New real estate numbers out Wednesday show home prices in Southwest Florida continue to fall. The median home price in Naples in July was 461-thousand dollars, six-percent lower than last year. Lee County checked in at 264-thousand, an 8-percent drop and Punta Gorda was 228-thousand, 4-percent less. The median is the price where half the homes sell above that amount and half below. Fort Myers real estate agent Dan Pearce of Century 21/Sunbelt says the market has begun to stabilize because buyers and sellers are being more realistic.

“We’re focusing more on trying to make sure we’re taking listings that are priced correctly and I think that the sellers’ expectations have come more in line with what the market will bare.”

For a seventh straight month, the number of homes sold plunged: Naples down 51-percent, Punta Gorda 37-percent and Fort Myers 32-percent. Pearce says mortgage rates remain low but it’s offset by expensive property insurance.
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Home sales continued their steep drop last month. The Florida Association of Realtors released its July housing numbers Wednesday that showed the number of homes sold declined by as much as half. The median price in Naples also dropped, down 6-percent last month to 461-thousand dollars. Lee County declined 8-percent to 264-thousand dollars and Punta Gorda dipped slightly to 228-thousand dollars. Despite the slowdown, real estate agents have noticed a change. Dan Pearce of Century 21/Sunbelt in Estero says business has picked up in the last few weeks.

“We’re getting better response to our advertising, better response to our Internet activity and I think buyers are just beginning to turn back to the market.”


Pearce says a quiet hurricane season, so far, has helped fuel business recently. He says the market appears to have stabilized but he thinks home prices will continue to drop for a little while longer.

New real estate numbers out Wednesday show home prices in Southwest Florida continue to fall. The median home price in Naples in July was 461-thousand dollars, six-percent lower than last year. Lee County checked in at 264-thousand, an 8-percent drop and Punta Gorda was 228-thousand, 4-percent less. The median is the price where half the homes sell above that amount and half below. Fort Myers real estate agent Dan Pearce of Century 21/Sunbelt says the market has begun to stabilize because buyers and sellers are being more realistic.

“We’re focusing more on trying to make sure we’re taking listings that are priced correctly and I think that the sellers’ expectations have come more in line with what the market will bare.”

For a seventh straight month, the number of homes sold plunged: Naples down 51-percent, Punta Gorda 37-percent and Fort Myers 32-percent. Pearce says mortgage rates remain low but it’s offset by expensive property insurance.
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Home sales continued their steep drop last month. The Florida Association of Realtors released its July housing numbers Wednesday that showed the number of homes sold declined by as much as half. The median price in Naples also dropped, down 6-percent last month to 461-thousand dollars. Lee County declined 8-percent to 264-thousand dollars and Punta Gorda dipped slightly to 228-thousand dollars. Despite the slowdown, real estate agents have noticed a change. Dan Pearce of Century 21/Sunbelt in Estero says business has picked up in the last few weeks.

“We’re getting better response to our advertising, better response to our Internet activity and I think buyers are just beginning to turn back to the market.”


Pearce says a quiet hurricane season, so far, has helped fuel business recently. He says the market appears to have stabilized but he thinks home prices will continue to drop for a little while longer.

State Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson was in Southwest Florida Wednesday – attending the Citrus Expo and meeting with business leaders. He’s also meeting with members of the state’s legislative delegation to lobby for changes to federal Farm Bill.
Key provisions of the most recent Farm Bill, passed in 2002 are up for renewal next year. Commissioner Bronson says there are requests to extend the farm bill as it is with some minor changes. Speaking at luncheon with Chamber of Southwest Florida, Bronson said the agriculture community would be better served by making some significant changes to the legislation.

I think it still goes pretty heavy to the program crops. I would like to see, since specialty crops are now 55 percent of the total farm cash receipts, that speciality crops, not in subsidy payments but the ability to use money to help promote those subsidy crops around the world so we can sell them around the world would help tremendously.

Program crops are soybeans, wheat, cotton, corn, wheat and the like. 95 percent of crops grown in Florida are specialty crops – like oranges, strawberries and tomatoes.

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The Federal Farm Bill is is up for renewal next year – and Florida’s Agriculture Commissioner says he’d like to see it undergo some major revisions. Charles Bronson say right now the bill is skewed toward providing subsidies to farmers in the Midwest who grow wheat, soybeans, corn and the like. But Bronson says that formula doesn’t reflect the state of agriculture today.

We are actually making more money now off the specialty crops like oranges and tomatoes and strawberries and the things that we have here in Florida.

Commissioner Bronson also says he’d like to a provision in the farm bill that would provide quick relief to growers following natural disasters like hurricanes. He says right now the road to recovery relief is rife with bureaucratic hurdles.

The state league of women voters received a grant from the national organization to create the “Why Should I Vote” publication, which provides information in English and Spanish on why and how people can vote. President of the League of Women Voters of Collier County, Chris Strayton, says voter turnout is expected to be about 25 percent on September 5th and that’s not good enough, since many races could be decided in the primary.

“And then you have a situation where less than the majority of registered voters about who will be on our school board and who our judges will be as two examples. You know school board – it’s one of the biggest taxing bodies that we have here.”

The Why Should I Vote Brochure is available at Collier libraries and government buildings or online at the league’s website l-w-v- collier county dot org. Early voting is already taking place and the primary election is September 5th.

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The Collier County League of Women Voters is out with a new publication to help people who don’t quite know how to vote—to get to the polls this election season. President of the League, Chris Strayton, says voter turnout has notoriously been low and this is an attempt to increase it.

“Democracy depends upon people participating in the process. I think that the 2000 election showed how important an individual vote could be when you had a presidential election determined on the basis of about 500 votes. Democracy requires people to show up and it is not a spectator sport.”

The ‘Why Should I Vote’ brochure contains voter registration requirements, information on the right to a provisional ballot, absentee ballots and how to get more information on candidates.
It’s available on line at website l-w-v- collier county dot org and at Collier County libraries and government buildings.

The city of Cape Coral is renewing its efforts to attract a Major League Baseball team for Spring Training. The Cleveland Indians have said they’re NOT interested in the Cape. Cape Coral is the largest city in Southwest Florida and the mayor is making more pitches to score a team. Mayor Eric Feichthaler has written letters to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and the Cincinnati Reds. He’s encouraging the teams to consider Cape Coral. But the catch is: the team and the state would foot most of the bill for a stadium.

“A spring training facility that the city has to pay for in full and not have use of—that’s not a deal we’re going to support. But I think a great deal for our people is something we’re always looking for. And one can be obtained, I believe, from the right teams. It’s just a matter of getting that right match and the right dedication for that team to be part of our community.”

Cleveland Indian officials say they have great interest in Southwest Florida but are already in advanced negotiations with a city in Arizona and another in Florida. Two teams hold spring training in the Fort Myers area: the Minnesota Twins and the Boston Red Sox.

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Cape Coral’s Mayor sent letters to the Cincinnati Reds and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays Tuesday. Mayor Eric Feichthaler wants the teams to consider moving to the city for their spring training games. The Cleveland Indians have already said NO. Feichthaler says he plans to try to keep generating interest in Cape Coral.

“I just want to make sure that everyone throughout the state knows that we’re the largest city between Miami and Tampa and we do have a major economic force here that can really benefit businesses, sports teams [and] anybody who wants to relocate here.”

Feichthaler says he’d only consider the ‘right’ proposal with the team and the state footing most of the stadium’s construction cost. He says if Cape Coral’s residents are asked to pay for a team, the most he’d support would be about 8-dollars per homeowner a year.

The 15th Annual Citrus Expo gets underway today at the Lee Civic Center. Over the past decade and a half Southwest Florida’s Citrus industry has dealt with many challenges – but during this past year – they have mounted. That’s reflected in this year’s Expo Theme “Citrus Production in Transitional Times”. W-G-C-U’s Valerie Alker prepared this report.

Members of the Lee County Juvenile Justice Council gathered Monday to thank lawmakers for securing money this past legislative session…and to encourage them to try to do it again next year.
Four of the five budget requests submitted by the Lee County Juvenile Justice Council received state funding this year. Programs designed to keep juvenile offenders out of prison, like ‘Mental Health & Family Counseling Services’, and ‘Domestic Violence Diversion’ will share nearly 700-thousand-dollars. Governor Jeb Bush vetoed one project: an Outpatient Substance Abuse Diversion program.

Cape Coral Republican State Representative Jeff Kottkamp says between the state’s budget surplus, and the right people on the right committee…the stars aligned this legislative session.

“Sometimes it takes a while for our members to build up the seniority to get in those positions and this year was the year that it all came together. We had Senator Aronberg sat on the conference committee with me…I co-chaired the conference committee…so we were there until the bitter end to make sure that these funding priorities stayed in the budget.”

Kottkamp says it’s rewarding to know the work they do in Tallahassee makes a difference back home. The 700-thousand-dollars Lee County is getting this year for these programs will once again need to be renewed next year.


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The Lee County Juvenile Justice Council recognized local lawmakers Monday for their efforts during this past legislative session. Republican State Representatives Jeff Kottkamp and Trudi Williams – and Democratic State Senator Dave Aronberg – cobbled together nearly 700-thousand-dollars for services intended to keep area youth out of prison. The Juvenile Justice Council received money for 4 programs this year…and it would’ve 5 if Governor Jeb Bush hadn’t vetoed a Substance Abuse Diversion program. Circuit Judge Sherra Winesett was until recently the county’s only juvenile judge for delinquency. She says Southwest Florida needed more money…and got it.

“We gathered data and presented that to our legislators and our proposals for these programs and they agreed with us that we were underfunded – and they worked very hard to bring us the funding.”

The juvenile offenders programs funded this year include Mental Health & Family Counseling – Domestic Violence Diversion – and Trauma Counseling.
Winesett says these programs all work to get families AND community service providers directly involved in the lives of juvenile offenders. She says while this funding outlook is great, it’s already time to start looking ahead to next year.

Scientists are studying new algae that have turned up in San Carlos Bay and Pine Island Sound off Sanibel Island. It’s similar to a toxic algae found off the coast of Australia. It’s called Lyngbia and it’s under investigation by researchers at the Sanibel Captiva Conversation Foundation. It first turned up in December and it still persists. Lab Manager Dr. Steve Bortone says there’s a possibility contact with it could cause a rash called swimmers itch – but so far no cases have been reported. He says the primary concern is the impact on sea grasses.

In this particular case they’ve become so abundant they’ve covered over the blades of sea grass – and why that’s a problem is that they interfere with the light the sea-grasses can get and it turns out that blue green algae and sea grass require the same kind of light so it’s literally stealing the light from the sea grass.

Swimmers itch has been reported in Australia – but Bortone says it’s not the same algae. He says growth of blue-green algae is promoted by high nutrient levels.

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A new form of algae is now flourishing off Sanibel in San Carlos Bay and Pine Island Sound. The blue-green algae cling to sea-grasses – blocking the sun. Lab Manager at the Sanibel Captiva Conservation Foundation, Steve Bortone, says the persistent bloom is the result of poor water quality.

it’s a accumulation of a lot of issues, some stuff coming out of the lake, there’s probably some additions from the municipalities there’s septic areas where septic tanks may be overflowing in some cases. It might even be decomposition of materials left behind by the hurricane and those are rotting and putting their nutrients into the system –

Blue-green algae in Australia are toxic and causes swimmers itch, but Bortone says this variety doesn’t appear to do that. What it does do is coat the stems of sea-grass – blocking sunlight, potentially killing the grasses and leading to further deterioration of water quality.

The community pharmacy that gives prescription medications to Charlotte County residents ‘in need’ is expanding due to population growth and increased need. The St. Vincent de Paul Community Pharmacy of Charlotte County is opening a satellite office in Englewood. And they hope to do the same in Punta Gorda next year. Executive Director Paul Ringenberger says over the last six years the pharmacy has dispensed more than three and a half million dollars of free medications to those whose expenses exceed their income – young and old alike.

“If it isn’t the elderly who have experienced problems with this Medicare D or other programs it certainly does come back to folks who work in the service industry because they aren’t receiving health insurance so we’re seeing more and more working families come to us for assistance.”

Pharmacists donate their time and physicians donate their samples.
There are three other St. Vincent De Paul community pharmacies in the U.S. This is the only one in Florida.


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The St. Vincent DePaul Community Pharmacy needs volunteers to staff its new office in Englewood. It’s operated for six years out of an office in Port Charlotte and is expanding for the first time.
The pharmacy has provided more than 3-point-5 million dollars in free prescription medicine to Charlotte County residents in need. Executive Director Paul Ringenberger says about 75 percent of the drugs are donated by physicians who give up their samples.

“Just like a pharmacy we maintain shelves and we monitor inventory and when we run low on something if it’s not being donated we go ahead and cut a check and buy it.”

The pharmacy is licensed and regulated by the state and run by volunteer pharmacists who give about four hours a month to fill prescriptions. It gets by with donations, grants, county government funding and fundraising. The Englewood office opens in October. Plans are underway for a Punta Gorda office to open early next year.
www.svdppharmacy.org

Goals were not likely reached Saturday night at the 17th annual Arts for ACT auction at Harborside Convention Center in downtown Fort Myers. The event raises money for the Abuse Counseling and Treatment Center to helps victims of domestic abuse and survivors of sexual assault in Lee, Glades and Hendry Counties.
Despite guest auctioneer, supermodel and actress Lauren Hutton’s 2nd appearance, bidding was low, even for a signed lithograph by contemporary art icon James Rosenquist which went for only 3,200. The most pretigious piece - Bob Rauschenberg's original work, "Party" only went for 100,000.
Here’s a glimpse into what’s traditionally the highlight of the evening, beginning with a toast to Rauschenberg. You’ll hear TV anchor Kellie Burns, ACT director Jennifer Benton, MC John Finstrom, Lauren Hutton and the auctioneer.
Former Fort Myers first lady Marilyn Smith bought the Rauschenberg for a bargain 100,000 dollars.