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2 weeks ago | 
coastalbreezenews.com | Kelly Farrell
Marco Island City Council’s discussions on a proposal for four percent raises for city staff during Monday’s regularly scheduled Council meeting led to a call for more meetings. City Councilor Rene Champagne requested special meetings be held monthly with Council and city department directors, including City Finance Director Guillermo Polanco, as well as with City Manager Mike McNees and Assistant City Manager Casey Lucius.
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2 weeks ago | 
coastalbreezenews.com | Kelly Farrell
Marco Island City Council heard and addressed several water quality and environmental issues at their meeting on Monday. Education and enforcement of fertilizer usage is necessary for water quality to improve, said Elliott Mascoop, chairman of the Marco Island Waterways Advisory Committee. Contractors using fertilizer should be checked so we know what they’re using, said Mascoop. Marco Island is just coming off the nitrate impairment list, he noted.
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2 weeks ago | 
coastalbreezenews.com | Kelly Farrell
Throughout Collier County - from Marco Island to Naples and out to the Everglades - people began creative works to honor the earth early this April. Earth Day is a worldwide celebration on Tuesday, April 22, that began in 1970. This year, local environmental enthusiasts and organizations have begun preparations. "Earth day is my favorite day of the year, ‘cause more folks collectively are thinking about where they come from - Big Mamma,” said Garrett Stuart of Ochopee.
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3 weeks ago | 
coastalbreezenews.com | Kelly Farrell
Something is missing in planning decisions — island-wide data— say Marco Island City Council and Planning Board members. “The annually required level of service (LOS) report hasn’t been done for over a decade,” said Planning Board member Bradley Henson during a Planning Board meeting on March 7. It wasn’t the first or last time the concern was noted publicly by public officials. Still, nothing has been done.
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4 weeks ago | 
coastalbreezenews.com | Kelly Farrell
As the sun peeked over the horizon, a sweet-smelling smoke drifted through the Miccosukee Indian Village, mixing with prayers from Miccosukee Councilman Pete Osceola for a healthy, prosperous inaugural Glades Runner race on Saturday. For some people, the Miccosukee Glades Runner was about getting to the finish line, which was a return to the starting line at the Village. But for many of the 168 runners, the best part of the event was the experience of the Everglades.
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4 weeks ago | 
coastalbreezenews.com | Kelly Farrell
Going, going… stayed. Everglades Rail Depot was spared a foreclosure sale minutes prior to a scheduled auction at Collier County Courthouse in Naples on Thursday morning. “Thank Jesus. You have no idea what a blessing this is,” said owner Bill Odrey, 72, in a phone interview. Odrey owns the iconic waterfront property at 102 Collier Avenue in Everglades City, originally built in 1928 as part of the Atlantic Coast Railroad, through his company, Everglades Adventure Center, LLC, which filed bankruptcy.
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4 weeks ago | 
coastalbreezenews.com | Kelly Farrell
Plans for a huge tower in Big Cypress National Preserve were nixed on Tuesday through the influence of a large group of citizens. Collier County Commission voted unanimously, 5-0, on Tuesday to deny a proposed 360-foot tall communications tower at the Ochopee fire station on U.S. 41 following public comments made by Indigenous, Gladesmen, and Everglades’ visitors during the meeting.
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1 month ago | 
coastalbreezenews.com | Kelly Farrell
Going, going… stayed. Everglades Rail Depot was spared a foreclosure sale minutes prior to the scheduled auction on Thursday morning. “Thank Jesus. You have no idea what a blessing this is,” said owner Bill Odrey in a phone interview. Odrey owns the iconic waterfront property at 102 Collier Avenue in Everglades City through his company, Everglades Adventure Center, LLC, which filed bankruptcy. The property sustained extensive damage from Hurricane Ian and storms that followed.
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1 month ago | 
coastalbreezenews.com | Kelly Farrell
Marco Island City Council appointed its chair and vice chair during its regularly scheduled meeting, Monday. Council chose Councilor Erik Brechnitz to continue serving as chairman. Brechnitz was the vice chair of the former Council, prior to the November 2024 election. He has been serving as acting chair while the Council remained at an impasse for several months over the selection of their seventh member, in addition to being in a tie when attempting to select the chair and vice chair.
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1 month ago | 
coastalbreezenews.com | Kelly Farrell
Southwest Florida’s coastal community continues the privately funded search for missing diver Drake Sweet. He was last seen 70 miles off the coast of Naples on Thursday afternoon, March 13. “I am hyper-focused on our recovery efforts right now,” said Sweet family friend Corina Froese, a resident of Clearwater. “Our weather window is reopening and so this demands my full attention to get it right,” Froese said on Tuesday afternoon.
