Fix the Chiquita Lock

Something needs to be done about the Chiquita Lock The lock was designed to prevent Cape Coral’s polluted water from entering the Caloosahatchee estuary. It has fallen into disrepair, is a headache for boaters, and is dangerous for manatees

Since Hurricane Ian, the lock has been broken open, allowing pollutants to flow freely into the Caloosahatchee estuary While the city wants to remove the lock, we should not throw the baby out with the bathwater Instead, the lock should be updated so it can continue to protect the Caloosahatchee estuary without impacting manatees and boaters

Matt

DePaolis

Guest Commentary

T h e S a n i b e l - C a p t i v a C o n s e r v a t i o n Foundation’s mission is to protect and care for Southwest Florida’s coastal ecosystems Inherent in a healthy ecosystem is clean water, which is unfortunately becoming a scarce resource Nutrients from stormwater and wastewater feed massive algal blooms in our marine environments

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) block sunlight from native seagrasses, can decompose creating hypoxic dead zones, and can be toxic to both people and wildlife The Chiquita Lock helps prevent polluted water from entering the estuary and fueling these HABs

The Chiquita Lock was installed after a consent order was issued that required the implementation and maintenance of a spreader system to prevent polluted stormwater from harming the Caloosahatchee estuary

The lock serves as a barrier, raising the water level in the canals until it spills over the southern edge and is naturally filtered through 3,000 feet of mangroves before entering the estuary Even broken open in its current state it is still functioning at a limited capacity

The location of the lock remains a narrow bottleneck that sends some water through the spreader system, keeping the mangroves alive A similar system was built with the Ceitus Boat Lift, and after it was removed in 2007 a massive mangrove die-off occurred Removing the lock would remove this last bit of functionality and likely have a dramatic impact on the mangroves and estuary

The need for the lock has not gone away The waters within Cape Coral’s canals are still polluted, and if they are allowed to flow freely into the estuary, our environment will suffer The consent order requires the city of Cape Coral to maintain the lock, but it has failed to do so

The lock has proven to be a nuisance for boaters and it has been fatal to manatees, like many of the locks around Florida While this is horrific and must be avoided at all costs, removing the lock will cause greater devastation

Additional pollution in the estuary will impact already depleted seagrass beds, which are a major food source for manatees While 19 manatees were killed in boat lifts across Florida in 2022, another 800 died of starvation Protecting manatees requires protecting seagrass, which means preserving the Chiquita Lock

It is clear that changes need to be made to the lock Instead of removing it, we have an opportunity to fix it so it functions for the benefit of everybody boaters, manatees, and the environment A high-speed, two-way lock could be installed that would drastically cut down wait times for boaters A combination of sensors, manatee exclusion devices, and a lock tender could ensure that manatees are not unwittingly caught in the lock

The Chiquita Lock is a headache for boaters and Cape Coral, and while its removal would have small benefits, the e n v i r o n m e n t a l c o n s e q u e n c e s w o u l d b e d e v a s t a t i n g

Instead, the city should uphold its responsibility to ensure that the spreader system continues to function by fixing the lock and updating it to serve the needs of all stakeholders, boaters, manatees, and all of Southwest Florida’s coastal ecosystems

Matt DePaolis is the Environmental Policy director for the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation

Letters To The Editor

Purple Hear t Day recognition much appreciated

To the editor:

The City of Cape Coral honored our Purple Heart Recipients in recognition of National Purple Heart Day on Aug 7, 2023 by dedicating a Purple Heart Parking Space at City Hall on Wednesday morning followed by a certificate recognition program at the City Council Meeting later in the afternoon

Recognizing and honoring our combat wounded and killed in action veterans for their “No Greater Love” sacrifices was well received by all our Purple Heart Recipients on that day.

South Cape Coral Parkway displayed Purple Heart Banners on the light poles showing that Cape Coral was a proclaimed Purple Heart City along with banners recognizing National Purple Heart Day on Aug 7, 2023

On behalf of The Bert Kurland Chapter 696 of The Military Order of the Purple Heart (Lee, Collier & Hendry Counties) here in SWFL I want to extend a special thank you to the mayor, City Council and all the city staff who made this such an honorable event Jack Wagner, Commander Cape Coral

Residents paying the price of paradise paved

To the editor:

This is an open letter to Lee County commissioners:

You have demonstrated great zeal in allowing our county to become overrun with developments while at the same time mismanaging it

Your employees, the County Attorney, the Hearing

Examiner, and the County Manager dutifully follow your orders no matter the number of times plans, rules, and regulations are contravened The residents of this county are the ones who suffer, and will continue to suffer, the most

Let’s start with infrastructure You have greatly reduced impact fees which results in newcomers no longer having to cover the costs incurred from their move here; but, at the same time you expect current residents to foot the costs of these new arrivals

You allow all these developments to be built without adequate infrastructure in place Yet, you want us to believe you are doing a great job by scheduling these presently needed infrastructure improvements 10–15 years in the future.

Reminds me of an old adage that says something about putting the cart before the horse

You tout yourselves as being environmentally conscious and consider yourselves to have done an admirable job by requiring some green space in these developments which are being built on environmentally sensitive land You have allowed changes which have permitted a 1,500% increase in density in these same lands

Do you limit the amount of grassed areas which are dependent on abundant watering?

Do you require that plantings consist only of plants native to our climate?

Do you require micro irrigation in planted areas?

Do you require environmentally friendly products to be used in construction? i e low carbon concrete, highly permeable surfaces for roads, sidewalks, and driveways

Do you require Energy Star rated appliances?

Do you require residences to meet Florida Water Star Gold Certification?

See LETTERS, page 6

How can our aquifers recharge when you blithely allow then to be paved over? Science has shown that salt water intrudes into our aquifers when not allowed to be properly recharged The same science has noted the appearance of many sinkholes in Florida because of poor recharging

Apparently you think that our fresh water supply is infinite and will always be there no matter how you abuse it

I have visited some of the developments where you required littoral plantings These plantings no longer or just barely exist in some of them What are the requirements you put into place to ensure they are there? Who did you designate to enforce/regulate this?

Having looked at the plans for Kingston, I noticed that there are wildlife corridors planned which will allow animals to move through the development However, these corridors seem to dead-end at Corkscrew without any safe way to cross to the other side Is this your way of reducing the panther population?

This is only a very brief overview but it leads one to the perception that one of your best skillsets is collecting campaign funds from developers and then granting them their every wish

Norman Cannon Fort Myers

Media for ms hinder, not enhance, parental rights

To the editor:

I write as one of the team leaders of The Purple Group to speak out for the many others parents, grandparents, teachers, even business owners who agree with our concerns

However, they do not feel comfortable going public with their concerns Why? Because they fear personal and professional repercussions by those with a narrow political agenda What have we come to?

My remarks to the Lee County School Board on Tuesday represent the beliefs of many not there

We wonder why the superintendent asked the school board, whose responsibility it is to make policy, to direct the drafting of a process document the Media Access Form which is the staff’s responsibility The result? A new form that provides NO option for a parent to allow their child full access to all educational materials currently accessible in the media center The NEW form violates parental rights and freedom to direct their child’s education

The original Media Access Form with appropriate choices was one of the process documents presented to the board at a workshop July 26 These were developed with discussion and input over the course of many months at CUAC meetings with comments from community members You tell us you highly value your “Community Partners.” Why then did you override the work of staff and community? We ask you to remove the restrictive, misleading Media Form currently on the website Wait until a well-constructed form is developed by staff

Finally, we are concerned about Teachers who are the heart and soul of the learning environment in any school Staff has clear processes and criteria in place for the districtwide review of all the books in media centers and in teachers’ personal classroom libraries as required by law On July 26 you assured us this review was complete Now it is time for the administration and the board to support teachers assure them you have their back you value them, you support their rights as professionals, as well as parent’s and student’s rights You must speak up to help restore trust in teachers and public education

Madelon V Stewart Fort Myers

Aid to Ukraine necessar y and well watched

To the editor:

American aid to Ukraine is serious, and the accountability mechanisms to make sure it isn’t wasted are just as serious That’s why recent comments by Florida Rep Byron Donalds (R-19) at a town hall are such a head-scratcher. Donalds falsely claimed that after the U S sent aid to Ukraine, “nobody has no earthly idea what was spent on who ”

Rep Donalds is flat-out wrong The U S knows exactly where aid goes, and Ukrainians know that if they allow American weapons, supplies, or money to get misused or lost, they risk losing the trust of Americans and jeopardizing future aid.

Accountability is a matter of life-or-death for Ukraine as it fights for survival In a recent nightly address to the nation, President Volodymyr Zelensky reiterated that corruption is tantamount to treason, and that “Ukraine has no more time for that ”

Letters To The Editor

But there’s no need to take Ukraine’s word for it The U S has put in place plenty of measures to ensure every bit of aid is accounted for from start to finish

When three of the more than 20 inspectors general responsible for overseeing this aid testified to Congress this year, they declared that no allegations of waste, fraud, or abuse have been substantiated General Christopher Cavoli, commander of EUCOM, echoes their confidence as well

In every major aid package Congress has approved for Ukraine, it has included numerous mechanisms for accountability, and the upcoming supplemental aid it’s preparing to debate will be no different

With just a basic Google search, members of the public as well as members of Congress who are curious about the current U S oversight measures in Ukraine can learn about the “joint workings group on Ukraine oversight,” and even review dashboards where every single report and investigation on fraud is periodically updated and readily accessible

By congressional mandate, the secretary of defense must provide regular reports on the measures taken to track U S aid It also mandates that budgetary support to keep the Ukrainian government functioning properly must be kept in auditable accounts subject to regular inspections from the secretaries of State, Treasury, and the administrator of USAID Congress is also ramping up oversight by properly staffing relevant inspectors general to watch over support to Ukraine, a measure which comes out of the National Defense Authorization Act for 2024

Aid to Ukraine is also conducted in cooperation with other international organizations such as the World Bank and independent accounting firms like Deloitte, requiring, among other things, that the Ukrainian government submit receipts and documentation for how it uses U S aid for verification by independent auditors and U S inspectors

Ukraine also has impressive tech systems, such as the “super app” Diia, which most services such as payroll for government officials, including teachers, health care workers, and first responders, are managed through “There’s a digital trail,” says USAID Administrator Samantha Power “It’s not, you know, some official deciding this or that. It is going directly into the bank accounts in a manner that would have been untraceable in a prior regime ”

The U S also has staff on the ground in Ukraine verifying that what we send gets to the right place Ukraine has to use NATO-standard logistics systems and innovative blockchain technology for real-time tracking of materials, using handheld scanners to physically log the movements of U S equipment making them fully visible to the U S government You can get a visual of the many humanitarian depots we have set up throughout Ukraine, where U S oversight of aid is made even more feasible

The U S embassy in Kyiv is also staffed by dozens of diplomats who all volunteered to risk their lives under Russian bombardment to get serve their country at a critical moment

As conservative journalist Bret Stephens recently wrote in the New York Times after visiting them, “They have the job of overseeing one of the largest U S assistance efforts since the Marshall Plan, ensuring that tens of thousands of individual pieces of American military hardware in Ukrainian hands are properly accounted for ”

The security services of Ukraine made headlines this month for finding out about and then stopping attempts to steal American weapons and sell them on the black market, including by Russian agents This should inspire confidence in Americans that the system is working as it should Ukrainian law enforcement is yet another force watching over American aid, and they’re keeping it in the right hands Ukrainian journalists are another brilliant force providing oversight, constantly investigating and exposing attempted corruption, forcing the government to take action and stamp it out Take, for example, “Dubai Battalion”, a recent investigative documentary led by Ukrainian journalists, which exposed certain “Ukrainian” politicians those who have a tendency to be “pro-Russia” enjoying luxurious vacations while Ukrainians die at the hands of Russia’s terrorist dictatorship

Ukrainians don’t shy away from these topics. For Ukrainians, it is a principle, especially in time of Russian aggression to spend money allocated by the state for its intended purpose, as for them, abuse and corruption is synonymous with Russia’s war

One of the reasons Russia invaded Ukraine was because Ukrainians boldly declared that they wanted to break with the past and move beyond Russian-style corruption Well-aware that corruption represents a link to the “old elite” of the Soviet communist system, Ukrainian people led two revolutions to oust the old elite

Calls for the need to use lustration as one of the effective ways to prevent corruption began to be heard in 2004 after the Orange Revolution Since the Maidan revolution in 2014 which ousted pro-Russia usurper Viktor Yanukovych, a few dozen of the new deputies elected to the Ukrainian government were anti-corruption activists Now more than ever, even more anti-corruption activists lead Ukraine These activists are not likely to be silenced or bribed

With robust oversight already in place, political will is the key ingredient to ensure accountability. Ukrainians possess this political will They know that abusing American aid puts their dream of finally living in peace at risk

Rep Donalds declared at his town hall earlier this month that he wouldn’t vote for upcoming Ukrainian supplemental aid unless there’s “real accountability measures” included in it He can rest assured that those measures are already in place, and are only likely to be strengthened further Plenty of Floridians look forward to his “yes” vote

Alexandra Zakhvatayev Cape Coral Moral or amoral?

To the editor:

I just read another national negative article on Governor DeSantis, the best governor of any large state in the union He won the last election by 20% So why is Trump and the national press insulting him? Two reasons

First, the Democrats own the national press and they would much rather Trump run than DeSantis In 2020, he lost to maybe the worse candidate ever and in 2022, he was the reason Republicans missed a great opportunity for a wave In 2022, he overrode sure winners in the Republican Party for “I love Trump candidates” which lost The media and Democrats used “I hate Trump” and abortion to win in 2022 The majority chose those two items over curbing inflation, stopping crime in the cities and stopping the catastrophic rise in debt

Now even some Republicans are expressing a dislike for Trump because he insults other Republicans

Second reason is the saddest reason of all America is turning away from Christianity and the morals that they preach Abortion is the best example Pro-abortionists want to have the right to end a young life There is more Democrats are multiplying handouts which gives them more votes College graduates want to be free from debt so they can live a higher life style which is hard to do while paying off the loan If you were an illegal immigrant receiving free food, education, medical and welfare, wouldn’t you like the Democrats? The argument that our ancestors were immigrants doesn’t use the word legal Which they were then I am pro legal immigrant We need immigrants

Debt is a biblical sin Yet just the credit card debt in this country is $1 33 trillion and the national debt has soared to nearly $34 trillion, an unbelievable number Our debt has grown 230% faster than our economy in the last 60 years A family of five now has a national debt portion of almost $500,000 today

Crime is rampant in our Democratically governed cities but those affected still vote for the incumbents even though Americans are unsafe in our land of the free and home of the brave.

There are fewer churches every year in this country Projections say that Christianity is diminishing in America and with it, a moral compass

Conclusion? This country’s majority has made America an amoral society having no sense of right and wrong, only what is personally gratifying and convenient The majority voting for an amoral society are Democrats but not totally Many are locked into their life and don’t take the time to understand government They fall for advertising slogans

Can we trust America to change back? Or have we reached the point of no return? Question is too big for me to answer John

Benedict Cape Coral

This week’s poll question:

Ron DeSantis or Donald Trump?

∫ Ron DeSantis.

∫ Donald Trump

∫ I’m hoping for a different presidential nominee on the Republican side

∫ Doesn’t matter I’m not voting Republican

Previous poll question

What do you think about the latest indictment of Donald Trump?

∫ I have little to no issue with entities pursuing investigations or charges 41%

∫ I think he’s being persecuted. 53.5%

∫ I’m just watching the parade move on by 5%