The Eating Disorder Awareness and Education Fund of the Southwest Florida Community Foundation holds a forum Tuesday night at 7 at Harborside Convention Center in downtown Fort Myers. School counselors, nurses, health class instructors and coaches and the public are invited. It’s estimated that between 10 and 20 million women and one million men in the U.S. are afflicted with eating disorders. One of the women is 15-year-old Brenna. She’s a sophomore at Fort Myers High School who runs cross-country for fun. Brenna has anorexia. And this spring she received treatment in Arizona – at one of the country’s foremost treatment centers for women with anorexia. There, she was required to write about the disease.

Object

A Naples marine scientist is out with her 9th book – her first fiction novel – this month. Amy Tardif has more.

In many communities, teachers are part of the solid middle class. In Southwest Florida, teachers are among those being priced out of the housing market. School administrators in the region are concerned. Valerie Alker reports.

Naturalists at the Calusa Nature Center & Planetarium in Fort Myers got quite a surprise when they arrived at work last Sunday… 18 baby alligators. The 9-inch-long newly-hatched reptiles were swimming in a pond - inside the center’s large alligator enclosure. An adult female & her mate have lived at the center since 1991 – after the Babcock Ranch donated them. They’ve gone through mating rituals during that time – including building & guarding a nest – but have never produced offspring. Education Naturalist - Kim Pierce – says at least a few of the babies will become part of an education program.

“We will not be able to keep all 18 of them here…I’m still working out what we can legally do with all of them. But as for now all 18 of them are here, and some of them will wind up staying here…which is nice, because we can talk about how alligators develop over time. And then show the offspring of the ones we’ve had here for so long.”

The center offers a program called “Understanding Alligators for Your Safety!” every day at noon.

Object

Last year congress passed a law mandating that federal employees, along with students in schools and universities receiving federal money learn more about the United States Constitution. The law followed polls that suggested more students know the names of the three stooges – Larry, Curly and Moe – than the first three words of the constitution: “We the people”. Educators responded. Saturday was Constitution Day – it was observed Wednesday on the campus of Florida Gulf Coast University. Valerie Alker reports. (AUDIO)

Object

A Rescue and Recovery plan for Hurricane Rita includes two search and rescue teams in Homestead. They consist of 60 Miami firefighters and 70 state law enforcement officers. 2400 National Guardsmen are mobilized and an additional 2000 are on alert. State Emergency Operations Manager Craig Fugate describes the plan.

“Reestablish communication, life safety and security, get commodities in there if needed, get the infrastructure rebuilt and get the keys open for business again. And that’s our battle drill.”

The hospitals need to be reopened and power restored. If the roads aren’t passable or the approaches to the many bridges along the island chain are eroded - six Blackhawk and one Chinook helicopter are staged in West Palm Beach—ready to help ferry in rescuers and repair crews. Fugate says the Florida National Guard plans to take a Humvee with satellite communications all the way down US 1 to guage damage.

“And they’re literally going to start driving as the winds start to decrease from Florida City. Their mission is to drive all the way to mile marker zero. They’ll be the first units to report that the road is open. If they come across any areas that are not passable then that will be the mission message that starts the aviation assets moving.”

There are 114 trucks of ice and 229 trucks of water on stand-by.

President Bush has approved a federal disaster declaration for South Florida… it includes Monroe, Miami-Dade, Broward and—yes—Collier County. Collier has experienced gusty winds, some rain, and spotty power outages. But, overall, emergency managers say they’re grateful Hurricane Rita took a more southerly route. Still, director of Collier County’s Bureau of Emergency Services, Dan Summers, says the disaster declaration is appropriate…

“Under the Stafford Act, in which the president signed the declaration, contiguous counties are approved. The other part of that disaster declaration—as a planning mechanism—is that Collier County could be available to any host sheltering, if that became necessary. Also the fact that Collier County has provided some aid resources already to Monroe. So, it’s is certainly appropriate.”

The declaration means any costs Collier County incurs—related to Rita—can be more easily reimbursed by FEMA.