Sweet Freedom

Regulators ease the rules on backyard beekeepers


THE SUNSHINE LAUGHTER IN HER VOICE SPILLS OUT of Millisa Bell like liquid gold. Her gold. Made by her Italians, those docile and endlessly busy European bees she keeps in a few hives on the edge of the Cecil Webb wilderness, in southern Charlotte County. From there, the bees bring the wild subtropics first to the hive on pollen-packed legs, […]

Free phones keep those down on their luck connected

Some decry use of taxpayer dollars


Having a cell phone can mean the difference between affording to buy a meal or not, for Mike, a homeless man in Fort Myers who gave only his first name. He’s a commercial painter by profession and waits for calls on the prepaid phone he bought a few years ago. “When it rings I go to work and make money,” […]

Survival Manual, September 2011




To survive at all from here forward you and your kids are going to need a few things, most of them nuggets won by living right through the first decade of the 21st century, like a long-haul truck driver brakeless in West Virginia. These aren’t the kinds of things you used to need either, so don’t count on those. Let’s […]

The Euro disaster




The country’s op-ed pages have been full of condemnations of the dysfunction of American politics, what with all the populist clamor and partisan disagreement. So, a thought experiment: What if we were governed by a sophisticated transnational elite that operated outside of normal political channels as much as possible and, sharing similar values, forged compromises relatively easily? What if the […]

D.C. Protests that make Big Oil quake




The White House was rocked last week, not only by the 5.9 Richter-scale earthquake, but by the protests mounting outside its gates. More than 2,100 people say they’ll risk arrest there during the next two weeks. They oppose the Keystone XL pipeline project, designed to carry heavy crude oil from the tar sands of Alberta, Canada, to refineries on the […]

A lifetime of service to the community




Jerry Presseller learned the meaning of hard work early on, when he was 8 years old. He and a chubby friend — who had a proclivity for slacking off — had formed a snow-shoveling business. But young Mr. Presseller was doing all the work. As they (or rather, Mr. Presseller) shoveled snow in front of Ace Cleaners in his hometown […]

Green Futures Expo set for Oct. 1



The third annual Southwest Florida Green Futures Expo will be held on from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 1 at the Charlotte Harbor Event and Conference Center, 75 Taylor Street Punta Gorda. The Expo is free and open to the public. Vendors and exhibitors will be present and several special sessions will be presented. Mosaic will have its […]

Charlotte EDO presents SWFL Energy Options Conference



The Charlotte County Economic Development Office will present its third Southwest Florida Energy Options Conference from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 5 at the Charlotte Harbor Event and Conference Center, 75 Taylor Street, Punta Gorda. Topics will include promoting renewable energy, economic growth, new wave technology and retrofitting — all topics are geared toward promoting economic growth and […]

Florida Sports Foundation awards grant for Disabled Sailing world champs



The Florida Sports Foundation awarded the Charlotte Harbor Visitor & Convention Bureau with a $5,000 grant to offset marketing and operational expenses to host the 2012 IFDS Disabled Sailing World Championships in Charlotte Harbor. The event is set for Jan. 8-15, 2012, and serves as a qualifier for the 2012 International Paralympic Games in London. “Hosting the event in Charlotte […]

Sundials tell time and old tales

KOVELS: ANTIQUES & COLLECTING


Sundials are not just garden ornaments. They can tell time if set up properly. They have been made for centuries and collectors search for the flat type called “equatorial” or “equinoctial” sundials by experts, and other types like those made to hang on a wall or those that are spherical or cone-shaped. The age, maker, shape and decoration all determine […]