Governor Jeb Bush and leading state officials continued to “meet the press” Tuesday leading hurricane briefing sessions broadcast state wide. The Governor also came to the defense of the Federal Emergency Management Agency—which has been widely criticized in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Valerie Alker reports. (AUDIO)

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Developers want to build a 36 hundred square foot butterfly conservatory near downtown Fort Myers. City planner Nicole De Vaughn has been helping the company, BriarPatch 2, with the paperwork. She says the final project will be a calm natural escape within the city.

“It’s gonna be kind of a passive recreational area – like a large green house, filled with plants and butterflies; the two existing houses that their renovating – one’ll serve as an office, gift shop, probably an old coffee shop in there. Kind of a neighborhood feel to the park.”

Plans for “The Butterfly Estates” went before the Fort Myers City Council Monday, and the project is approved to continue. The next step is a public hearing next month before construction begins. Developers say they hope the project will be completed next year.

Florida scientists have found two possible breakthroughs in the fight against melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer. The National Cancer Institute says the prevalence of the disease has more than doubled in the past 30 years. Nearly 8,000 U.S. residents die from melanoma each year. Now two leading Florida universities created what they believe will be important tools in preventing and treating the skin cancer. Pam GY-ser reports. (AUDIO)

School districts across Florida continue to absorb students from areas affected by Hurricane Katrina. 75 are going to school in Lee County. Superintendent Dr. James Browder – says they’re easily absorbed into a population of 76 thousand students. But the county is short 25 teachers - so Browder says the district is also looking to recruit displaced educators.

“We’ve set up a booth in Houston and San Antonio offering jobs inside of Lee for teachers, bus drivers, support folks – if they’re interested in coming this way. We have a contact in that area, and there’s a team of folks going out there next week to interview and do some things to try and attract people.”

Browder says he wouldn’t be surprised if other Florida school districts are scouting for prospective employees from Katrina-affected areas.

The Lee County Sports Complex was the staging area Friday for a terrorism response exercise. The event was planned long ago… before Katrina pointed out weaknesses in disaster response. Valerie Alker has more. (AUDIO)

Governor Jeb Bush is back in front of TV cameras—urging Floridians to prepare for yet another blast from the tropics. Valerie Alker reports.

Vehicles streamed out of the Florida Key Monday, in response to orders from authorities to evacuate. The Keys evacuation covers 40 thousand residents—southwest of the 7-mile bridge – plus tourists. Tolls were suspended and—according to state officials—there’s ample gas. But, Governor Jeb Bush says conservation measures—adopted in the wake of Katrina—need to continue.

“That’s the new reality, particularly as Katrina’s impacts have not been fully compensated yet. They have not fully built capacity back up, so any kind of impact on supply, and that’s not just hitting the refineries but also shutting down the ports for imported oil, into the areas, New Orleans, Houston, Corpus, where fuel comes in, if the storm is approaching and gasoline has to be diverted we have to be managing that and be concerned it, which is why it’s important for all Floridians to conserve both gasoline as well as electricity.”

Gasoline prices in Florida have come down since reaching a high mark of about 3 dollars a gallon for regular unleaded—immediately after Hurricane Katrina.

On college campuses throughout the country, self-defense courses are becoming commonplace. Sandy Schoepfer reports on one such training program – specifically for women - at Florida Gulf Coast University. The next RAD class runs from tonight thru Wednesday from 5 to 9 pm at the Kleist Health Education Center on the FGCU campus. (AUDIO)