============================================================ DIGITAL DIGEST � http://www.marconews.com � November 23, 2004 ============================================================ Subscribe to the Naples Daily News: http://web.marconews.com/marco/subscribe.html FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS POPULARITY CONTINUES TO GROW Nima Ataei squirmed in his folding chair waiting for the cue from his orchestra instructor to perform Monday night at the 28th annual Third Street South Festival of Lights. But until then, the eighth-grader at Pine Ridge Middle School who plays the violin was scoping out the crowd. TRADE MISSION TO POLAND SPARKS A NEW BUSINESS DEAL While trade missions can take years to become fruitful, Collier County already has a major business deal in the works that is a direct result of a trip last month to Poland. Naples-based Vitarich Laboratories has struck an agreement with a Polish pharmaceutical company to distribute its products in the European Union. LEE COUNTY LEADS STATE WITH SEASONAL RESIDENTS Florida's seasonal residents are easy to find in traffic jams, at early bird specials and on golf courses. But counting them has been a challenge to demographers who on Monday produced the state's first official count of the so-called "snowbirds" in seven years. They found that in the height of the winter season, the state is home to 920,000 seasonal residents, compared to the 170,000 temporary residents who are in Florida during the late summer. TEACHERS ASK FOR CLASSROOM NEEDS ONLINE Golden Gate Elementary teachers Jennifer Lias and Nancy Schmidt sent their wish-list into cyberspace. One wanted carnivorous plants, the other books on tape. The Education Foundation of Collier County helped fulfill both projects with its Grant a Teacher's Wish holiday campaign, where teachers and the community come together through the foundation's Web site. Teachers post what they need in their classrooms � be it volunteers, money or carnivorous plants. Get details on all these stories and more at http://www.marconews.com PERSPECTIVE: GUEST EDITORIAL: NBA BRAWL -- PERMANENT BAN WOULD GIVE ALL ATHLETES PAUSE Thankfully, Dr. James Naismith rests in peace at Memorial Park cemetery in Lawrence, Kan. The inventor of basketball was spared the sickening spectacle of this past Friday's brawl on the home court of the Detroit Pistons. The rest of us were not. Fans and players went at it. Punches were traded, chairs were thrown and children were traumatized and left crying. See more of today�s Perspective stories at http://www.naplesnews.com/npdn/perspective BUSINESS: CONCIERGE OF THE YEAR: BELLASERA'S RIEBEL IS HONORED AS THE BEST When guests of the Bellasera Resort in Naples wanted tickets to the Oprah Winfrey show in Chicago, Renate Riebel found a way to get them. She called up another hotel concierge in Chicago, who was willing to stand in line to get the tickets. It's the only way the tickets are available. Then Riebel booked a room at the Sheraton hotel for her guests in Chicago to complete their next trip. See more of today�s Business stories at http://www.naplesnews.com/npdn/business NEAPOLITAN: ENEMY OF THE STATE Dawn Purse couldn't believe it. She'd just moved into her Naples home when she found herself attacked by fleas. She was confounded because, at the time, she didn't even own an animal. Where had all these fleas come from? "It was so bad my shoes and my legs would be covered by fleas," she said. "My legs were black because there were so many fleas covering them." See more of today�s Neapolitan stories at http://www.naplesnews.com/npdn/neapolitan
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