The future of Florida’s trade and commerce may lie 12-hundred miles away. WGCU’s Luis Hernandez reports.

Bush Administration rules that made it easier for growers to hire temporary foreign workers have been revised. The new regulations went into effect Monday. WGCU’s Valerie Alker Reports.

An Immokalee man is in federal custody on charges related to the enslavement of a teenage Guatemalan girl smuggled into the U.S. in 2007. Francisco Domingo faces ten years in prison without parole and a 250 thousand dollar fine with more charges pending. The Guatemalan teen alleges Domingo forced her into field labor and sexual servitude.  Domingo’s federal detention hearing took place Monday. WGCU’s John Davis spoke with News-Press reporter Amy Bennett Williams who’s been investigating the story since Domingo’s arrest last week.

A planned visit to Southwest Florida last week by the ambassadors of Luxemburg and Austria was delayed because of bad weather in Washington DC.  But another trip is planned.  WGCU’s Valerie Alker reports.

South
Florida Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz says Congress needs to
move quickly to let undocumented Haitians stay in the U.S. legally.
Alex Keefe reports from Washington.

ECHO – the Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization – hosted its 16^th
annual agricultural conference this week.  Outreach workers from
developing countries learned agricultural skills they can teach to
others at the ECHO global farm in North Fort Myers.  WGCU’s Luis
Hernandez reports.

N-G-O
Development Workers from around the world are in North Fort Myers this
week.  ECHO – the Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization -
teaches outreach workers agricultural techniques and technologies to
help others help themselves.  WGCU’s Luis Hernandez reports.

Members
of Florida’s statewide taskforce on human trafficking will meet for the
first time this week in Miami to evaluate the scope of the problem, and
implement a plan to better identify victims and prosecute offenders. 
WGCU’s John Davis reports.

High
performance “Interceptor” boats built in North Ft. Myers are patrolling
the Western Caribbean as part of “Operation Enduring Friendship” - a
partnership between the United States and seven Caribbean and Central
American Countries.  The boats are paid for by the Department of State
and the program is supported the U.S. Southern Command.  WGCU’s Valerie
Alker paid a visit to the boat factory and has this report.

U-S Senator Bill Nelson says he believes there is hope for recovery in storm-ravaged Haiti.  WGCU’s Luis Hernandez reports.