There were ceremonies around Florida Wednesday recognizing National Crime Victims’ Rights Week. WGCU’s Amy Tardif attended an event in Lee County and prepared this report.

Sarasota is well known for its’ beaches, architecture, and arts driven lifestyle. And it just made Money Magazine’s list of top spots for young retirees too.

Sarasota is ranked the seventh best place to retire young according to a Money Magazine. The magazine’s editors looked at things like recreation and arts, cost of living, and proximity to a metropolitan area. The only thing going against Sarasota was the cost of housing. Visitor’s bureau spokeswoman Erin Duggan says her department has to work a little harder every time a tourist becomes a resident…but the exposure is great for the area.

“We’re still thrilled when we get in positive stories such as in Money Magazine…what we’re most excited about is that it raises the awareness of Sarasota.”

Other cities listed in the magazine include: Charlottesville Virginia, Logan Utah, and Manhattan Kansas. No other Florida cities were in the top ten, but four others did make the top 100.

Lee County Animal Services is pushing to educate pet owners about a growing problem in Southwest Florida…animal hoarding. April is prevention of animal cruelty month.

There are many types of animal cruelty but one that is growing across the nation, including Southwest Florida, is animal hoarding. Animal Services says there are people who have a large number of animals in their home, and even though that does not constitute animal cruelty, sometimes it can be a health risk to the humans as well as the animals. Spokeswoman Ria Brown says the challenge with helping animal hoarders is getting them to understand the consequences of their actions.

”When it gets to the point when the animals are suffering, and the people don’t realize it, and a lot of the times the animal hoarders themselves are suffering just as well but they may fail to see that, and they maybe causing these problems for other family members, especially children.

Brown says some of the characteristics of animal hoarders included; obsessive compulsive, ability to gain sympathy, denial of their behavior. For more information on animal hoarding visit www.leelostpets.com.

Sarasota residents will have an opportunity this weekend to see yet another example of just how green their county’s getting. The area transit system is showing off one of its latest hybrid busses.

Sarasota County Area Transit already has 10-hybrid busses in its’ 62 bus fleet. The first arrived last year. But the county will give residents the opportunity to see how the fuel efficient bus works during this weekends’ earth day celebration. Public works spokesman Robert Reddy says the reason why they waited to present the bus almost seven months later was to find the best platform…and what better day than earth day.

“We’re trying to come up with a way to have a community event but we didn’t want to spend county tax dollars and over do it, so we were trying to combine with an event and earth seemed like the perfect opportunity.”

The earth day event is Sunday at the Oscar Sherer State Park in Osprey from 10-am to 5-pm. Reddy says people who attend will receive a free one day bus pass.

Fort Myers’ most famous attraction’s gotten a major face lift and is ready to show it Friday night.

The event is called an “Incandescent Evening”…and it’s celebrating the restorations to the Edison and Ford Winter Estates. The restorations started five years ago and cost roughly ten million dollars. President of the estate, Chris Pendleton says Thomas Edison’s home now looks much like it did when the inventor was in residence.

“It’s a chance to wet your whistle about what’s ahead…the restoration and the transfer to private management, they’re all part of transforming us to a different type of cultural institution. We’re now a totally different place and we want everyone now to come out and sample it.”

All the free tickets to Friday night’s gala are gone – about two thousand visitors are expected on the grounds for the evening festivities.

A class full of 2nd grade students from Bonita Springs Elementary got some help from Bonita Bay’s landscaping staff this morning…planting oak trees outside the school in Celebration of Earth Day. WGCU’s Mike Kiniry was there and compiled this sound montage…

Monday is the 25th anniversary of a staged secession in Key West, which created the fabled Conch Republic. Beginning Friday the Conch Republic Independence Celebration commemorates the founding of the "island nation.”

The situation began when, back in 1982, the United States Border Patrol erected a roadblock and checkpoint at the top of the Florida Keys’ Overseas Highway. Ostensibly searching for drugs and illegal aliens, the roadblock created a miles long traffic jam on the only road that connects mainland Florida with the island chain.

Former Key West Mayor and first Conch Republic Prime Minister Dennis Wardlow says they felt like foreigners in their own land.

“And that’s how the Conch Republic evolved. If they’re going to treat us as a foreign country, we’ll become a foreign country. And that was what the stand was and that was the true feeling of how they were treating us.”

Key Westers protested by staging a secession, declaring war on the United States, promptly surrendering and applying for foreign aid.

The secession will be re-enacted in Key West Monday. The Celebration continues through the following Sunday.

The Board of Governor’s of Florida’s University System said Thursday it wants to find ways to improve security at the state’s 11 university campuses…and speed up emergency notification in case of an incident like what happened at Virginia Tech.

Police at Florida Gulf Coast University say they’ve already got an enhanced notification system in place…thanks to hurricanes Charley and Wilma.

Last year FGCU got a 20-thousand dollar grant for a 2-year program that gives campus authorities the ability to instantly send text messages to thousands of people in case of emergency.

Campus Police Chief Steven Moore says all it takes is a quick, online registration…

“And if an incident occurs – and it can be something like what happened at Virginia Tech – or it could be that there’s a hurricane, or anything else that would have an impact on campus, closures or anything like that – a text message can be sent out, it goes to their cell phone. It can also notify their email addresses.”

Moore says they originally got the system in response to the active hurricane seasons of 2004 and 2005.

The free service is available to anyone with a cell phone, not just students or school employees. To register go to www.fgcu.edu/alert.

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Police officials at Florida Gulf Coast University are asking students and employees to sign up for a free emergency notification system that takes advantage of the prevalence of cell phones.

FGCU received a 20-thousand dollar grant 2 years ago for a system that allows authorities to instantly send text messages, and/or emails, to thousands of students or campus employees. It was a response to the 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons, during which campus was forced to close several times.

FGCU Police Chief Steven Moore says while the system is powerful, it’s easy to get signed up.

“Anyone can go to the website – which is just fgcu.edu/alert – and register. And from that point on it’s web-based. I can go on the system here at the police department and in a matter of 1 to 2 minutes I can send out a text message to everybody on the system.”

Moore says there’s been a huge increase in registered users in the past few days.

And that the system has many more features…including traffic alerts…which aren’t up and running yet.

The Board of Governor’s of Florida’s University System said Thursday it wants the Legislature to approve a one-time 1-point-5 million dollar addition to this year's budget for campus security – and to increase the yearly budget by 2-million dollars a year for more police officers and training.

The state of Florida leads the nation in boating deaths every year. And the U-S Coast Guard feels that could change if people simply used their life vests.

The most recent statistics from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission show that 80-people died in 2005 while boating. And a majority of those deaths were due to drowning. So the U-S Coast Guard Auxiliary is holding a boat safety demonstration Thursday at the Bass Pro Shop at the Gulf Coast Town Center. Spokesman Dan Eaton says too often people just seem to forget about the importance of a life jacket that is new and fits right.

“Unfortunately it does become one of those things that becomes out of sight out of mind…and what we need to turn around and do is build awareness, you know people have to turn around and look at the condition of their life jackets…and maybe it is time to turn around and change it.”

Eaton says along with the demonstration on Thursday, at 11:00 the Fit to Float campaign runs Friday through Sunday at the same bass pro shop store. That’s where people can turn in old life jackets for a discount toward a new one.

A Cape Coral woman’s effort to get Florida lawmakers to enact an anti-bullying law has stalled in the state senate – for the second year in a row. Debbie Johnston’s quest to enact the law began after her 15 year old son Jeff committed suicide two years ago after being bullied. It would prohibit bullying and harassment of students and school employees during school activities, on school buses and over school computer networks.

Speaking from Tallahassee - where she’s been lobbying lawmakers - Johnston said the state has failed her son – and other victims of bullying she’s come to know since his death.

“I know I’m going to go back and face all these kids who’ve put their heart and soul into this and can’t understand why the people that represent them, why the government doesn’t care if they’re hurt. And I know the words I’m going to hear – it’s not fair, it’s just not fair.”

The anti-bullying bill made it through the state house and through several senate committees, all on unanimous votes – before getting hung up in the appropriations committee. Johnston says she doesn’t understand Appropriations Chair Stephen Wise’s rational for sidelining the bill – because she says the cost of administering it would be minimal. Wise is the sole vote against the bill.

Johnston says she’ll return to Tallahassee next week for one last shot at moving the bill forward to the full Senate for a vote.