition of environmental groups has filed a legal challenge over a proposed controversial golf course community in northern Collier County. The project recently won unanimous approval from the South Florida Water Management District’s governing board.
A coalition of environmental groups has filed a petition against the South Florida Water Management District – and the developer of the proposed Mirasol golf community in Collier County. The Water Management District’s Governing Board unanimously approved the project a week ago. The U-S Army Corps of Engineers denied a federal permit for a nearly identical version of the project last year. That version was also first approved by the South Florida Water Management District. The groups believe the approval was illegal and violated the District’s own criteria for water quality, public interest, flood protection and natural resources protection. Their petition asks for an administrative hearing to review the permit. The group consists of Audubon of Florida, Florida Wildlife Federation, Conservancy of Southwest Florida, Collier County Audubon Society, among others. Besides this new challenge, the Mirasol project also still needs approval from the U-S Army Corps of Engineers, and the Collier County Commission before moving forward.

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A program that aims to increase the successful outcome of pregnancy for Southwest Florida women faces a funding crisis. It’s holding its first major benefit this weekend.
Healthy Start is a non-profit organization for expectant mothers that helps prevent premature births, low-birth weights and infant deaths. Serving eighteen- to twenty-thousand Southwest Florida mothers a year, it runs programs to increase their access to medical care and to improve health and developmental outcomes for their children. These services are not exclusive to the poor or uninsured. Any woman in Lee, Collier, Glades or Hendry counties determined to be "at risk" is eligible. The demand for Healthy Start’s services has grown by more than thirty percent in the last two years. But the group’s director, Cathy Cortez, says funding has failed to meet that need.

"We’ve had a hard time keeping up with the increase in the number of at-risk moms and babies that need help... We’ve had really good partnerships with our prenatal care providers like Family Health Partnerships and Lee OB-GYN, clinics in Naples as well. They continue to insure these moms even when our funding runs out. They’re increasingly hard for those providers to keep doing that, and we really do need to help bring in some financial assistance to keep the program going.”

That's why Healthy Start is throwing its first-ever benefit this weekend. “The White Show” is a contemporary circus and dance extravaganza starring New Vision Cirque, an international troupe of dancers, circus performers and gymnasts. Cortez hopes to raise one-hundred fifty-thousand dollars. The event is Saturday night at Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall in Fort Myers.

The political back-and-forth over Florida’s soaring homeowner’s insurance rates reached new heights this week. On Tuesday, Florida Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jim Davis unveiled a series of hurricane insurance reforms. On Wednesday, Republican Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty decided one of those ideas had merit when he allowed Citizens, the state-run insurer of last resort, to take back former policyholders that left for private insurers. On Thursday, Democrat candidate for lieutenant governor Daryl Jones stopped in Fort Myers to boast about it.

“The Office of Insurance Regulation has decided to follow our policy and they made an immediate change. And this goes to what we talk about all the time: you can benefit the citizens of Florida simply by making some good decisions. And a lot of the time, the current administration wasn’t willing to make those good decisions for the people of the state.”

Republican Charlie Crist still leads in the polls for the November 7th election. But political analysts say Democrats have gained because they’ve made hurricane insurance a central issue in their campaign.

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Florida’s Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor swung through Fort Myers Thursday to talk about hurricane insurance reforms. Daryl Jones has criss-crossed the state since Tuesday when his running mate, Jim Davis, unveiled a series of proposals they claim will cut insurance premiums by 40-percent. Jones says their plan is the right one to deal with the state’s insurance crisis.

“We’re also going to require that hurricane insurance executives sign statements under oath when they apply for increases in their rates. We’re not going to allow insurance companies to increase their rates without state approval first. Right now they can increase their rates up to ten percent.”