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Post Comments, share Views, read Blogs on CaPe-Coral-daily-Breeze.Com Coming CAPE CORAL to close Season winds down at National Little League Night DAILY BREEZE — SPORTS WEATHER: Showers • Tonight: Partly Cloudy • Thursday: Showers — 2A cape-coral-daily-breeze.com Vol. 48, No. 111 Wednesday, May 13, 2009 50 cents $30M aquatic facility proposed for Academic Village “This can be a great venture and City asked to supply funds, property tremendous economic boost for the city. Think of all the additional brand- By DREW WINCHESTER tion, delivered its proposal for the three major components: an aquatic ing it will bring to the county.” [email protected] aquatic center to city leaders center, a tennis center, and a hotel Cape Coral is one step closer to Tuesday. and conference center with a possi- — Councilmember Dolores Bertolini becoming the home of a premier The 100-acre facility, dubbed ble educational usage. aquatic facility that would host “Concourse at Cape Coral,” is being The aquatic center is slated to Olympic time trials and bring mil- eyed for construction at the have two 50-meter pools, a 50-by- of the proposal is 300 rooms, con- city,” said Councilmember Dolores lions of dollars to the city and Lee Academic Village in the north Cape, 25-yard training pool, a 25-by-25- ference rooms, and shopping and Bertolini. “Think of all the addition- County. at the corner of Kismet Parkway and yard training pool and 6,000 perma- dining opportunities. al branding it will bring to the coun- The National Swimming Center Del Prado Boulevard. nent spectator seats. “This can be a great venture and ty.” Corporation, a nonprofit organiza- The project would consist of The hotel and conference portion tremendous economic boost for the See FACILITY, page 16A Waiting for rebound Governor joins race for U.S. Senate seat Candidates of both parties signing up for 2010 ballot By MCKENZIE CASSIDY [email protected] “Our country is facing Florida Gov. Charlie Crist the most profound public announced Tuesday that he will run policy questions in our for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by lifetime, questions relat- Sen. Mel Martinez, who announced ing to the economy, in December that he would not run taxes, health care, the for a second term in order to spend environment and nation- more time with his family. al security.” Crist will not run uncontested next November. Former Republican — Gov. Charlie Crist House Speaker Mark Rubio announced last week that he will run for one of Florida’s senatorial seats. “Our country is facing the most On the Democratic ticket in profound public policy questions in 2010 are state Sen. Dan Gelber of our lifetime, questions relating to the Miami Beach and U.S. Rep. economy, taxes, health care, the Kendrick Meek of Miami. See SENATE, page 16A MICHAEL PISTELLA According to a RealtyTrac report released Tuesday, a national online marketplace for County may approve properties, Cape Coral is ranked second on the individual community foreclosure list. Cape ranks high on foreclosure list millage rate increase for coming fiscal year “There are a huge amount of investors Second in U.S. for and people are buying second homes, but a lot of the blue-collar people can now afford to buy a home which is Face budget shortfall and April among cities great.” By MCKENZIE CASSIDY — Michele Schafer, Cape Coral Chapter of property values are lower [email protected] Women’s Council of Realtors president Cape Coral continues to be plagued by one of the By DREW WINCHESTER highest foreclosure rates in the nation, yet real estate [email protected] “In my mind, and without agents and analysts agree that the market has hit bot- Florida, Nevada, California, Arizona, Virginia and The Lee County Commission getting too far ahead of tom and now it is time to climb out of the gutter. Minnesota. These trends may point to the proverbial will set the millage rate for the next the taxing authorities, I’m RealtyTrac, a national online marketplace for prop- bottom, but in states like Florida, the inventory of fiscal year on July 6, and the rate seeing a 30 percent erties, released a report Tuesday on foreclosed proper- homes needs to be sold off before the economy can may rise as property values are pre- decrease (in property ties for April. It found that filings only decreased by 1 begin to mend itself. dicted to plummet nearly 30 per- values).” percent from the previous month. The National Association of Realtors recently cent. The report paints a grim picture for Florida, ranked reported that young, first-time buyers accounted for With 92 taxing authorities in — Lee County Property second behind Nevada for the number of foreclosed more than half of all home sales in the first quarter of Lee County, Property Appraiser Appraiser Ken Wilkinson homes. Like the state, Cape Coral is ranked second on 2009. But that is not the case in the Cape. Ken Wilkinson said his office the individual community foreclosure list. According to Michele Schafer, president of the needs plenty of time to meet the fall. If the rate changes after July 6, According to RealtyTrac, foreclosure notices were Cape Coral Chapter of the Women’s Council of Aug. 3 “drop dead” date to report it would be finalized by September filed for one out of every 374 homes in April. In Realtors, investors are the primary homebuyers in the to the state. in time for the start of the next fis- Florida, foreclosures were filed for one out of every city. Behind the large investors are second-time home- The county is expecting a budg- cal year. 135 homes — more than 2.7 times the national aver- buyers, who are taking advantage of the lower prices. et deficit in the range of $90 mil- Wilkinson warned commission- age. “There are a huge amount of investors and people lion to $100 million for the next ers that the 30 percent decrease is Median home prices also continue to drop nation- are buying second homes, but a lot of the blue-collar fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1. merely an estimate, and it could wide. The Fort Myers-Cape Coral metropolitan area people can now afford to buy a home which is great,” The millage rate could change change before August. experienced a 50 percent drop in home values, accord- she said. between July and September, “In my mind, and without get- ing to a report by the Associated Press. Most investors who are buying homes in the Cape depending on two budget work- ting too far ahead of the taxing Home sales have dropped in every state except shops scheduled for summer and See HOMES, page 16A See COUNTY, page 2A Local students collect first place at state history fair Diplomat Middle School Two advance on to nationals competition eighth-graders Tisha Saylor and Dianelys By MCKENZIE CASSIDY for their documentary “An Ordinary come up on top out of those,” she Barrios earned first [email protected] Hero.” Now they will travel to the said. place at the state history Two eighth-graders at Diplomat national competition June 14 at the The documentary is based on the University of Maryland. life of Miep Gies, who hid Anne fair for their documen- Middle School will attend the tary, titled “An Ordinary National History Fair in College According to Sue LosHuertos, Frank in her attic during World War Park, Md., after earning first place at media specialist at Diplomat II. Without Gies’ assistance, it is Hero.” They will compete the state competition last weekend. Middle, this is the second time the unlikely that “The Diary of Anne at the national fair in Tisha Saylor and Dianelys school has sent students to the Frank” would have been published. Maryland this summer. Barrios captured top honors at the nationals. Since the discovery of the diary, competition, hosted May 7-9 at “There were 35 documentaries it has gone on to sell 25 million PHOTO SPECIAL TO Tallahassee Community College, in their category and they had to See STUDENTS, page 8A THE DAILY BREEZE ATAGLANCE AROUND THE CAPE NEWS OF NOTE WHAT’S INSIDE Elementary yard sale Aid for small businesses Annie’s Mailbox........8A Nation ................9A There will be a schoolwide yard sale Florida Gulf Coast University’s Small Fla. Lottery from 8 a.m.-noon Saturday at Patriot Business Development Center and the city of Cape Life ..........7A Obituaries ..........2A Elementary School, 711 S.W. 18th St. It Cape Coral’s Economic Development Office CASH 3: Classifieds ............1-6B Police Blotter ....3A 3-8-8 / 6-8-1 is sponsored by the Parent Teacher will host a town hall meeting from 5:30-8:30 Organization for them to help play more of p.m. Tuesday at City Hall, 1015 Cultural Park Comics ............12A Sports ........13-15A PLAY 4: 9-9-7-4 / 7-8-6-0 a role in the school’s finances as budget Blvd., Second Floor, to inform and provide Crossword........12A State ..................3A Fantasy 5 concerns continue to be an issue. resources to assist small businesses. Dr. Donohue........8A Today in History....11A 7-10-17-22-25 Resource providers will be available at 1-11-27-39 MB 16 5:30 p.m., and the panel will begin at 6:30 Editorial..............4A TV Listings............11A Lotto Northwest neighborhood p.m. Admission is free. Neither tickets nor Horoscopes........8A Weather ............2A 16-29-31-37-41-53 association plans meeting reservations are required. Florida Powerball Information tables will include the Florida 4-15-32-49-58 The Northwest Cape Coral PB 21 x 3 Neighborhood Association will meet at 7 Department of Revenue, Florida Department p.m.