J. Kyle Foster | Naples Daily News
Bonita Estero Rail to Trail is an $82 million-plus dream but with a plan.
Communities around the 14.9-mile Bonita-Estero rail corridor are committing their support, though some not their money yet, for a public pedestrian and biking trail, nicknamed BERT.
In February, after four years of negotiations, Seminole Gulf Railway agreed to sell Bonita-Estero rail corridor for the trail project.
Lee County, its municipalities, and Collier County, if it chooses, have until March 2026 to come up with the $82 million brokered by the Trust for Public Land, a national nonprofit that works to connect people to outdoor spaces.
Read the full article on naplesnews.com.
Contact David at David at David@DavidFlorida.com or 239-285-1086 to find a home in Bonita, Estero, Naples, Florida.
Laura Layden | Naples Daily News
City council unanimously approved a more than $24.6 million contract to rebuild the Naples Pier.
The approval came Wednesday, a little over two years after Hurricane Ian destroyed the iconic landmark on the Gulf of Mexico.
The contract includes a roughly $1.17 million contingency to “accommodate any unforeseen repairs or construction that may be required to complete the project,” equal to 5% of the bid price of nearly $23.46 million.
The city is still assessing impacts from Hurricane Helene, which did further damage last week to what remained of the pier.
Read the full article and see photos on naplesnews.com.
Chad Gillis | Fort Myers News-Press
Hurricane Idalia brought hundreds of flamingos from Mexico to the eastern United State just over a year ago, and it appears some of the birds are lingering in the Sunshine State.
Florida has long had a love affair with American flamingos (Phoenicopterus ruber). Our lottery tickets boast the image of a flamingo, although some researchers doubt the bird actually lived here in large numbers.
There was even a town named Flamingo, which now exists as a major entry point into Everglades National Park and Florida Bay.
And now it seems the birds may be here to stay after being swept up by Hurricane Idalia and blown here.
Since Idalia, Florida has a least a few dozen of the giant pink birds, mostly strung along coastal preserves and undeveloped mangroves islands.
Standing about 5 feet tall and weighing up to 8 pounds, flamingos are distributed across much of the Caribbean.
Last summer the birds were strung out across much of the eastern United States, in places like Ohio ― more than 1,000 miles away from their home Mexico.
See photos and read where the flamingos have been seen on naplesnews.com.
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See where the city is ranked.
Mark H. Bickel | Naples Daily News
The fish must be biting in Naples because the city located only a few blocks from the Gulf of Mexico is considered one of the best fishing spots in Florida.
This is according to a new study by FishingBooker, the leading site for booking fishing trips in the US.
The study ranked the top fishing spots in each state in the U.S. based on six criteria derived from FishingBooker’s internal data, gathered from over one hundred thousand fishing trips in the past year.
In Florida, 202 towns were ranked according to their score from 1 to 10 in six different categories.
Destin took the top spot with 59 points out of 60, followed by Panama City Beach (53 points), St. Petersburg and Islamorada (51 points each).
Naples received 43 out of a total possible score of 60 points.
Read where Cape Coral ranked on naplesnews.com.
Find your home in Southwest Florida near great fishing, amazing dining, shopping, arts, and more. Contact David at David at David@DavidFlorida.com or 239-285-1086.
