Babcock Ranch developer Syd Kitson and his partners made a generous gift to Florida Gulf Coast University today – in the form of land and cash.

Florida Gulf Coast University just got a lot bigger. This afternoon FGCU President William Merwin announced its receipt of 67 acres of land in two parcels at the Babcock Ranch site, which sits in eastern portions of Lee and Charlotte counties. One parcel will be established as an environmental research center – the other as an outreach facility– both run by FGCU. The land also comes with a 3-million-dollar endowment.

FGCU President William Merwin thanked Kitson from the “bottom of his heart”:

“This means generations and generations of students not yet here, that are in the graded schools, will have an opportunity to work in a center…a center for environmental research and outreach in Charlotte County.”

The State of Florida Courtelis Fund will match the gift, effectively creating a 6-million-dollar trust dedicated to building the state-of-the-art facilities.

Syd Kitson says he and the university share a commitment to assuring that sustainable growth and preservation work hand-in-hand:

“I really feel very fortunate to be involved with the people of this university, and the outstanding work that you are doing to meet the long-term environmental planning challenges of Southwest Florida.”

The center will be accessible not only to the university community, but area residents—who will be able to attend public seminars, faculty presentations of research findings and courses on the ecology of Babcock Ranch.

Farm workers and their allies in Immokalee are one step closer to making their dream of a community center a reality.

While they’ve been raising money to renovate the center since buying an old building in the center of Immokalee in 2004, they just got the needed permits from Collier County this week, and that means renovations can soon begin.

Farm worker Herardo Reyes Chavez, who works for the Coalition for Immokalee Workers, explains the need.

“It would actually belong to the community, because right now we’re renting. And we would have much more space for the community meetings that we have every Wednesday for community education formation. We would have space to show videos about other struggles, and to promote the campaign for Fair Food.”

The Coalition’s Fair Food Campaign seeks to get higher wages for tomato pickers. It recently won concessions from Taco Bell – and has now turned its sites on McDonalds.

Chavez says the building will eventually be home to a radio station, computer lab and kitchen. It’ll mainly be a place to meet and share ideas.

It’s that time of year again – when grocery store customers in Southwest Florida are invited to make a little donation while they shop.


For ten or 15 dollars shoppers at Publix and Sweetbay Supermarkets can buy a brown bag full of non-perishable food that’s destined for the Harry Chapin Food Bank. The Bank supplies 160 agencies – from church pantries to rescue missions – in the five county area. Associate Director Joyce Jacobs says so far this season shoppers have extremely generous.


“it’s going amazingly well, we’re so pleased we just started about a week ago and I think we’ve already brought in about 40 thousand lobs of food so far. People are being very generous this year.”


Jacobs says the need is great. Rising food, gasoline, electricity and insurance costs have left many lower incomes families struggling. Last year the Harry Chapin food bank provided the resources for about 3 million meals.


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The annual food drive for the harry Chapin Food Bank is underway at Publix and Sweetbay Supermarkets in Southwest Florida. Grocery shopper are invited to purchase a bag of non-perishable food itmes which will then be distributed by the food-bank. Joyce Jacobs is the Associate Director.


“we supply 160 agencies, from church pantries, rescue mission, group homes – and our distribution this year will be about 4-1/2 million pounds of food which pretty much equates 3 million meals. so a lot of food is going into the community – there’s a lot of need."


Jacobs so far this year shoppers have been very generous – about 40 thousand pounds of food have been donated. The Harry Chapin food bank serves the five county area. It’s been in operation for 24 years.

A program that aims to increase the successful outcome of pregnancy for Southwest Florida women faces a funding crisis. It’s holding its first major benefit this weekend.
Healthy Start is a non-profit organization for expectant mothers that helps prevent premature births, low-birth weights and infant deaths. Serving eighteen- to twenty-thousand Southwest Florida mothers a year, it runs programs to increase their access to medical care and to improve health and developmental outcomes for their children. These services are not exclusive to the poor or uninsured. Any woman in Lee, Collier, Glades or Hendry counties determined to be "at risk" is eligible. The demand for Healthy Start’s services has grown by more than thirty percent in the last two years. But the group’s director, Cathy Cortez, says funding has failed to meet that need.

"We’ve had a hard time keeping up with the increase in the number of at-risk moms and babies that need help... We’ve had really good partnerships with our prenatal care providers like Family Health Partnerships and Lee OB-GYN, clinics in Naples as well. They continue to insure these moms even when our funding runs out. They’re increasingly hard for those providers to keep doing that, and we really do need to help bring in some financial assistance to keep the program going.”

That's why Healthy Start is throwing its first-ever benefit this weekend. “The White Show” is a contemporary circus and dance extravaganza starring New Vision Cirque, an international troupe of dancers, circus performers and gymnasts. Cortez hopes to raise one-hundred fifty-thousand dollars. The event is Saturday night at Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall in Fort Myers.

Hundreds of people turned out yesterday in Ft. Myer’s Centennial Park to commemorate the events of September 11th 2001. One speaker said the 9-11 terror attacks are this generation’s equivalent of December 7 1941 – Pearl Harbor – a day that will live in infamy. The United States changed forever following that attack. And Lee County Sheriff Mike Scott says it changed again on that day five years ago.

“That’s one of the difficult lessons that we learned. We learned
how vulnerable we are as a society as a country. And we’re better prepared for sure as a society as a country, although it’s a never ending battle. And when you’re fighting the element of surprise, it’s always tough.”

The event in Ft. Myers honored all the people who lost their lives on September 11 2001 – with special tribute paid to fire fighters and law enforcement officers. WGCU’s Valerie Alker has this sound portrait

Hispanic-themed fast food restaurant Pollo Tropical is coming to Southwest Florida – again. WGCU’s Valerie Alker reports.

Collier County Elections Supervisor Jennifer Edwards helped launch the 2006 ‘Get Out the Vote’ effort in advance of this fall’s elections. Heated contests include races for governor, U-S Senate, attorney general and other state positions on the ballot. A thousand people move to Florida each day and Collier election educator Cyndi Young says the rules are different in other states. In Florida, for instance, you must register 29 days before election day.

“In some states they may have same-day registration or you can register a week in advance. But that’s just one difference here in Florida with our book closings and requirements.”

Pedestrian friendly communities are healthier communities. That’s according to experts at a workshop in Naples Tuesday. It focused on “Walk-ability” and featured walking advocate Mark Fenton, host of the public television series “America’s Walking.” Valerie Alker reports. (AUDIO)

The threat of rolling blackouts in Florida—because of energy shortages—is over for now. Valerie Alker has more.
(AUDIO)

Members of Florida’s congressional delegation are commenting on the president’s pick for the next Supreme Court justice. Ryan Warner reports. (AUDIO)