More than 479-thousand passengers used the International airport in October. That’s down one-percent from the same time last year. Lee County Port Authority spokeswoman Susan Sanders says the dip is not worrisome. She notes the opening of the new terminal and a rebound in tourism numbers. Sanders blames the decline on one thing: Hurricane Wilma, which hit southwest Florida on October 24th.

“We really think that this isn’t indicative of any kind of a trend because we can pretty much see the impact of Hurricane Wilma by looking at these numbers. We actually were impacted much more by Wilma than we were by Charlie.”

The airport closed for one day and airlines canceled more than 250 flights before, during and after the storm. Sanders says the airport is still ahead of last year’s record numbers by 14-percent and is on-track to pass 7-million passengers by year-end.

Pirate radio stations are popping up all over the radio dial. Broadcasters say the illegal operations interfere with their frequencies, cut into their profits and irritate listeners. The problem is especially bad in Florida. Nationwide the Federal Communications Commission shut down more than 200 unlicensed stations in 2003. Now Florida has a new tool to crack down on the people operating them. As WGCU’s Amy Tardif reports, pirating a radio signal is now a felony in Florida.

A new survey of Florida businesses released today (Thursday) shows sales and profits declined in the last three months. W-G-C-U’s Russell Lewis has the story.

The National Federation of Independent Business surveyed small business owners across the state and compared those results to neighboring states. Pollsters found Florida company owners are very positive about their prospects over the next few months...despite a recent slowdown in economic activity that cut into their bottom line. N-F-I-B Florida assistant director Patrick Arrington says sales and profits dipped ten percent in the last quarter, so something needs to change.

“When we see slight hiccups like this, where there is a little bit of dip in optimism...there is a little bit of dip in sales and profitability, quick action needs to be taken and the problems need to be rooted out and addressed.”

Arrington says state lawmakers need to do more to ensure Florida’s business environment remains vibrant. He hopes the legislature will pass more business-friendly bills in the next legislative session. Russell Lewis, WGCU News.

Key West is home to "America's Official End of the Hurricane Season Party." Residents said goodbye to the history-making season of 2005 by burning a pair of hurricane flags in a beach-side ceremony Wednesday.

Partygoers dressed as pirates doused the red and black flags
with rum to ignite them. Following a conch horn salute to storm victims, the Keys emergency management director and National Weather Service meteorologist Matt Strahan and used a propane torch to ignite the flags.

"I'm really glad it's over and I really hope it just stays over. Whoever came up with this idea of burning these flags is just a genius. Because they’re really symbolic of this hurricane season and I can't think of a better way of ending it then to destroy the symbol of these hurricanes."
This year's six-month Atlantic hurricane season brought 26 tropical storms. Thirteen of them became hurricanes.

Southwest Florida business owners complained the most in a new survey out today (Thursday). The National Federation of Independent Business polled its members to see how optimistically they view the future. The best business conditions were noted in North Florida, followed by Central Florida and then this region. N-F-I-B assistant state director Patrick Arrington says the outlook remains positive despite some recent economic slowdowns.

“Florida’s decline was pretty significant--certainly significant to point out that we experienced declines in sales and profits of nine and ten percentage points respectively. That of course is pretty big.”

One of the few original settlers left on Sanibel island has been honored by the state. The Bailey Family property is one of 81 in Florida to be named a Pioneer Farm. The State’s Century Pioneer Family Farm program was set up 25 years ago to encourage original families to retain ownership. Wendy Humphrey reports.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s program for finding abducted children is going national. The FDLE developed its program after critiquing what went wrong in response to the 2004 abduction of 11-year-old Carlie Brucia in Sarasota. A Justice Department official was in Ft. Myers today (Wednesday) to announce the national initiative – using Florida’s model. WGCU’s Valerie Alker has more.

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