The Incredibles



THERE ARE INCREDIBLES AMONG US. THEY ARE extraordinary humans, possessed of singular focus and ambition, willful dreamers who turn fanciful notions into reality. While many of us may fantasize about solving the world’s problems or of surmounting impossible odds, the Incredibles actually do it. They take ethereal notions and make them real. Notably, they carry on without much pomp or […]

Water watchdogs sound the alarm on nitrogen pollution




Officials responsible for reducing nitrogen levels from storm-water runoff each year into the Caloosahatchee River and Charlotte Harbor are not only failing, but failing to acknowledge the problems fully or budget for them, according to watchdog groups pushing for a more aggressive cleanup on the southwest coast. Although waters in both Collier and Charlotte counties are also polluted, the epicenter […]

A planet of its own




They say New York Harbor formed one of the most fecund fisheries on the planet once. And they say it because they were there to see it and marvel, those early Europeans. But Manhattan is only 13 miles long, fed by the magnificent Hudson River. If they’d been here to see this, this green peninsular carpet inching southward in a […]

Feminists should be terrified of Carly




Carly Fiorina is a no-nonsense former business executive who is showing she can play — and throw elbows — with the big boys in the Republican presidential nomination battle. Feminists have noticed, but their admiration is tinged with dread — and it should be. An eloquent, fearless critic of abortion, the latest outsider to climb into the Republican race is […]

Failed state




Florida voters do not seem to matter much anymore to Gov. Rick Scott and the conservative majority in Tallahassee. The lawmakers may bend their ears and listen politely but they do what they want to do anyway. If they expect blowback for failure to act in the public interest, no one appears to be losing sleep over it. Arrogance insulates […]

Celebrating fall and the seasons of Southwest Florida




Some people may think there are only two seasons in Southwest Florida: rainy and dry, but we really do have our seasons . Throughout the world, there are different zones, artic, temperate, tropical, ,etc. As mentioned in previous columns, mankind has put lines and boundaries on these zones. Nature doesn’t go by boundaries; it goes by adaptation and survival. Southwest […]

He came face to face with terrorists




LIKE HIS LIFELONG FRIEND AND commander in Vietnam, the late George Patton Jr., Maj. Gen. James Dozier (Ret.) has also become a farmer. Square-jawed, barrel-chested and fit at 84, he grows vegetables with one of his children on four acres in north Lee County, where he lives with his second wife, Shirley. Although the Doziers frequently travel and spend part […]

He remarkably escaped the Holocaust




CESARE FRUSTACI MAY BE A HUNgarian version of our own Forrest Gump. On his own as a 7-year-old, he evaded the Nazis in 1941 in Budapest, Hungary, for months before being captured and moved to a detention camp, where he was imprisoned until the liberation. But a number of chance encounters with famous people such as Italy’s foreign minister and […]

She fights modern-day slavery




WHILE PAINTING WITH 8- TO 15-year-old participants in ARTREACH, Nola Theiss and her volunteers broach serious subjects: the dangers of exploitation and the importance of sound decision making. Even after nine years of educating Southwest Florida about human trafficking, Ms. Theiss, 65, is still caught off guard by the matter-of-fact answers from young children who not only know about human […]

He cures a global community




IT’S HARD TO IMAGINE ACHIEVING all that Dr. Mark Asperilla has accomplished in several lifetimes, much less one. A successful physician, entrepreneur, restaurateur, philanthropist, political and community activist and more, he has been — and continues to be — a force for social and economic advancement. Dr. Asperilla arrived in Charlotte County in 1991, and quickly became aware of the […]