Kendall Little | Naples Daily News
In about five months, you can get a taste of Napa Valley without leaving the comfort of Naples. The Naples Winter Wine Festival is set for Jan. 30 through Feb. 1, 2026 and is stacked with celebrity chefs and innovative vintners.
This year’s roster is impressive, with James Beard winners, Michelin-starred chefs, and pioneering restaurateurs like Nancy Oakes, Joe Flamm, Karen Akunowicz, and Dean Fearing. Leading the team of exceptional chefs is “Chef de Cuisine” Dustin Valette, acclaimed chef-owner of Valette and The Matheson in Healdsburg California. Valette carries a family legacy dating back to the 1820s, continuing a long line of culinary excellence.
“The Naples Winter Wine Festival has earned a reputation for attracting many of the nation’s top award-winning chefs, and this year is no different,” Kelley Bailey, 2026 Chef Committee Chair said in a press release. “Our lineup includes a number of celebrity chefs who have consistently participated in the NWWF for several years along with a handful of fresh new faces who are making their debut.”
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Charles Runnells | Naples Daily News
When Ramón Tebar joined Opera Naples in 2013, the new artistic director had a major goal: To bring more international opera singers to Naples.
Not Naples, Italy, mind you.
Naples, Florida.
Most opera stars, though, had no idea there even WAS another Naples.
“I had to always explain — at least for the first two, three seasons: ‘Well, this is not Napoli,’” Tebar says. “This is not Naples, Italy. It’s Naples, Florida.”
That quickly changed, though, as major opera stars came to sing for Southwest Florida audiences. Then they’d go back to Europe and tell all their friends.
“The opera world is a very small world,” Tebar says. “They would talk to each other. They would say, ‘Look, you should go to Naples. It’s wonderful — a great city. … You’ll have a lot of fun.’
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Liz Freeman | Naples Daily News
Substantial gifts toward the $295-million heart center underway on the campus of the NCH Baker Hospital keep coming in.
Longtime supporters Pete and Dawn Irving have given $10 million which is earmarked for the cardiac imaging wing on the third floor. The gift will enhance patient access to cutting-edge diagnostic technology.
The future heart complex will be located south of the Baker hospital near downtown Naples at the site of the Telford Education Center which was demolished.
The future heart center is officially named the R.M. Schulze Family Heart and Stroke Critical Care Center. Groundbreaking was in June and completion is targeted for fall 2027.
“This is philanthropy at its best: community members stepping forward to create something extraordinary for the health of everyone who lives here,” Scott Lutgert, chairman of the NCH board of trustees, said of the $10 million donation.
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Mark H. Bickel | Naples Daily News
Collier County is usually recognized as a great place to retire. Now, the Southwest Florida county is getting recognized as one of the best places in Florida to raise a family.
This is according to a study by SmartAsset, which reveals the top places for families in the U.S., based on four categories: housing equity, students’ academic performance, recreation and community centers per 1,000 people, and childcare costs.
SmartAsset is a financial technology company, publishing articles, guides, reviews, calculators and tools to help people make decisions about personal finance.
The inaugural study has found that Collier County ranks among the best places in Florida to raise a family. There are 67 counties in Florida. Collier came in at No. 9. Lee County was ranked No. 44.
According to SmartAsset, as families prioritize community, affordability, and quality of life, finding the best place to raise a family has never been more important
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J. Kyle Foster | Naples Daily News
Way down south and east in Collier County, Florida, in The Everglades, is a town called Chokoloskee that until 1955 could only be accessed by boat. It’s worth the drive to explore this old Florida area with its rich history.
But first, how do you pronounce the name and what does it mean? Pronounced chuk-uh-lus-kee, the name comes from the Seminole-Creek chuku meaning house and liski meaning old, according to the book “Florida Place Names.” Other interpretations are just “home.”
Home for centuries to Calusa Indians, Chokoloskee was “settled” in the 1870s by European travelers. The Calusa were known for their shell mounds, which were places to toss out shells of oyster and conch the Calusa used for food and sometimes built into tools. These mounds built up the islands of Chokoloskee and parts of Marco Island, providing higher ground as protection from hurricanes that hit the area often.
In 1955, a causeway was built to connect Chokoloskee with the mainland. That was replaced with the Chokoloskee Bridge in August 2018 to meet modern standards with increased width and height, according to Fort Myers-based Kelly Brothers, which built the bridge.
Read more – History, tradition, and mystery entrenched in Chokoloskee on naplesnews.com.
“Through the Lens of Nature: A Celebration of Flora, Fauna and Culture” will be in the Rookery Bay Environmental Learning Center in East Naples, Florida, from Aug. 4-Oct 31.
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