One area woman says the lack of entertainment and options for food were good enough reasons to create a new festival. This Saturday the fourth annual Asia Fest comes to Ft. Myers.

Judy Wright – a Chinese American woman living in Naples founded the festival four years ago to help bring a taste of Asian Culture to Southwest Florida. But she says the first her motivation was simply to have more activities for her family.

“I raised my children here. I am Chinese and there were just not many things for them to do. There weren’t very many shows or forms of entertainment for them to see…quite frankly there were not many restaurants for them to go to. So I felt the need to do that for the families that are here that are interested in maintaining the culture for their children”

Wright says the festival was originally held in Naples but this year it moves to the City of Palms. Asia Fest is this Saturday from 11 to three at the Alliance for the Arts in Ft Myers.

Two state lawmakers will introduce a bill in next year’s legislative session to create a new state song. Governor Charlie Crist set a precedent by excluding the current one from his inauguration.

The Florida Legislature made Steven Foster’s “Old Folks at Home” the state song in 1935. In recent years the song’s references to “darkies” and “plantations” have come under fire. Now some say it’s time for a change. The Florida Music Educators Association is heading up the project to find a new state song - and spokeswoman Katherine Mason says all state residents can participate.

“Florida citizens can engage either by submitting a song if they are a songwriter or they can vote on-line once we have the final three. we’re really looking for a song that’s inclusive and is reflective of the environment and values of our state today…”

If an existing song is submitted it must include the copywriter’s permission. It’s asked that the song be about three minutes in length – and easy for just about anyone to sing. Contest rules are available at Just Sing Florida.org. The winning entry will be most likely be adopted by lawmakers as the new state song next spring.

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The Florida Music Educators Association has kicked off a search for a new state song. Lyrics in the present song, “Old Folks at Home”
reference “darkies” and “plantations”. Governor Charley Crist excluded it from his inaugural. Spokeswoman for the music educators, Katherine Mason says the new song needs to be inclusive and singable.

“the national anthem is something that a lot of people can’t sing and that’s because it’s a wide interval range and there is a requirement for this song which is a vocal range that should not exceed a ninth – so that pretty much means something that’s pretty much singable by most people”

All Florida citizens are invited to submit songs. Applications and submission guidelines are on-line at justsingflorida.org. A committee will narrow the songs down to a top three – and those will posted at the website where the public can then vote. The top pick goes to state lawmakers for approval in the 2008 legislative session.

It looks like the funding for Everglades Restoration is closer to reality after a near unanimous vote in the United States Senate today.

The Senate, with a strong push from Senators Bill Nelson and Mel Martinez, voted for the re-authorization of the Water Resources Development Act. This is the first time since 2000 there has been a congressional action for water issues on a national scale. Director of Policy and legislation for the South Florida Water Management District, Ernie Barnett says even though the vote is from the senate, the house version is similar.

“The good news for the state of Florida is that there is very little difference between the Senate version and the House version…so there won’t be a lot of negotiation between the two. There are a lot of smaller provisions regarding Everglade’s restoration that we’re working out. But by and large the house and senate versions look very close.”

Barnett says this vote basically is permission for the state to work on future projects but it will be a few more years before lawmakers authorize the funding needed to complete everglades restoration.

Officials at Florida Gulf Coast University held a groundbreaking ceremony Wednesday for the building that will house the university’s young school of engineering. WGCU’s Mike Kiniry has more.

For years, big museums have been using high dollar audio tours as a way to guide visitors through their collections. Meanwhile, smaller museums often couldn't afford such novelties, and in some ways couldn't compete. Now museums in Florida and around the country are turning to I-Pods and other portable digital audio technologies to give the big museums a run for their money. Dan Zematowicz has the story.

More than 3000 people are in Ft. Lauderdale this week for the 21st Annual Governor’s Hurricane Conference.

In addition to Emergency Managers and others from Florida, there are also attendees from Europe, South America and the Caribbean. Charlotte County’s Emergency Manager Wayne Sallade says that’s because Florida has learned its lessons well and become a leader in dealing with hurricanes and their aftermath.

“Hurricane Andrew was Florida’s Katrina. It was an absolute failure at all levels of government, failure to respond quickly, failure to respond efficiently and yet Florida has taken that to heart and has developed the finest disaster response system in the world and everybody acknowledges that.”

The conference kicked off with a speech from Governor Charlie Crist – and wraps up on Friday with a briefing by Hurricane Forecaster William Gray. What’s predicted to be an active season begins June 1st.

Personnel from the Florida Department of Education were in Ft. Myers Wednesday to brief teachers and others on how education was affected by the 2007 legislative session. The Department’s Tom Butler says lawmakers were generous.

“there’s an increase in per student funding, there’s an increase in funding for reading which could translate to more coaches and more reading instruction for our students out there. The class size reduction amendment has more funding that’s attached to it as well – reducing our class sizes”

Butler says there’s also start-up money for virtual tutoring, and that no funding was cut from any K-12 education program. The briefings will continue next week with DOE staffers traveling to Miami, Niceville and Jacksonville.

A loophole in Florida’s greenbelt law that allows developers to claim agricultural exemptions will remain intact for at least another year.

It’s a familiar sight throughout much of Florida – cows grazing beside the interstate or other major roadways on a scrap of land surrounded by development. State Senate Minority Leader Steve Geller has tried unsuccessfully to legislate an end to the practice he jokingly calls “Hertz rent-a-cow”

“an example used to drive to work and drive by lot – the lot was cleared for development – trees grass graded – clearly was ready to start building, but I guess the deal fell through cause what happened one day I saw four or five cows appear on that property – no trees no grass – they would bring in bales of hay – and metal trough with hose for water – no one can legitimately claim that’s agricultural.”

Geller says some urban landowners have actually rented the cows to turn the property into grazing lend to qualify for the agricultural exemption which lowers their tax rate. He says he supports the greenbelt law which protects bona-fide agricultural interests - but he says it was the agricultural lobby that kept his proposed legislation from moving forward. Geller says he’s not sure if he’ll bring it up again next session.


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Florida senate minority leader Steve Geller says some land-owners are claiming unfair agricultural exemptions – by grazing a few cows on land in urban areas that’s been rezoned for development. He says it’s a loophole that costs counties millions of dollars of tax revenue.

“you don’t even have to buy the cows – you can rent the cows to put on your property – I jokingly call it calling up hertz rent a cow that’s ridiculous – its not real bona-fide agricultural use its merely getting out of paying their fair share of property taxes which means everybody else has to pay more in property taxes to make up for it”

Geller wrote a bill this year that would have ended the practice but it failed in committee. The Democrat from Broward County says his intent is not to remove tax protection from bona-fide agricultural land users. But he says the agricultural lobby in the legislature – fearing erosion of their own tax status – squashed the bill.

Officials with the South Florida Water Management District are asking people to cut off the sprinklers because while recent rains are helping...much more rain is needed.

The rain that pelted parts of Southwest Florida these last couple days is a huge relief for an area thirsty from one of the worst droughts in state history. But officials at the water management district say there is a long way to go before water levels are back to normal. Three feet more to be exact. Service Center Director for the district Rhonda Hague says residents can help simply by turning off the sprinklers.

“When we do get these heavy rains like we did this week, your lawn doesn’t need anymore on top of it. If they’re watering right now after we got this rain, they’re actually wasting a resource. They’re wasting water and they’re wasting the power to sprinkle that water around. So it’s good all around if people turn off their sprinklers for a week.”

Hague says the aquifers can recharge a bit if people don’t take water out, for things like watering the lawn.

With fires and smoke popping up across Southwest Florida, sometimes forcing the closure of major roadways like I-75…the Florida Highway patrol is reminding drivers of a free service to help them have a faster and safer drive home.

Though 5-1-1 is not a new service, state officials are pushing it a little harder now considering the fire and smoke problems across the state. The Florida Department of Transportation says calling 5-1-1 provides commuters with up to the minute traffic information. Spokeswoman Vicky Mixon says folks living in Southwest Florida also have the regional website if they want updates.

“We have the southwest florida 511 dot com website…available to residents and travelers in the Lee, Collier, and Charlotte area, to give them up to the minute information about major evacuations or road closures due to limited visibility.”

Mixon adds the number of calls coming in due to the smoke and fires is way up in recent weeks. During last years wildfires calls to 5-1-1 were up almost 50-percent.