Drivers are in so much congestion navigating Southwest Florida roadways, according to a new Lee County study. Lehigh Acres especially has seen its signs of road congestion increase in the past 10 years. Homestead Road and the intersection at Alabama Road made the study’s hit list. (more…)

Odor, taste and color are all listed complaints that Lehigh Acres customers have made about their drinking water. The Florida Governmental Utilities Authority or FGUA, has been allowed by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection or FDEP to disperse water with higher than standard amounts of total dissolved solids, or TDS, since 2008. Click Here to read the FGUA Public Notice.

But, for now the FGUA is going to spend $3 million in upgrades for the Lehigh Acres drinking water system.

According to Lehigh Acres resident Bruce McLaughlin, the water smells bad and is not palatable.

McLaughlin said he has noticed chalky white residue left on the inside of his dishwasher, coffee pot and ice cube trays. (more…)

Back Row Lt Gov. Bruce Boyd, Pres. Laurie Jerriey, Past Lt Gov Rick Anglickis Front Row Past Pres Richard St Dennis and New Member George Greer

During an Lehigh Acres Kiwanis social  May 30, the Lehigh Acres Kiwanis inducted a new member, George Greer.

During the social the Calendar Girls performed. According the their website: The Calendar Girls are a Lee County, Florida song and dance team is made up of 30 delightfully dangerous, doggie-lovin’ divas, all over age 50. They dance at events throughout Southwest Florida, including Fort Myers, Cape Coral and Naples, sharing our love of dance and community service with audiences of all ages. Together we represent well over 1000 years of dancing! Our motto is “Maturity In Motion” and we’ve been serving our community through dance since 2006. While we spread the joy of dancing, we also raise money for the Paws for Patriots™ program.

Kiwanis President Laurie Jerriey presented them a monetary gift for their Paws for Patriots program.  Click the more button to see photo’s of the event.

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The Lee County Sheriff’s Office Traffic Unit is providing the information listed below in continuing efforts to increase traffic safety awareness and education, plus to emphasize the importance of obeying traffic laws to reduce traffic crashes, injuries and death on Lee County roads.

On Friday, June 1, 2012, the Traffic Unit will target at least one of the following three locations for enforcement:

(more…)

Eight week program to cover:

1. Dirt, compost, tools, sand, compost tea, build outdoor garden bed(s), homework**, auction*
2. Seeds, germination, design a plot, plant, water outdoor garden beds, start seeds, seed cups, homework**, auction*
3. Water, rain, watering cans, growing seasons, list of veggies, fruits and grains, plant seeds, water outdoor garden beds, homework**, auction*
4. Worm bin, fertilizer, mulch, cover crops, green manure, water/weed outdoor garden beds, homework**, auction*
5. Propagation and container gardening, water/weed outdoor garden beds, homework**, auction*
6. Bugs, weeds, sprays, bees, pollination, nematodes, water/weed outdoor garden beds, homework**, auction*
7. Herbs, make seed packets, seed saving, water/weed outdoor garden beds, homework**, auction*
8. Take garden apart, potluck outside, raffle, certificate of completion

*auction = one coupon per question asked (use great pumpkin bean bag). At end of class the person with the most coupons wins the auction prize or can “save up” for a prize another week.

**homework = a “do at home” project. Can be writing a paragraph or two, photographing physical work, caring for a plant and returning, bringing in supplies for the following week.

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Materials cost to include a one large carry bag (unless someone has this already), gloves and trowels for each student plus a marker that will write on black (unless someone already has this). More items to be added to this list as class plans develop.

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Each class will “aim” for this breakdown of an hour:

• 25 minutes: educate, science craft, feel an edible (all based on lesson theme)
• 20 minutes: water, weed, and garden outside or if bad weather inside paper activity(s)
• 15 minutes: wash up, eat an edible while assigning homework
• PLUS 10 minutes: clean up room (more…)

LCEC is notifying customers about a phony bill payment scam that has taken place nationwide during the last few weeks. Thieves are pulling out all the stops including using the president’s name to steal identities. Scammers are utilizing fliers, social media and texts to do their dirty work.

Scammers are offering a fraudulent bill payment program that promises to pay utility bills in exchange for personal information, including social security numbers. The scam, which has been reported in a number of states, claims that the federal government is providing credits or applying payments to utility bill accounts on a one-time basis. In exchange for their personal information, customers receive a falsified Federal Reserve Bank routing number to make a payment but the fraudulent number cannot be used to pay a utility bill. (more…)

Earlier this year, LCEC Trustees approved an equity distribution of $5.7 million to current and inactive customers and checks and credits were distributed this week. LCEC has returned more than $191 million to customers throughout the years, which is among the best of the 800 cooperatives in the United States. (more…)

Lehigh Acres Fire Chief Donald Adams told the board of fire commissioners if the ambulance transport is eliminated the Fire District would save more than $628,000. Adams gave a presentation and noted that this was a presentation of facts for the consideration by the board of fire commissioners. It showed that the total annual net loss for the EMS was around one million dollars for fiscal 2010-2011.

“This is not intended to promote the disillusion or the continuance of the ambulance transport service either way,” Chief Adams said.

The chief’s presentation was titled Analyzing Fire Based EMS by the Numbers. Click here to read it.  (more…)

The Lee County Sheriff’s Office Traffic Unit is providing the information listed below in continuing efforts to increase traffic safety awareness and education, plus to emphasize the importance of obeying traffic laws to reduce traffic crashes, injuries and death on Lee County roads.

On Thursday, May 31, 2012, the Traffic Unit will target at least one of the following three locations for enforcement:

(more…)

Oops

Mitt Romney’s new iPhone app misspells the word “America” and the typo has gone viral.

As Romney clinched the GOP presidential nomination with a victory in Texas last night, his campaign released its “I’m with Mitt” app that allows users to post photos of themselves along with 14 different banners. One of those slogans reads: “A Better Amercia.”

The typo lit up Twitter as various people poked fun at what “Amercia” stood for. One example, highlighted by Mashable, “While #Amercia does have a nice ring to it, Romney’s developers of “his” app may want to begin looking for new jobs.”

Romney campaign spokeswoman Andrea Saul told MSNBC that “mistakes happen.” She said the campaign has submitted a corrected app to the folks at Apple, which has to approve the new typo-free version.

Lehigh Acres Middle School is proud to announce it has received a Toolbox for Education grant from Lowe’s Charitable and Education Foundation.

The school will receive a $3,300 Toolbox for Education grant to create the LAMS Rotating Art Display. The aim of the grant is to promote school pride, ownership and belonging among students, as they will create artwork that will be displayed on a rotating basis on the hallway walls of the school. (more…)

Mary Hill

Mary Hill is looking forward to the next chapter of her life. But parting is a sweet sorrow when looking back on an English teaching career at Riverdale High School that spans more than four decades.

“I don’t think it’s really hit me quite yet,” Mary Hill said, tallying the scores on the very last papers of the year.

Hill, who is retiring, was one of the founding teachers of Riverdale High School – one of two who still remained on staff since the school opened its doors in 1970.

Riverdale Principal Gerald Demming said that not seeing Hill’s face next year will be somewhat surreal. (more…)