IT IS SAID THAT WE ALL HAVE GIFTS TO SHARE WITH THE WORLD, TREASURES WE CAN use to brighten the world in ways big and small. What follows here are profiles of five Collier County residents who passed away during 2016.
We love numbers. They’re as neat and clean as new knives — cutting edge, often inarguable. If the numbers tell the story, the story must be true, correct?
Not according to some, especially not statistics.
When the Greek philosopher Plato suggested “the state is the soul writ large,” he established a template for understanding who we are. Any of us, in any time or place.
Leonardo da Vinci famously said, “Water is the driving force of all nature.” Water was certainly a driving force of environmental and economic discussions in 2016, and by all accounts will continue to take center stage in 2017.
If you are an aficionado of country ham, you surely know a story or two. These are tales of tragedy and comedy, chronicling adventures, high and low.
Most drivers today remember a time when graduating from the baby seat meant joining the older siblings along the backbench of the family vehicle. We bet there are even plenty of readers who didn’t have seatbelts back there. But that doesn’t work anymore.
If there’s one thing that confuses me about world, it’s the proliferation of dog people in it. Sure, dogs profess their undying love to their owners every time they lay eyes on them, but I think it’s cats that really are, well, the cat’s pajamas.
Holes against humanity
Consumer sentiment among Floridians surged up 6.9 points in December to 97.2, according to the latest University of Florida consumer survey. This is the highest reading since March 2015 and the second highest since February 2004.
All five of the components that make up the index increased.
Southwest Floridian can learn about reducing their chances of identity theft thanks to Hodges University’s Identity Fraud Institute. Carrie Kerskie, director of the institute, will present “Steps to Reduce the Risk of Identity Theft” from 3-4 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 11, at Hodges in Naples and from 3-4 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 18, at the university’s Fort Myers campus.
Here’s where CCSO deputies will be on traffic detail the week of Jan. 2-6:
Monday, Jan. 2
Airport-Pulling Road and J & C Boulevard: Aggressive driving
Pelican Bay Boulevard and U.S. 41 North: Red-light running
Golden Gate and Desoto boulevards: Speeding
Tuesday, Jan. 3
The Salt Water Sportsman national seminar series opens its eight-city, 30-year anniversary tour at Florida Gulf Coast University on Saturday, Jan. 7.
AARP offers classes to help older drivers learn about new traffic laws, refresh their driving skills and reduce their risk for tickets and accidents. Drivers over age 55 might be eligible for a discount on auto insurance. Cost is $15 for AARP members, $20 for others. Reservations are required and can be made by calling the number listed with the session you wish to attend.
It’s no secret that discrimination is stressful for those who experience it, but turns out the issue is more than skin deep — these stressors can interact with our genetics to negatively impact our health, a new University of Florida study shows.
¦ Gulfcoast Runners holds the Dave Cranor 5K to benefit Collier County Drug Court Kids starting at 8 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 1, at Lowdermilk Park.
A study recently published in Circulation, a journal of the American Heart Association, reports the winter holiday season is considered a risk factor for cardiac and non-cardiac death.
Can you pinch an inch? Not on your own body, but on your dog’s? If you can, he could probably stand to lose some weight. It’s something to think about as we enter a new year with good resolutions to improve ourselves — and our pets.
To adopt or foster a pet
At around the age of 40-ish, two things happen to all of us without fail:
• Time starts to fly by at an alarming rate.
• And your hangovers get much worse.
An invention called The Tucker, a boon to bed-makers everywhere, hinged on the broken fingernail of its designer.
DURING THE DARKEST DAYS OF America’s involvement in Vietnam, Walter Cronkite, the legendary CBS news anchor, decided to do something dramatic. Mr. Cronkite had recently returned from Vietnam, and he knew for a fact that the rosy reports that were being issued by U.S. military commanders were false. Disturbed by this misleading of the public, Mr.
While the public enjoys new exhibits and wildlife viewing opportunities at the newly expanded von Arx Wildlife Hospital at the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, staff plans to teach visitors about wildlife protection in the area and how to best preserve native species during a period of rapid growth.
In the American cultural vernacular, which may prove as confusing to you as it frequently does to me, the first Christmas did not occur 2,016 years ago.
Instead, the first Christmas took place exactly 240 years ago on a frigid night a few miles north of Philadelphia.
The extended campaign season and the tumultuous run-up to Election Day wore everybody out. You can only take so much of a 24/7 reality show. Now that Donald Trump is president-elect, we know we have four more years of political chaos to look forward to.
In the course of a couple of tweets, Donald Trump may have ended the image of the GOP as the party of corporate America.
The 20th annual Tuba Christmas filled the air at Sugden Plaza with the sounds of the holidays.
Seminole Chief James E. Billie will be the guest of honor when the historic Smallwood Store & Museum hosts a dinner Saturday, Jan. 7, at the Oyster House in Everglades City. Guests will enjoy a screening of the documentary film about Chief Billie’s life.
The Latchkey League recently awarded a grant for $50,000 to New Horizons through the Community Foundation of Collier Country. Shown here are Myra Janco Daniels, center, with Ron Miller, Tina Nicholson, Eileen Connolly-Keesler and Joseph Coppola. Mrs. Daniels is founder of the Latchkey League. Mr. Miller is chairman of the board of New Horizons. Mrs.
The C’mon Mateys Pirate Treasure Hunt for children ages 4-10 takes place from 9-10 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 14, at the Golisano Children’s Museum of Naples. Teams of one adult and up to four children will explore the museum following clues to find the treasure.
The Immokalee Foundation’s 2016 Charity Classic Celebration and Charity Classic Pro-Am raised a record $2.3 million to honor the organization’s 25th anniversary serving the youth of Immokalee.
Collier Child Care Resources invite early childhood educators, therapists and parents to “Creating Connected Classrooms that Foster Community and Problem Solving Skills” from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 14, at Hodges University in Naples.
There’s been a lot of discussion lately about Florida’s beaches, about massive sand loss and who’s going to pay to replace it. We’ve heard that our most important tourist attraction is being ignored by Tallahassee, that one of our defining assets is getting little attention from anyone at any level of government.
Florida has the most cyclist fatalities per million population in the nation.
¦ Wine Tasters of Naples is a social club that meets from 5-7:30 p.m. every Friday at different locations around town. More so than wine, members enjoy socializing and working together on philanthropic and service projects to benefit the community. Members pay a $7 door fee; guests pay $9. Light bites are served, and attendees pay for their own beverages.
Villa at Terracina Grand honored its 22 residents who are veterans during the community’s second annual Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day ceremony.
Vi at Bentley Village and Vitas Healthcare honored veterans who reside at Vi at Bentley Village with a ceremony on Pearl Harbor Day.
“Make new friends, but keep the old; those are silver, these are gold.” Joseph Parry died a few months before Buick was established in 1903, but his lyrics almost seem like he knew the new 2017 LaCrosse sedan.
Here’s where CCSO deputies will be on traffic detail the week of Dec. 26-30:
Monday, Dec. 26
Airport-Pulling Road and Naples Boulevard: Red-light running
Collier Boulevard and U.S. 41 East: Red-light running
Golden Gate Parkway and Livingston Road: Speeding
Tuesday, Dec. 27
CCSO2go, the mobile application of the Collier County Sheriff’s Office, has been recently updated and is free to download. The enhanced arrest log is searchable by date or name and displays each arrestee’s charges, Collier County arrest history for the past 10 years and photograph.
The Conservancy of Southwest Florida offers free guided nature walks at three locations that make a perfect outing for Southwest Florida visitors and residents alike. Sunscreen, comfortable waterproof shoes, a camera and binoculars are recommended.
[img_assist|nid=264932|title=|desc= A reddish egret hunts in the Everglades. The species has been added to the Imperiled Species Management Plan by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
The Imperiled Species Management Plan is a capstone on five years of work developing the plan, and over a decade of revising the listing process.
Ring-a-ling! Hear them ring? It’s Christmastime in Naples, and bell ringers for The Salvation Army are out in full force. As the most prominent faces of the organization’s seasonal initiatives, volunteers — and some paid seasonal workers — are stationed at dozens of locations throughout the county to collect money to provide holiday toys and food to local families.
I was relieved last week when the president-elect finally started picking his most important cabinet members, or at least interviewing prospects.
The country can’t function without leaders and their staffs, or without a transfer not just of power but of knowledge, which is power, we’ve been told.
Justice is on trial in South Carolina. Two high-profile murder cases are before the courts. They both resurrect the fact and memory of racial animus at the heart of the state’s historic past.
One of the Obama administration’s core competencies is suspending pipeline projects with no cause.
It seems like every year, the holiday season sneaks up from behind and wallops our family with appointments, events, panic shopping (hello, emergency party dress), menu planning and more. We love it and live for it. My counterpart, James, has even learned to answer to Clark (as in Mr.
Ecret-say ode-kay
The oldest house in Naples has a refined holiday house décor this year to complement the sophisticated holiday style of its neighbors in downtown Naples for the annual Christmas at Palm Cottage.
The Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy invites Collier, Lee and Charlotte county children in kindergarten through second grade to enter the Florida Celebration of Reading essay and art contest. The competition is based on best-selling children’s author Laura Numeroff’s “If You Give A Mouse A Cookie.” Ms. Numeroff will attend the 17th annual celebration.
Youth Haven invites holiday shoppers to give monetary gifts of Compassion, Hope, Joy, Community, Peace and Love to help the young residents of its emergency shelter.
A monthly gift of Compassion ($25) will provide essential programming and needed supplies to a child in need.
The Immokalee Foundation, which recently earned Take Stock in Children’s Gold Level of Excellence Award, is spotlighting National Mentoring Month in January to recruit adult volunteers to help guide and advise students in the foundation’s Take Stock in Children scholarship program.
More than two-dozen college-bound young women from the Guadalupe Center’s Tutor Corps program have learned how to dress the part thanks to the Dress for Success SWF. The students visited the nonprofit’s boutique in Fort Myers and worked with Dress for Success and Guadalupe Center volunteers to select and be fitted for an outfit to be used for college visits and interviews.
Here’s where Collier County Sheriff’s Office deputies will be on traffic detail the week of Dec. 19-23:
Monday, Dec. 19
Thomasson Drive and Orchard Lane: Speeding
18th Avenue SW and Sunset Road: Aggressive driving
Livingston and Radio roads: Speeding
Tuesday, Dec. 20
CCSO2go, the mobile application of the Collier County Sheriff’s Office, has been recently updated and is free to download. The enhanced arrest log is searchable by date or name and displays each arrestee’s charges, Collier County arrest history for the past 10 years and photograph.
One of the greatest and most dangerous road races of all time is remembered in an exhibition running through April 30 at The Revs Institute for Automotive Research Inc. in Naples. The exhibition, La Maxima Competencia, spotlights Mexico’s Carrera Panamericana, which was held between 1950 and 1954.
The candle that shines the brightest usually burns out the quickest, and the minivan is the perfect example. Its instant popularity with one generation made the kids who grew up in the back seat desperate to find any alternative when it came time for their own families. So the company that invented the minivan is back to make versatility cool again with the new 2017 Chrysler Pacifica.
People who consistently smoked an average of less than one cigarette per day over their lifetime had a 64 percent higher risk of earlier death than those who never smoked, and those who smoked between one and 10 cigarettes a day had an 87 percent higher risk of earlier death than read more
Managing inflammatory bowel disease is an issue for more than 1.6 million Americans. To help guide those affected by IBD, the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America presents seminars from physician experts and healthcare professionals on topics important to IBD patients, families and caregivers from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 14, at Naples Regional Library.
Visually impaired people and their caregivers are invited to a brown bag lunch and educational program at Lighthouse of Collier at 11:30 a.m. on the third Tuesday of every month Lighthouse headquarters, 2685 Horseshoe Drive S. Attendance is free; bring your own lunch to eat during or after the program. The next lunch is Dec. 20.
WAYNE SALLADE, THE RETIRING EMERGENCY operations manager for Charlotte County and west coast weather guru, may be the only human left in the region who’s seized a real estate opportunity with money from the now deca
