If you read last week’s edition, you will remember that we wrote a story with information garnered primarily from someone who was claiming that the Florida Public Service Commission had denied a need for Little Gasparilla residents (and other barrier island residents) to find a different way to get rid of their sewage and wastewater. You read that Charlotte County Commissioners who had been 100 percent for the plan to find a solution were puzzled when the barrier islands were denied this option by the PSC. You also read that there were numerous septic systems at island homes that were a hazard, as they were entirely submerged during certain high tides … and some that were completely submerged at almost every high tide.

“We saw some fluctuations in the data while we were in the field, but we cannot say with any certainty what those might be until we process the data,” Kangas said. “I don’t know any place we would scan and not see fluctuations, so this doesn’t necessarily mean there is anything unusual underground. Even if we do see anomalies that might indicate something is underground, we can never say with 100 percent certainty what it is with just the GPR data, it would need to be ground truthed.”

The cost of living in a very desirable area just caught up with a lot of people in Lee County, and whether or not you have a homestead exemption, it still feels like a pretty good bite out of anyone’s budget.
For some people, it was an almost 20 percent bite this year.

“Our owner, Jazare Alvarez, came in to purchase some goods the former owner had on sale, and just fell in love with the place,” reported the new store’s District Manager, Kaydance Owens. Jazare (pronounced Jah zear’) has been grooming dogs since she was 12 and working at it on her own since she was 14, Kaydance said.