Researchers from NASA and NOAA begin a month-long study Monday on hurricanes. They’re trying to learn why some tropical waves do little harm and others develop into killer storms.
Every hurricane season, about 60 tropical waves develop off the coast of Africa. As they move slowly west, towards the United States, some gain strength and develop into tropical systems but most just fizzle. NOAA and NASA are teaming up to spend more than 4-million dollars on reconnaissance flights off Africa and the Caribbean. Jason Dunion is a Miami-based meteorologist with NOAA’s Hurricane Research Division. He says they’re testing a theory on dust storms.

“When a system interacts with these Saharan dust storms, it tends to get suppressed. They have a lot of dry air, really strong winds and tons of dust. And all those pieces kind of come together to squash the hurricane. So what we’re trying to do is to understand those interactions while they’re taking place.”

Dunion says this is part of the reason why forecasters have such a difficult time predicting a storm’s path and intensity. They hope to have some early results in a few months.

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Weather researchers have started a study to try to understand why virtually all tropical waves that develop off Africa fail to intensify into hurricanes. NOAA and NASA have joined up to spend four-million dollars over the next month. They’ll fly a series of reconnaissance flights over the Atlantic. NOAA meteorologist Jason Dunion of the Hurricane Research Division is leading the study. He says they’re not sure why most tropical waves stay weak and others strengthen into hurricanes.

“That really is the million dollar question. We really don’t have a great handle on why is it only one in ten that form into a storm? Why isn’t eight out of ten or nine out of ten? So that part’s really a mystery.”

A precocious 17-year-old from Fort Myers has won a large scholarship for her research into Alzheimer’s.

Stephanie Hon is getting $10,000 from The Davidson Institute—an organization for gifted children in Nevada. Hon is leaving Canterbury School a year early to attend Harvard.

The scholarship recognizes her efforts during an internship at the University of South Florida’s Alzheimer’s Disease Research Lab. Her work involved the injection of antibodies into the brain that could reduce the plaque associated with some dementia.

Hon says her interest in Alzheimer’s began close to home.

“The Summer after 5th grade, I took the whole Summer and spent it in a nursing home with my grandparents who were failing. My grandmother was showing early signs of Alzheimer’s. So after that, it’s been an integral part of our lives in our family.”

Hon says she has a passion for science. But, she’d like to explore other avenues while at Harvard… including economics. She’ll travel to Washington DC next month to accept the scholarship.

Imagine an online swap meet where everything’s free. It’s not fantasy, but reality…and it’s happening right here in southwest Florida.

Freecycling is sort of like Ebay – only guided by the principle “to share and share alike”. The main rule…everything on the site must be free.

Each community has its own website and listserv. The concept is partially driven by the desire to reduce waste in landfills.

Michelle…who wishes to keep her online identity anonymous… organizes Cape Coral’s Freecycle site. She’s says, ironically, a kitchen sink was her first find.

“I use it everyday…got it from a lady that had 2 and couldn’t use it and I needed one. It is addictive…I’ve given away so many things and gotten so many beautiful things. Things you don’t even think about…like for craft projects, for groups, broken china for jewelry…anything. There’s a use for anything out there, and everything that I’ve had, there’s been somebody who really wanted it and really appreciated it.”

After hurricane Charley, on-line neighbors offered up free roofing materials—and other supplies.

Michelle says more unusual items on freecycle sites have included automobiles, boats, jet skies and computers. Members of a particular group should be within 50 miles of the host city.

Freecycling requires a brief registration. There are groups across Florida and the nation. Visit freecycle – dot – org for a complete list.

A loggerhead turtle illegally taken to Minnesota from Sanibel came back ton southwest Florida on Wednesday.

Keepers at the Minnesota Zoo had been taking care of the juvenile turtle since September.

Loggerhead turtles are listed as “Threatened” under the Endangered Species Act…making it illegal to even touch one, let alone take it to Minnesota.

Public Affairs Officer with the U-S Fish & Wildlife Service - Scott Flaherty – flew down with the turtle. Sun Country Airlines provided first class airfare, free of charge.

He says he’s been using the trip as an educational tool, of sorts.

“A number of people came by and mentioned that they’d heard the story, or seen it on television and wanted to know more about this turtle, how it got to Minnesota, what it looked like, what kind was it…a lot of interest. And on the plane passengers and flight crew were also interested…I talked a lot about turtles on the way down. And the same thing happened at the Fort Myers airport…a lot of people stopping, peering into the carrier, all wanting to know what I was doing with a turtle.”

The turtle’s new home is the Conservancy of Southwest Florida’s Nature Center – at least until the animal is ready to be returned to the wild. Flaherty says when away on vacation, people should only enjoy the native wildlife with their eyes…

“Don’t bring it home…it’s not healthy for the critter, and most cases it’ll put it on the wrong side of the law. Under the Endangered Species Act, for example, the maximum penalty for transporting that turtle illegally is up to $100,000 in fines and up to a year in prison.”

Flaherty says the Minnesota Herpetological Society notified his office about the loggerhead after an anonymous person turned it over to them. The investigation into who brought the turtle to Minnesota is ongoing.

Collier County has a question to answer: will it buy a $67 million piece of property for which taxpayers allotted just $40 million?

Last year, voters in Collier overwhelmingly approved a property tax referendum—generating up to 40 million dollars— to buy land under and around Caribbean Gardens, the zoo in Naples. But, the Fleishman family— which owns the land— wants 67 and a half million dollars. That’s a difference of more than 27 million.

Assuming Collier County can fill the gap and buy the land, the zoo would lease its portion and operate as a non-profit.

Caribbean Gardens is the only zoo in southwest Florida accredited by the American Zoo & Aquarium Association. It has to be accredited again next year. Director David Tetzlaff says further hold-ups with the land might affect that process.

"They want to know that they’re accrediting a zoo that’s still going to be there. So, it’s very important. So, by the time our paperwork has to be filed in a month, and by the time they inspect us in a few months, we’re hoping for at least some more positive answers to satisfy the inspectors when they come.”

Time is of the essence for another reason: property values climb
every month in Naples. And Tetzlaff says the Fleishmans are getting another appraisal for the land… that’s the 45 acres the zoo sits on and the 120 acres around it.

To make up the difference, the county might tap conservation funds, rely on grants, or re-sell some of the land for development.

The Naples Zoo awaits IRS approval to become a non-profit organization. It already has a board of directors in place.

NASA has chosen a Fort Myers Beach company to develop technology for an upcoming mission to repair the aging Hubble Space Telescope.

Robotics Workspace Technologies, Inc. designs software and hardware for robotics.

The project deals with a planned trip in 2007 to repair Hubble’s navigation systems.

Chairman & CEO – Walter Weisel (WEISS-uhl) – says—even though NASA plans to phase out Hubble—the repair mission is a must.

“They actually have to, because it’s losing altitude…and they’d love for it to fall in a seven mile hole in the ocean in the Pacific, but without control of it, there’s hardly a good way to bring it down.”

Without the navigational repairs, Hubble could fall to earth and hit a population center.

The 2007 mission depends on the integrity of the Space Shuttle fleet. So, Weisel says he breathed a sigh of relief at the successful return of Discovery…

“Even if things had gone awry, which thank god they didn’t, we believe that we still would’ve flown that mission. But of course since it turned out the way it did, we see a whole lot more work ahead of us.”

Weisel says NASA doesn’t have another choice for now…because the space shuttle fleet won’t be decommissioned until 2010. Robotic Workspace Technologies employs 6 people at its Fort Myers Beach office.

Charlotte County Sheriff – John Davenport – today announced the arrest of a homeless man in connection with last week’s rape of a 92-year-old woman.

The burglary and rape occurred last Wednesday in Port Charlotte.

The woman lives alone. She told investigators she heard someone cutting the screen of her lanai – then saw a man entering her house. He immediately attacked and sexually assaulted her.

She described her attacker as a white male with brown hair…but said thick eyeglasses were his most distinguishing characteristic.

Spokesman for the Sheriff’s Office – Bob Carpenter – says police work led to the arrest of 35-year-old Devin Lefforge.

“This was quite a combined effort. It was two of our road deputies… they’re out there in the trenches all the time, and of course they know a lot of these homeless people in the area. So they went to some of the people that they’ve known…some of them they’ve arrested…and went into some of the camps and started talking to them. She identified this man…he had a very large thick glasses…eyeglasses… he was very identifiable.”

Carpenter says those eyeglasses led to a break in the case when one of the homeless men tipped off deputies to Lefforge’s whereabouts.

Lefforge is being held without bond at the Charlotte County Jail. He’s charged with sexual battery and burglary.

The 92-year-old woman was treated for a broken rib, and several bruises and cuts to her knee, arms and face. She’s now back home.

Students in Lee, Sarasota, and Hendry Counties went back to school Monday. It also marked the first day for voluntary pre kindergarten in those counties—the result of a constitutional amendment in 2002. Amy Tardif reports on day one. (AUDIO)

Imagine getting money from the Federal government to help you recover from a disaster – only to be told you must pay it back less than a year later. That’s what’s happening to thousands of Floridians who are being told they got the aid by mistake. Many are still not fully recovered from last year’s hurricanes and say they don’t have the money to return. Amy Tardif reports on one woman caught in the middle. (AUDIO)

Researchers at Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota believe sharks could hold answers to fighting and preventing cancer. Mote’s just received a 2-year, $35,000 grant to explore that connection. The money comes from the National Institutes of Health.

A shark’s immune cells secrete compounds that inhibit the growth of cell lines from some human tumors. Scientists want to know more about those compounds.

Director of Mote’s Shark Research Center, Dr. Bob Hueter—speaking to WGCU’s Gulf Coast Live—said it has long been believed that sharks rarely get cancer.

“This reputation that sharks have of being relatively cancer free IS deserved. That is not a myth. Much of the studies at Mote—in a whole area of our shark research center—is pointed to try and figure out what it is sharks are doing to keep themselves relatively cancer-free… and what we can learn from them to treat the disease in our own bodies.”

Biochemist Dr. Carl Luer and Immunologist Dr. Cathy Walsh are most closely working in this area of research at Mote. And they say there’s still a lot of work ahead.