Coastal Breeze News

COASTAL COMMENTS  Donna Fiala  “There’s No Place Like Home”  As our Winter Residents prepare to come back, the Property Appraiser, Abe Skinner, also has prepared and sent out our TRIM (Truth in Millage) notices. For those residents up north it must be a relief to see OUR property taxes for Florida versus their tax bills. What a tremendous difference! Comparing Ohio vs. Florida, the taxes are so much lower in Florida, plus Ohio has county taxes, state taxes, and assorted other fees and taxes (according to my brother who lives in the Cleveland area). And on a personal note, as ... Read More »

By Danielle Dodder  “Nobody trusts government on any level anymore.” City Council Vice Chair Larry Magel sums up the collective headwinds facing anyone wrangling public money these days. Magel, along with fellow councilors and budget subcommittee members Wayne Waldack and Bill Trotter, spent 37 hours meeting with city staff, studying the fine print, and voicing opinions on proposed items in the 2012 budget created by the city as manager and staff worked to create something to pass muster with both public and city council. The challenge: nearly all public money in Florida rides on the back of property taxes. The ... Read More »

By Natalie Strom  Island Animal Hospital has been busy making some major changes. With a brand new facility and the introduction of new alternative therapies for pets, current patients as well as newcomers will certainly be pleased with their experience. After a twenty-year veterinary career in the northeast, Dr. James Bowen and his wife Donna moved to Marco Island and established a new practice, opening Island Animal Hospital. For the past ten years they, along with vet technicians Daphne Polson and Lindsey Ladwig, have been treating the precious pets of Marco Island. Their sincere care and concern for the animals ... Read More »

By Monte Lazarus  (The story you are about to read is true. Names and some dates are redacted in the interest of national security….)  Fall 1956. I was fresh out of the United States Army, and my Sainted Mother was complaining to the kitchen clock, stove and refrigerator that I did not yet have a job – or was even looking. Actually I was looking, but there wasn’t much for a lawyer whose experience was court martial work and army stuff. I visited my old dean at law school and he suggested that I go down to Washington where lawyers ... Read More »

By Danielle Dodder  Like a grumpy, sleeping hound, there’s many an old city ordinance better left alone. City code enforcement would happily overlook the occasional sandwich board put out by small business owners hoping to drive customers in, but a recent spate of complaints has resulted in a blanket enforcement of Section 30-527, Prohibited Signs. Code Compliance Supervisor Liz Carr adds that the intent of the ordinance is a good one, as it was meant to keep an excess of neon and tacky from giving Marco an air that’s more Jersey Shore (the show, not the place,) than upscale beach ... Read More »

BEYOND THE COAST  Tarik Ayasun  It has been ten years since America was attacked by a band of terrorists who on that day wanted to destroy America; kill as many Americans as possible and fire the first shot in the Holy Jihad which they declared against America. Despite recent efforts on the contrary by some who are trying to re-write history, this was neither an attack on Western Civilization nor the West in general. This was an attack on America, a cowardly attack on American exceptionalism and a vicious attack on our fellow Americans by Al Qaida terrorists acting in the ... Read More »

By Members of Leadership Marco  The 2011 Leadership Marco Class rubbed elbows with representatives of media giants Gannett and EW Scripps. The group met early in the morning at the Marco Island Area Association of Realtors office to be transported to the offices of the event sponsors: Naples Daily News (NDN) and the Marco Eagle. The class toured their $100 million facility located on Immokalee Boulevard in Naples. The class was impressed with the ecologically friendly facility which is considered green in every aspect. “It is ‘crystal clean’right down to the purification of water used in the ink for the ... Read More »