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After considerable pressure from Florida lawmakers, the U-S Interior Department has relented and decided to hold a meeting IN the state about drilling off Florida’s coast.

The Interior Department’s ‘Mineral Management Service’ began holding the first of 13 scheduled meetings last week on a plan for oil and gas drilling off Florida’s shores. Most of the hearings are in Alaska; others are in Texas, Louisiana, Alabama and Virginia. Florida had been left off the list, angering the state’s congressional delegation. They’re against opening up 2 million acres for drilling 100 miles south of the Panhandle and 200 miles west of Tampa Bay. They worry about the environment and threats to the state’s tourism industry. Jeff Cohen is chief of staff for Fort Myers Congressman Connie Mack.

“Florida needs to have not only a voice, but an active role in managing its destiny and the destiny of Florida’s waters.”


Federal officials say drilling is needed to find other sources of energy. The meeting will be in Tallahassee on April 6th. An M-M-S spokesman declined to comment on why they didn’t plan a Florida hearing in the first place.

The Lee County School board, community and business leaders gathered this afternoon to urge residents to contact their state lawmakers to implore them for more money for education. WGCU’s Amy Tardif reports.

There’s a struggle brewing in Florida over abortion, contraceptives and a new town being built around a Catholic University near Naples. Domino’s Pizza founder and devout Catholic Tom Monaghan is bankrolling the project. He wants the community to exemplify his strict, conservative views. As WGCU’s Amy Tardif reports, that has some Southwest Floridians worried.

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The town of Immokalee has a long, rich tradition as an agricultural community. It’s also one of the last areas in Collier County that could be considered ‘affordable’. The population is still small and there aren’t many cultural opportunities. But the growing town is celebrating a notable award. A national group says the Immokalee Branch Library is one of the best small libraries in the country. W-G-C-U’s Russell Lewis went out to see for himself!