10 Signs It’s Summer



TECHNICALLY, SUMMER WON’T START FOR ANOTHER WEEK. On the summer solstice, Friday, June 21, the sun will be at the hhighest point in the sky, marking the longest day of the year and providing a convenient tool for amateur cartographers and physicists to determine their latitude from any position on Earth without the aid of a smartphone app. For the […]

Florida team works to improve antibiotics for shark bites




Fishing rods, two of them, rigged with 200- pound test line and brass reels the size of a prizefighter’s fist, stand anchored in the sand, maybe a quarter-mile north of John D. MacArthur State Park in North Palm Beach. But after an hour of waiting, Nathan Unger is not optimistic that a shark will latch onto either one. “Last time […]

Self help




At almost 86, my mother can’t see anything. But that did not prevent her from “watching,” as she puts it, the women’s and the men’s tennis finals in the French Open on her television last week, while the iconic voice of John McEnroe purred away in the background. There, Serena Williams and Rafael Nadal triumphed on clay beneath cool, overcast […]

Perry the poacher




What you are now hearing across the land is a collective whine. Bluestate Democrats are upset that Texas Gov. Rick Perry dares come and play in their sandboxes, and worse, threatens to “poach” jobs from their states. The website Politico reports that Perry’s attempts to lure jobs to Texas are “infuriating to prominent Democrats around the country.” Gov. Jerry Brown […]

GUEST OPINION

State’s changes to Everglades restoration puts burden on taxpayers


The most deceptive and egregious action against the public taxpayers during the 2013 Florida Legislative session was passage of HB 7065 and SB 768, which amended the 1994 Everglades Forever Act. Rep. Matt Caldwell sponsored HB 7065 under the guise of increasing the sugar industry’s funding commitment to Everglades restoration, when in fact his proposed amendment was a smoke screen […]

Storms, sharks and safety on the water




With the rains of this past week from Tropical Storm Andrea, our rivers are now flowing quickly with freshwater. Over the next few weeks, you’ll notice the water of Charlotte Harbor getting darker. This is due to tannin, the result of decaying vegetation in the rivers drainage basins. The Peace and Myakka rivers collect water from Tampa to Orlando, starting […]

Upcoming Renaissance Academy classes focus on authors and writers




Admit it. Like many of us, you’ve said or thought: “I’m going to write a book.” OK, maybe you’ve never thought of writing the great American novel, but you’ve thought about writing a memoir, mystery novel, how-to book or a book in another genre. Like our school writing assignments, the same questions of where to start and how to write […]

THIS WEEK ON WGCU-TV



THURSDAY, JUNE 13, 8 P.M. Great Performances Broadway Musicals: A Jewish Legacy 10 P.M. Matthew Morrison: Where It All Began: Live From The Bushnell Glee’s Mr. Schuester — singer, dancer and performer Matthew Morrison — puts his energetic, creative stamp on American standards, including “The Lady Is a Tramp,” “Younger Than Springtime,” and “It Don’t Mean a Thing.” FRIDAY, JUNE […]

Volunteers present scholarships



Charlotte Regional Medical Center’s Volunteers at Charlotte Regional organization recently announced the recipients of its 2013 scholarships. Graduates of Charlotte High School and students at Edison State College and Edison Collegiate High School were eligible to receive grants ranging from $500 to $2,000 to further educational goals in the field of nursing and medicine. Fourteen graduates were selected to receive […]

Fawcett earns ‘A’ grade



Fawcett Memorial Hospital was again honored with an “A” Hospital Safety Score by The Leapfrog Group, an independent national nonprofit run by employers and other large purchasers of health benefits. The Hospital Safety Score was calculated under the guidance of The Leapfrog Group’s expert panel using publicly available data on patient injuries, medical and medication errors and infections. U.S. hospitals […]