Written by Angela McPhillips on . Posted in Profiles.
New Lee County Commissioner When newly appointed Lee County Commissioner Patricia “Trish” Petrosky talks about Lee County, she does not start with policy. She starts with pride. “Being a Floridian, resilience is our backbone,” she said. “We’re hard workers. We’re proud Floridians – and we’re rare now.” Petrosky is a seventh-generation Floridian on her mother’s […]
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in Community History.
FIVE YEARS AGO Many residents responding to a National Register of Historic Places proposal were against the inclusion even before the public meeting. Residents were against attracting more visitors to the island. TEN YEARS AGO Boca Bargains held a fashion show at The Gasparilla Inn & Club with over 170 guests attending. FIFTEEN YEARS AGO […]
Written by Garland Pollard on . Posted in Editorial.
There is weather, and there is climate. That’s a reminder from Morton Winsberg, a retired Florida State professor who wrote the classic monograph, “Florida Weather.” Winsberg reminds us that weather is about the conditions in a time or place, and climate is the average long-term state of the atmosphere above us. His 1990 book, long […]
Written by Guest Columnist on . Posted in Columns, Sports & Outdoors.
BY CAPT. JOE LECLAIR It’s a sad day here in Boca Grande for fisherman like me who have enjoyed wading the shoreline looking for snook, reds, trout, pompano, sheepshead, cobia, tripletail, etc. The days of quietly walking along the shoreline in search of good fishing has become significantly restricted to residents only in many of […]
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in Community, Opinion.
BY ROB ROBBINS PRESIDENT, FRIENDS OF CAPE HAZE On Feb. 9, the Charlotte County Planning and Zoning Board voted 4-1 to forward on to the Charlotte Board of County Commissioners a recommendation to rezone by Hutton MF Cape Haze LLC. The rezoning would allow a 135 unit apartment building behind the Cape Haze Ace. The […]
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in Education, News, Sports & Outdoors.
BY THE ISLAND SCHOOL FOUNDATION The Island School Foundation’s chairperson, Mary Johnston, summed up the day: “Conditions couldn’t have been much worse, but our community came out with their best!” The Island School, a tuition-free charter school for grades K-5, held their $1,000,000 Golf Challenge last week on a chilly, windy winter day at The […]
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in Events, News.
Built to Last: What Winning Restaurants Do Differently, an in-person program featuring restaurant industry leader Ed Rensi, will take place from 10 to 11:30 a.m. on Feb. 23,, at the Military Heritage Museum in Punta Gorda. Presented by SCORE Port Charlotte and hosted in partnership with the Punta Gorda Chamber of Commerce and the Charlotte […]
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in News, Travel.
The Charlotte County Airport Authority announced that Punta Gorda Airport (PGD) finished 2025 with 2,282,002 passengers, which was an 18.5% increase compared to the previous record set in 2024 (1,925,128). The passenger count for December 2025 totaled 239,295, with 112,780 departing passengers and 126,515 arriving passengers. Air traffic control data shows that the number of […]
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in Community, News.
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in Community, News.
The Lee County Board of Commissioners met for its regular meeting at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 17. Commissioners approved a construction contract for the Fort Myers Beach Water Reclamation Facility. The restored facility will be more resilient to coastal flooding and have expanded capacity. This project includes the demolition of several buildings and rehabilitation […]