Mike Walcher
Instructor, FGCU Journalism Program-
A months-long survey finds that most respondents want an amphitheater on the site of the Lee Civic Center. Lee County officials revealed survey results at a meeting Thursday night.
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The Lee County School District is using a $1 million grant to keep track of students who take buses to school. The district is unveiling it card-scanning program, called Student Ridership. Most bus-riding students will get their cards this week, as classes begin on Thursday.
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Imagine more than $1 billion. That's how much government money is expected to flow into Southwest Florida in coming months and years. The money is supposed to pay for long-term recovery from Hurricane Ian. The massive influx of money has the potential to transform the area, and the ability of the region to survive future storms. Right now Lee County alone is slated to receive $1.1 billion from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
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The Florida Department of Transportation said it is trying to find money to widen I-75 in parts of Collier and Lee counties. And FDOT also plans to improve interchanges in a 42-mile stretch of the roadway. But it would cost more than $2 billion in today's dollars to do it all.
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Authorities have moved people out of tents and campers under the Matanzas Pass bridge leading onto Hurricane Ian-damaged Fort Myers Beach. About a dozen people had been living under the bridge. A few claimed they'd been there since October, right after Ian.
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Living in a disaster zone. That remains the reality for some people in Matlacha and on the south end of Pine Island, nearly six months after Hurricane Ian caused massive damage. The stress is taking a toll on some people, while many on the island focus on rebuilding.
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The mayor and vice mayor of Sanibel Island both won new terms on the city council in Tuesday's elections. And a retired police officer won a seat on the village council in Estero.
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Three candidates for Sanibel City Council talked about recovery from Hurricane Ian at a forum Thursday evening. Holly Smith, Richard Johnson and Troy Thompson answered questions at the event at the Big Arts center.
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Lee County is putting on the brakes before authorizing more than a quarter of a billion dollars in payments to deal with Hurricane Ian's damage and destruction. Commissioners Tuesday asked to see the actual contracts, before voting to pay up to $273 million.
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Lee County has begun a gentle push to help Hurricane Ian victims leave a tent city near Fort Myers Beach. Some of the people are starting their fifth month living under a bridge on the approach to the hurricane-devastated island.