============================================================ DIGITAL DIGEST � http://www.bonitanews.com � December 31, 2004 ============================================================ Subscribe to the Bonita Daily News: http://web.bonitanews.com/circulation/ TRAGEDY IN ASIA: QUESTIONS REMAIN FOR COLLIER WOMAN WHO SURVIVED CATASTROPHY You can see it in her face. Her dark eyes are glossy from tears. They're weary from the nightmares that keep her awake at night. You can see it on her fingers. Her nails on her right hand are broken, all ripped away during her struggle to stay above the gushing water. Valerie Leclercq displays her right hand like she's showing off a ring. But instead she looks at her jagged nails. TRAGEDY IN ASIA: TEXT-MESSAGED RUMORS KEEP NERVES ON EDGE PHUKET, Thailand � Word over text messages Thursday afternoon on this tourist destination island off Thailand's southwestern coast was of another tidal wave heading toward shore, one not as large as the series of tsunamis that hit on Sunday, but a wave, nonetheless. There was another earthquake, this one in the Bay of Bengal off India, came another message. The town of Patong had been entirely evacuated, read the message that came over a cell phone. YEAR IN REVIEW: HURRICANE SEASON RANKS AS TOP STORY OF 2004 IN LEE COUNTY There was plenty of big news in south Lee County in 2004. Former Lee County commissioner and Sanibel mayor Porter Goss was tapped to head the CIA, construction began on not one but two massive shopping malls and a public purchase to buy 91,000 acres of environmentally sensitive land sizzled, then fizzled. Yet the top news story for 2004 in Lee County was a weather event named Charley. INCOMING SHERIFF BEING GIVEN LESS THAN WARM WELCOME Just a day before Mike Scott began his tenure as Lee County sheriff, his new right-hand man clashed with one of the outgoing administration's highest-ranking officials in a meeting regarding a round of promotions Scott has planned. Called at the last minute by departing Maj. George Mitar, the hourlong standoff found Mitar at one end of a table raising questions about the procedure Scott followed in naming his new higher-ups and incoming Chief Deputy Charles Ferrante on the other juggling imaginary balls in the air. BONITA COUNCIL TO CONSIDER MOVING FORWARD ON PIER PROJECT If Bonita Springs' elected leaders approve a consultant's contract Wednesday, the idea of mooring a fishing pier offshore could transform into siting studies, field work and eventually a concept plan. Hans Wilson & Associates of Fort Myers would be paid $21,800 to guide the project. City Councilman Wayne Edsall proposed building a pier last summer to lure more visitors to the Gulf of Mexico and give the area the prestige he asserts such a landmark can bestow. Get details on all these stories and more at http://www.bonitanews.com PERSPECTIVE: GUEST EDITORIAL: NEW YEAR'S EVE -- GOOD RIDDANCE TO 2004 Get thee behind us, 2004. It was hardly the worst of years, but it was a year of economic readjustment, of hellish war in Iraq and of a presidential contest that seemed as if it would never end. Time passes slowly when you are in pain, and the political pain was considerable because of the anger on both sides and a division between Americans that seemed to grow wider daily. See more of today�s Perspective stories at http://www.naplesnews.com/npdn/perspective BUSINESS: ZIGZAG NOT JUST HOW PEOPLE WALK ON NEW YEAR'S EVE This holiday weekend, you may not have to call your partying short, even if you drove to the New Year's celebration yourself. There is a new alternative to leaving your car parked in front of the bar or at a friend's house in case you sipped one too many cocktails. And it also eliminates having to get a friend or taxi to take you back the next morning to pick up your car. See more of today�s Business stories at http://www.naplesnews.com/npdn/business NEAPOLITAN: REVIEW: "THE KING AND I" IS A LATE CHRISTMNAS GIFT Sometimes, the gifts that arrive after Christmas are the best. That's definitely the case with "The King and I," playing at the Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall in Fort Myers through Jan. 2. This gem of a show is lovingly and lavishly wrapped in gorgeous costumes, intricate sets and a marvelous myriad fabrics, colors, patterns, designs and textures. The actors, however, are not at all upstaged because they possess such immense talent. See more of today�s Neapolitan stories at http://www.naplesnews.com/npdn/neapolitan
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