============================================================ DIGITAL DIGEST � http://www.marconews.com � August 26, 2004 ============================================================ Subscribe to the Naples Daily News: http://web.naplesnews.com/circulation/ BUSH ANNOUNCES PROGRAMS TO HELP BUSINESSES RECOVER Gov. Jeb Bush made a brief appearance at the DeSoto County Courthouse on Wednesday to announce two programs that would help heal the economic wounds of Southwest Florida in the aftermath of Hurricane Charley. Small business owners such as Coco Desai got a hint of hope with the news that his �bridge loan� was approved for up to $25,000. Desai sustained property damage to his Desoto Motel and couldn�t get aid from FEMA before, so the loan gives him hope he can recover from the storm to run a viable business. PINE ISLAND BECOMES FOCUS OF LEE REBUILDING EFFORTS In addition to all of their other woes, the severely damaged neighborhoods of Pine Island must once again deal with traffic jams. As a school bus stops in the afternoon to drop off children, it creates a line on an already congested road. Among those waiting: electric workers on their way to tinker with toppled power lines, a Red Cross van offering assistance and a small caravan of pickups overflowing with broken branches. REAL ESTATE MARKET NOT FORECAST TO TAKE MAJOR HIT FROM CHARLEY Rich Anderson breathed a sigh of relief this week when he showed a spec home in Punta Gorda and sold it later that day. The owner of Prestige Homes says he doesn�t know what to expect from the real estate market in the months following Hurricane Charley, but he thinks residents will stay put and upgrade their homes to meet hurricane codes. �Where else are you going to go?� Anderson asked Wednesday. �It�s a beautiful city and it�ll be that way again.� MANY EMPLOYERS STILL UNCLEAR OVER NEW OVERTIME RULES Local employers and business advocates are scratching their heads over new federal rules on overtime pay that took effect this week. The new rules could affect all sorts of professionals, from journalists to nurses. But there is still much confusion over them. �There are such conflicting reports out there,� said Tammie Nemecek, executive director of the Economic Development Council of Collier County. GROUPS LAUNCH CAMPAIGNS TO KEEP VOTERS INFORMED If savvy New York businesswomen don�t know their basic voting rights, Kay Maxwell figures many other Americans are a bit in the dark as well. Maxwell, president of the League of Women Voters of the United States, said only a few of the roughly 100 women at a recent talk she gave knew about provisional ballots. A provisional ballot allows a voter, whose right to vote is challenged at the polls, to cast a ballot and have it counted if he or she was properly registered. Get details on all these stories and more at http://www.marconews.com IN PERSPECTIVE: EDITORIAL: PREPAID COLLEGE PROGRAM Florida�s prepaid college tuition program approaches a milestone � a total of 1 million contracts since its inception in 1988. We count contracts rather than students because most of the enrollees are not old enough for college. Yet. Only 120,000 enrollees have grown into their college years so far, but fully half of them enter their freshman year this fall, mostly at Florida Gulf Coast and the 10 other state universities. Read more commentary and get local editorials and today�s Letters to the Editor at http://www.naplesnews.com/npdn/perspective/ IN FLORIDA HURRICANE-RAVAGED BUSINESSES DOING WHAT THEY CAN Nancy Cuffaro was serving New York-style pizza and apple turnovers in her dark, sweltering restaurant as workers began the task of replacing a plate-glass window demolished by Hurricane Charley almost two weeks before. Like many businesses along U.S. 41 just north of Charlotte Harbor, Cuffaro�s place, Romano�s Italian Bakery, Deli and Pizza, was still without electricity this week, having borne the brunt of Charley�s bluster. Get details on all these stories and more at http://www.naplesnews.com/npdn/florida/ IN NEAPOLITAN: CHRISTIAN GROUP AVALON HELPS RAISE MONEY FOR CHURCHES AROUND THE WORLD Raising money � even for a worthy cause � is never easy. And John Heerema knows this oh too well. He�s the co-founder of a ministry that plans Christian churches in the Middle East and Asia and for years has raised money for that effort anyway he could. His wish is and always has been to give back a little something to those who help out Big Life Ministries, whose aim is to mobilize teams to spread the word of Jesus around the world. Get details on all these stories and more at http://www.naplesnews.com/npdn/neapolitan/
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