CAR-RT SORT **R003 15900001006409 THU 000000 - CAMIBEL LIBRARY '•! !•- 770 nUNLOP RD .S 5ANIUEL PL 33957 LGoforYu-GI-Oh! Page 14 Week of May 2-8, 2003 SANIBEL & CAPTIVA, FLORIDA VOLUME 30, NUMBER 19, 24 PAGES 75 CENTS LEEv COUNTY Causeway comes up at To all the moms DELINQUENT TAX By Kate Thompson NOTICES City Council Tuesday Staff writer .COMING IN THIS PAPER : ':$&Sl N EXT WEEK ?••'" &i$ Mother's Day was first celebrated in Philadelphia in 1907 at the request of Anna Jarvis who wanted to honor her deceased mother. A few years later, Jarvis In addition to publica and her friends launched a campaign to create a nation- tion in the Cape Cora al Mother's Day and in 1914, Congress passed legisla- Daily Breeze and th« tion marking the second Sunday in May as Mother's Island Reporter, the Lee Day. County Tax Collector's While the U.S. Census Bureau doesn't provide Office delinquent ta: information that would identify the number of mothers notices will be availabl living on Sanibel and Captiva, it is possible to deter- at numerous locations mine there are about 75 million mothers nationwide. throughout Lee County Some 67 percent of women between 15 and 44 in including all offices oi Kentucky are mothers — which has one of the highest the Lee County Tax birth rates in the nation. Collector, special news- There are 346 families on Sanibel living with chil- paper racks and al dren — most of them married couples. And Sanibel has offices of the Breez a much larger than typical percentage of families Corp, including North which consist of married couples — with or without Fort Myers, Cape Coral, children. Lehigh Acres, Pine There are, however, households with children head- Island, Fort Myer ed by both single mothers and single fathers on Beach, Sanibel Island Sanibel. There are fewer families on Captiva — but a similar and Gasparilla Island. Michael Pistella photo A full list of locations Supports hold up the damaged portion of the Causeway. percentage have children. Even Captiva has single appears on page S. fathers and mothers — but more single dads than moms, according to the census bureau. The number of By Kate Thompson a high-span bridge. He said he then single fathers heading households has been rising Staff writer remembered there was a vote several nationwide. years ago, which showed 91.2 percent Fewer women are having children. Today, 81 per- Comnmish v. Sanibel City Council agreed to wait were opposed to the high-span bridge. cent of women between 41 and 44 are mothers; just 20 Coach l\\O L Vile 'HI ;i li '": hviv's no need loi a survey." he said. \ears iigo in 19t!(). the percentage was 90. ing a high-span bridge for two weeks. He agreed to wait two weekb before the Women have an average oi" two children nationally Dick MT*enph,.&ep^t->(I^Fty. The resolution, intended to tell Lee vote. — but in Utah women have an average of three chil- v£k>$}gl£ about ^ 6ity*s yiefws regarding Ctut Steaadahl of Sanibei said, he had dren. 'replacing the drawbridge, "was proposed d a~ recent newspaper article in which by Councilman Dick Walsh but wasn't And women are older when they're having their first —See page 9 County Commissioner Bob Janes indicat- children with a median age today of 24.8 — up almost ready until the day before Tuesday's ed he believes there has been a shift in three years since 1970. meeting. As a result, Mayor Steve Brown views on Sanibel to favor a fixed-span By the way, August is the most popular month for asked to wait until he had lime to read it bridge. Stendahl said a resolution is need- births — and Tuesday is the most popular day. mi carefully before voting but indicated he ed soon to insure the views of Sanibel res- Flowers are among the most popular presents for also favors the measure. idents are known by the Commissioners. Finances OK Walsh had initially planned to survey Mother's Day. Nationally, there are 23,870 florists. See CAUSEWAY While most flowers, nationally, come from California Auditor makes report to residents before sending a letter to Lee which accounts for two-thirds of the nation's total cut- City Council County, which he expected would oppose page 3 flower crop, Florida is second. Florida produced an estimated $4.74 billion in cut —See page flowers for 2001 — a value that's been rising each School's tests positive year. edging out Miami Shores/Barry Sanihel School has best University. The next highest score in the Traffic taking toll writing scores in Florida Lee County School System was the CROW admissions up by Diplomat Middle School with a 4.4 aver- Our Town: 50 percent age. By Michael Hannan The test has two versions — exposito- By the numbers —See page 12 Staff writer ry writing and persuasive writing. Students don't have a choice. When they Barbara Von Harten, principal of the sit for the test and open their packets, they Sou; i r; s Sanibel School, learned Friday that the find out which one they have been Family Census f) IHHH school's eighth graders ranked number assigned. Then they have 45 minutes to one in Florida Writes, the state's FCAT respond to a prompt. Fifty-five Sanibel •_ Female householder Cell phones on writing test. The students averaged slight- See FCAT with no related the beach? ly over 5.1 out of a possible six points, children under 18 page 3 years SI Female householder Hannan sounds off with related children —See page 7 under 18years: Male householder with narelated children under 18 years • ENVIRONMENT page 12 Male householder with related children • LOOKING BACK page 22 under 18 years OPINION page 7 8 Married couple family with no related BUSINESS page 5 children under 18 years • DATELINE page 11 m Married-couple family with related • TV LISTINGS page 15 children under 18 Sanibel Florida U.S Mike Hannan photo • CLASSIFIEDS..'. page 20 Sanibel School students show their pride in their FCAT prowess. ''•«*• 2 • Week of May 2-8, 2003 • ISLAND REPORTER ISLAND REPORTER • Week of May 2-85 2003 • 3 In other business, the Sanibel City Council: • Proclaimed May as Civility Month. Mayor Steve Brown had Councilwoman Judy CAUSEWAY Workman read the proclamation Because she "helped get us back on track," he said. • Proclaimed May as Florida State Parks Month. On May 17, Florida's state parks are From page 1 9 free to those who wish to visit. Auditor: FCAT • Approved the award of a contract for Alliance Design Group for architectural services "It is again important for this council to Walsh pointed out that the county's s books fine contract with PBS&J allows them to con- related to the Americans with Disabilities Act improvements being made at a variety make it clear what the wishes are of the From page 1 people of Sanibel," said Wayne Ponader. sider three possibilities: a duplicate of the By Kate Thompson In response to last year's comment a note receivable due from CHR for more of city facilities. While the Recreation Center is on the list of buildings targeted for improvement, if the council votes to rebuild the center instead of rehabilitate the "You can't say it too often and you can't existing bridge, a higher version draw- Staff writer from the auditor, the city established a than $2.5 million as of Sept. 30, 2002. eighth graders sat for the test, 28 got the say it too loudly and even then, they may bridge or a fixed span bridge that would plan and set priorities. In City Manager The auditors recommend the city contin- existing building, no improvements will be made. expository topic; 27, the persuasive one. • Awarded two annual contracts to Crystal Clean Building Maintenance Inc. for city not hear it." allow boats to pass under it without open- Sanibel's city finances are in great Judie Zimomra's response to the man- ue to investigate the possibility of Councilman Jim Jennings said he had ing. shape, the city's auditor reported to City No Sanibel student scored less than a agement letter, she explains the IT plan exchanging the note for the underlying 4, which is categorized as "meeting stan- hall cleaning at $22,740 and .for beach restroom cleaning for $35,880. spoken with Janes and that every agree- City Manager Judie Zimomra told the Council Tuesday. and steps that will be taken. real estate. • Approved city staff's ranking of architectural firms for the analysis and conceptual ment with the city will be kept. council that she had received a response "We found no material weaknesses," dard." Approximately 27 students exceed- Auditors also noted that in January The auditors reported that there were ed standards (4.5-5.5), and thirteen stu- design of the city recreation center. The top-ranked firm is Woodroffe Corporation "There's not any need to put another to her letter to the Coast Guard to ask said Marty Redovan, certified public 2002, the city implemented a rate change no violations of rules, laws or regula- Architects, the firm which designed city hall, noted City Manager Judie Zimomra. agreement," said Jennings. whether they would establish a no-wake accountant with Schultz, Chaipel and dents had perfect for the sewer system. The new rates for tions; no improper or illegal expenditures scores (6). Council instructed Zimomra to negotiate a contract with Woodroffe Corporation.