Opinion
Charlotte County’s closed fishing piers are un-sung assets
October 31, 2024
Last week, the Charlotte County Board of Commissioners, in a post-Hurricane Milton meeting, discussed the status of the Boca Grande Fishing Pier and the Placida Fishing Pier, both currently closed…
A big Milton shift-er-oo for so many island institutions
October 25, 2024
The Beacon continues to receive calls about what is where, what will happen when, and when so-and-so will open. So much is, as they say, up in the air.
Of note:
• The Boca Grande Post …
EcoWatch: Hurricane impacts on wildlife and animals
October 25, 2024
“Whenever there’s human devastation, there’s animal devastation. If people can’t get out, animals can’t get out!”
Sierra Club, Environmental Organization
The extreme effects of Hurricanes He…
GUEST COLUMNS: KELLENE CARPENTER
October 18, 2024
Reflecting on early childhood education at the preschool
BY KELLENE CARPENTER
Editor’s Note: Kelli Carpenter wrote this essay for the Beacon just before Helene. The school was hurt badly in …
‘Doomscrolling’ and searching for a ‘timeline cleanse’
October 18, 2024
On the Saturday before Milton, this editor was at Dollar Tree in Englewood, at the Winn-Dixie shopping center. For those who do not know it, Dollar Tree almost always has UHT (ultra-high temperatu…
After a storm, hope for the quiet waters of October
October 3, 2024
Editor’s Note: Van Hubbard was up in North Carolina, on vacation, when the flood waters came up to his cabin. He came through the storm, only to find his house flooded here.
The bill came due f…
A stiff upper lip, for an Act of God
October 3, 2024
Everyone thought the storm would pass us by.
Before Helene, there was sandbagging and some boarding up. There was unease, but confidence. The island just finished cleaning up after Ian, a…
EcoWatch: A change – good eco news
September 26, 2024
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
Margaret Mead, American cultural anthropologist, author, and…
Get to the Lee County Courthouse to visit Commissioners
September 26, 2024
Last week, after a visit to the Lee County Board of County Commissioners, a reader asked the Beacon what you had to do to speak at a Lee County meeting if you have concerns.
The answer is…
Guest Essay: Islanders need to be effectively informed, involved
September 26, 2024
BY EMERSON WICKWIRE
I applaud the Beacon, serving both as a community platform for ideas to identify and resolve community issues, as well as a central source of information on issue background…