Coastal Breeze News

With Barbara Mackle safe and in good condition after spending 83 hours buried alive in the woods near Duluth, Georgia, attention immediately turned to the kidnappers: Gary Steven Krist, a small time Alaska crook who had escaped from jail in California, and his accomplice, Ruth Eisemann Schier, a bright, petite graduate student.  Everyone wanted to know: who were these people? Why they had done this heinous crime and would they now pay for it? Krist, who had grown up in Alaska, started stealing at age nine. By 14 he was convicted of auto theft and put in a juvenile facility ... Read More »

The 37th Annual Everglades City Seafood Festival was held February 5 – 7 with over 100 vendors and a choice of blue crabs, lobster, shrimp, catfish, stone crabs, and fresh fish. Three days of live entertainment and a carnival atmosphere with lots of music and rides never fail to attract thousands of people who gladly participate in sampling the menus. This young fellow was digging right in, proving that he didn’t have to see it to enjoy it, and fingers were invented long before forks. Read More »

You have probably heard the remark, “I found the keys!”  after a very good round of golf. It is something you may hear when a player shoots a low score and his swing keys or concentration points have allowed him a very rewarding day. It is usually triggered by repeating a thought and movement. However, the next round of golf may not have the same results with the exact same swing keys. There are many things that can interfere with a consistent motion: timing, balance, rhythm, or force. The average golf swing usually takes place within a half of a second ... Read More »

Jammin’ in the Hammock Collier-Seminole State Park 20200 East Tamiami Trail, Naples U.S. 41, 8 miles East of  Hwy 951 (Collier Blvd.) Saturday, February 13 – 10:00 am until 6:00 pm, $15.00 per person(Children 13 and under free with adult) Sunday, February 14 – 10:00 am until 6:00 pm, $15.00 per person(Children 13 and under free with adult)     Featuring music Saturday and Sunday by: Wilson Family Band The Fleas Frontline Bluegrass Pure and Simple Swinging Bridge Free parking. Covered concert area: festival held rain or shine. Bring chairs. Featuring arts/crafts and food vendors. No pets, alcohol, smoking or coolers ... Read More »

In our daily life, busy with obligations and responsibilities, we sometimes forget to acknowledge or appreciate the goodness which truly permeates our days and our relationships.  It is obvious that when there is a person who is in need, or even a country crying for help, people from all walks of life open their hearts, lending a hand by reaching out to others. Marco Island, Goodland and the Isles of Capri are a historical part of the Ten Thousand Islands rimming the primitive Everglades.  Throughout time there has been no end to the list of people helping others.  In modern ... Read More »

For many travelers, Holland begins and ends in Amsterdam, as tourists tend to take advantage of all the cultural and social amenities offered by the hustle and bustle of a large city. However, if you really want a more genuine Netherlands experience, less diluted by tourists such as yourself, head east, either by efficient train or by bicycle to a smaller city such as Hengelo. It was October when we arrived and there was a chill to the air from the North Sea. Gloves, scarves, and warm clothing, and an occasional umbrella were needed. Hengelo is located in the Twente ... Read More »

If you are considering selling your home (or condo), things are looking up. But before you commit to listing with your cousin, an in-law or some other realtor, make sure that they have gone beyond getting a license. Of course if it’s your son or daughter you’re probably committed. Also, a spouse or ‘significant other’ is an absolute. A real estate license does not qualify a person to give you the best representation. And in the real estate fraternity there are many license holders that haven’t got a clue. However, in all fairness to my fellow realtors, there are also ... Read More »

I don’t usually mention the previous month’s weather in a current fishing report.  However, the weather this past January was so severe that it made a definite impact in the fishing world in southwest Florida. The frigid temperatures caused many species to leave the area, at least temporarily.  There was also a huge and noticeable fish kill because of the exceptionally low temperatures. Because of this significant fish kill, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Department elected to close our snook season to give the snook a chance to rebound.  This decision is supported by all of us who want to ... Read More »

Can you imagine a better combination in time for Valentine’s Day, than flowers and chocolates? When those confections are the well-known, handcrafted Norman Love Chocolates, according to Nancy Carrington, it’s even more exciting. Nancy is owner and president of Marco Island Florist, and has been aware of Norman Love Chocolates for many years. The union, in time for Valentine’s Day, will enable the Marco Island Florist location to pair their lovely flowers with the handcrafted white, milk, and dark chocolates. “I am a firm believer in partnering with local businesses and contacted Norman Love to explore the possibility and I ... Read More »

Sidewalks are designed for the purpose of allowing pedestrian traffic to be separated from vehicular traffic. This includes people walking, children riding bicycles, parents pushing baby carriages, and wheelchairs. The City receives frequent complaints concerning sidewalk obstructions: a sidewalk obstruction is anything which blocks the sidewalk.  Most frequently, the obstructions are trees or hedges growing across the sidewalk, or vehicles parking on or across the sidewalk.  The code requires the sidewalk to have a clearance zone equal to the width of the walkway up to a height of 7 ½ feet. Tree branches, bushes, hedges, and even grass growing across ... Read More »

Now that we have your attention by showing off our rather brawny Fire/Rescue Staff at work putting out a dumpster fire in Olde Marco, we’d like to entice you to join us in our next edition where we will showcase an exclusive look at a new feature: Fitness on the Force. If you think their job is easy, add to it all the equipment they have to carry around in clothing and helmets, as well as safety requirements — and don’t forget the hoses! How do they do it — and remain smiling? We wondered too. We’ll share some fitness ... Read More »

Have you ever been out with friends, and trying to decide where to go for dinner, but no one will agree?  You ask a few questions, you suggest a compromise and  guess what?  You’ve just successfully mediated a dispute. Mediation sounds like such a ‘legal’ term, but it’s not just something that is used around the courthouse.  In an economy such as we have today, disputes are more common, tempers flare, and small issues loom much larger and darker.  Mediation tones things down in just about any environment. Rival teachers in a school district, opposing groups in your church, neighbors ... Read More »

Keeping the space in our chest open and spacious is important for many reasons. There are just as many reasons for its being closed in the first place: one daily activity of slouching over a computer with our heads forward is the most obvious problem in our lives today. Reading books, watching TV, any activity where you are not focusing on your positioning, can be an issue for closing in the heart center. With that being said, almost all of our activities are forward-focused, unless we are working for Cirque du Soleil. In this fast-paced world, we may find we ... Read More »

At the last City Council meeting on February 1, Angelo Ubertaccio was recognized as an outstanding employee for 10 years of valuable service to the City’s Public Works Department. Marco Island Firefighter Raymond Ladurini, about to be deployed to Iraq, was also recognized. The Coastal Breeze News will be undertaking to send parcels to Ray and his troop on an ongoing basis while he is in Iraq, and we invite those interested in participating to stay tuned for lists of appropriate items that may be dropped off in our offices in the Shops of Olde Marco. Some agenda items that ... Read More »

I had a different message planned for this space, but I was so influenced by something that happened this afternoon that I feel compelled to write about it. First of all, I admit that I am like many other full time residents who suffer a love/hate relationship with “The Season”. We love to see our friends return to the Island for what seems a few short months. We love to see our local businesses receive a boost, and there’s something energizing about beaches and sidewalks full of walkers strutting their stuff early in the morning. It’s great to live in ... Read More »

The day was cool and cloudy but the feeling was hot and determined as 90-plus golfers at the Hideaway Beach Club once more set out to Chip Away at Cancer, in their annual fundraiser. “Let’s Kill Cancer” was the cry, as one organizer, Bill Dean led the charge to the 9-hole golf course where honorariums marked each hole, saluting cancer survivors or lost loved ones. Hideaway Golf professional Heidi Papoosha, assistant Michael O’Brien, and visiting PGA Head golf Professional Kristy Gleason, from the Kingswood Golf Club in Wolfeboro, NH added some extra challenges, allowing the players to bet against them ... Read More »

This isn’t your old edition of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. This is 1890s London, and a 21st century Holmes and Watson as never before read or seen. Gone is Basil Rathbone,  the urbane, suave Holmes and his deerstalker hat. Gone, too, is Nigel Bruce, the bumbling, fumbling, avuncular Dr. Watson.  But perhaps we’ve come full circle, for it was Watson who nearly died while serving in Afghanistan.   The transition, by Director Guy Ritchie, is neatly done.  London is sleazy, filthy, overrun with unfinished monster projects, including the Tower Bridge, rats, and lots of ... Read More »

February is the month for romance and Valentine hearts, so who would have thought an alligator would make headlines as warm-hearted?  This cold-blooded reptile is a topic for St. Valentine’s Day?  You bet!  The American Alligator (Alligator missippiensis) that we see in the Everglades, and occasionally in the canals of Marco Island, like all crocodilians, has a four-chambered heart, a trait shared with mammals and birds. Most reptiles, lizards, snakes and turtles, have 3-chambered hearts, but the more complex heart structure in the alligator allows a lower metabolic state, enables it to dive for long periods and indicates it might ... Read More »

Councilman Wayne Waldack recently addressed the issues of blocked sidewalks following a resident’s requesting that this ordinance be changed. The appellant felt that being able to park cars in driveways, blocking sidewalks, would not inconvenience those forced to walk around them and would provide additional parking spaces on the island. Waldack pointed that sidewalks are for pedestrian traffic and not for the  exclusive use of a property owner.  Intentionally or unintentionally blocking a sidewalk, he said,  might violate various laws (possibly federal, state and local).  “There is also the issue of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)”, said Waldack. “Many ... Read More »

Captain James V. Picone of the Marco Island Composite Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol (an Auxiliary of the United States Air Force) was awarded the Commander’s Commendation by Civil Air Patrol’s Florida Wing Commander, Colonel Christian Moersch. The award was presented to him by the Marco Island Squadron Commander, Lt. Col. Lee Henderson. Picone received this prestigious recognition for “outstanding duty performance in connection with a Homeland Security multi-state, multi- agency mission.” Such missions are one of the key contributions Civil Air Patrol volunteers make in protecting our country. During an extensive mission, a joint task force operation involving ... Read More »