This is the place to search for public records on a variety of topics. New databases will be added periodically.

Pet Registration - The Daily News analyzed the details of more than 53,000 pet licenses obtained from the Collier and Lee County Domestic Animal Services Departments. The data did not contain personal information about owners, the release of which is prohibited by state law. All of the pet licenses analyzed were filed during the year ending Aug. 8, 2009. Though Collier County requires owners to register their pets every year, Lee County only requires pets to be registered when their rabies vaccination expires. As some rabies vaccinations are good for three years, some Lee County pets were not included in this analysis. Read the story »

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Salaries of Naples and Bonita Springs Staff - As cities across Florida face drastic cuts to help balance their budgets, city officials are looking to curtail rising employee costs in a difficult economic time. Salary and benefit packages account for about 70 percent of the Naples general fund, the city's main operating budget. That number is significantly lower in Bonita Springs - in fiscal 2010 about 30 percent of the operating budget will be dedicated to employee compensation - but that's because the city hires outside companies and agencies for much of its work, so it doesn't have a large labor or clerical staff. Read the story »

SAT scores in Florida - Fewer Collier and Lee county college-bound seniors are taking the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), and though Collier County's scores are still outpacing the state's, Lee County students have fallen behind. Collier County students performed slightly better in the critical reading portion of the test, scoring a 504 compared to last year's mean score of 503. But the district's math and writing scores dipped a bit. Read the story »

ACT scores in Florida - In 2009, 1,130 Collier County seniors, or 41 percent, took the SAT, compared to last year's figure of 1,291, or 48 percent. But whether that figure means that fewer students are going to college or more students are applying to SAT optional college institutions, no one can say. More than 800 U.S. colleges don't require SAT or ACT scores, but many are technical or religious schools or those with open admissions policies. Community colleges also do not require SAT or ACT scores. Read the story »

Crime Incidents Database with Map - Every victim's experience of waiting for a sheriff's deputy is different. Some wait longer than others, and many factors contribute to how quickly a deputy will arrive. In Collier County, the Sheriff's Office's Immokalee district posted the fastest average reported response times in 2007 and 2008, at about 5 ½ minutes. The slowest times were in the Everglades district, at nearly three times Immokalee's average response, around 15 minutes. Read the story »

Public Pool and Spa Inspections Database with Map - Every public pool in Southwest Florida has lifeguards. But they don't wear a red swimsuit or aimlessly twirl a whistle for hours. These lifeguards carry a clipboard, an inspection sheet and a copy of the state's pool inspection code. And in the first six months of 2009, they conducted 5,904 inspections of public pools, hot tubs and other aquatic facilities in Collier and Lee counties. Read the story »

Florida death rate and autopsy statistics - A first-of-its-kind study has found that younger, well-educated and wealthy people are more likely to be autopsied when they die. More men than women are autopsied. And blacks, Hispanics, Asians and Native Americans are more likely to be autopsied than whites. The disparity has a profound effect on how people understand the diseases that run in their families and how medical research is conducted. The findings from Scripps Howard News Service's seven-month review of the 4.9 million deaths in the United States in 2005 and 2006 surprised medical experts. Read the story »