City of Cape Coral

Karen Moore, publisher of Southwest Florida Business Today newspaper, attended the November 3 Cape Coral Town Hall meeting that provided updates from representatives from FEMA on state and local levels, public assistance, the SBA, and the planner for the City of Cape Coral. You can listen to the entire townhall discussion in the story below.

Pasha Donaldson, vice president of the Cape Coral Friends of Wildlife, does not know how many of the cape’s 3,500 burrowing owls fared during Hurricane Ian. But she does know of a way residents can help the animals that surivived the storm remain alive.“Please don’t put your trash on top of” their burrows, Donaldson said. That’s “that big thing for people dumping trash.”The burrowing owl occupies not just self-dug burrows, but can make a home in the ends of a drainage culvert underneath driveways, underneath a porch, or where a post used to be. Donaldson said to trap the owls down in their homes for the days or weeks it takes for the piles of trash created by Hurricane Ian could be deadly.

As of Tuesday, only about 7% of local customers had electricity in Cape Coral, according to local reporting.

As rescue efforts continue in Southwest Florida, first responders from around the country are joining in. Three days after Hurricane Ian made landfall in Southwest Florida, Ohio Task Force One arrived to assist in search and recovery.

Cape Coral residents are dealing with limited food and water supplies after Hurricane Ian devastated the area.

Karen Moore, publisher of Southwest Florida Business Today, shares plans for Cape Coral from the city's newly hired Economic and Business Development Officer, Sharon Woodberry,

Cape Coral public safety officials knew a sample from the municipal water supply tested positive for a marker for E. coli four days before informing the city’s 200,000 residents and issuing a mandatory boil water notice.E. coli was discovered in subsequent testing before the public was alerted to the dangerous pathogen in their drinking water on the evening of Sept. 12. when a mandatory boil water alert was issued.Residents swarmed supermarkets clearing the shelves of bottled water, restaurants stopped serving certain items made with tap water, and Lee County Schools said students would be given bottled water and water fountains shut off.

Cape Coral voters will decide in November whether to grant property tax breaks to new businesses that meet certain guidelines. If approved, the exemption also would cover existing businesses that want to expand, if they meet certain guidelines on hiring and investment. The city said the goal is to attract large new businesses with high-paying jobs, and encourage existing ones to stay and grow.

The City of Cape Coral has approved a hurricane evacuation study to better identify residents' needs in effort to reduce evacuation times.

On Saturday, February 26, the Friends of Cape Coral Wildlife hosted the 20th Anniversary Burrowing Owl Festival. Instead of enjoying educational exhibits and hearing presentations from experts at Rotary Park in Cape Coral, WGCU joined a busload of photographers (and two experts) to go in search of the city bird and other feathered friends.