BRENT BATTEN

The already hot topic of hot fueling could grow even hotter in coming weeks as county officials and a key tenant at the Immokalee Regional Airport try to hammer out a lease.

The innocuous-sounding study is raising fears, however, of a repeat of the disastrous 2003 Naples Park Community Plan.

Next in the sights of Collier County Commission Chairwoman Georgia Hiller appears to be Lucilla Ayer, the executive director of the Metropolitan Planning Organization.

In today's Collier County Commission climate, even the noncontroversial is controversial.

The purpose of this letter is to invite you to visit Naples, Fla., as you consider “drastic action,” to address the tax situation you recently discussed.

--- Crist’s popularity among top Florida Democrats there was such that party Chairman Rod Smith had to caution them not to boo or make any sort of demonstration when Crist took the stage on national TV to endorse President Barack ...

You hear lingering ques­tions about the election like, “How could Barack Obama win 100 percent of the vote in dozens of precincts in Cleveland?” and “How could St. Lucie County have 140 percent voter turnout?”

Considering the large turnout of early and absentee voters in Southwest Florida, people are obviously finding reasons to vote for either Mitt Romney or Barack Obama.

In the space of just over a minute last week, the Collier County Planning Commission lost almost 20 years of institutional knowledge.

The particulars of the departure of a mid-level manager in an organization that employees hundreds of people might be of little import were that organization not responsible for spending millions of dollars of taxpayer money.

So whom should we believe? Is Hiller twisting things around to advance a political agenda or is Coyle desperately seeking to hold on to leadership of the board by casting his rival in a false light?

There are some big differences between the debt carried by Collier County and that owed by the U.S. government.

Democrats are positioning themselves to use federally funded improvements to rural Internet access as a campaign tool in the final weeks of the presidential election.

Mickey Gargan, the current chair of Collier Democrats, said Obama’s speech brought together everything Democrats have been hearing all week. “I’m really pleased to see how he summarized what everyone’s been saying. Democrats have finally realized they need to have ...

Actress Ashley Judd wasn't able to make it to breakfast Thursday with Florida's delegates to the Democratic National Convention.

Bill Nelson finally got a mention at the Democratic National Convention.

All week long, Florida Democrats have heard how important their state is in the coming election.

No one thing is going to win Florida for the Democrats, pollster Dave Beattie told the party faithful Wednesday morning.

As Susan MacManus goes through one of the handful of media interviews she's asked to do each morning, a young man interrupts to say hello.

Florida Democrats 570 strong on Tuesday heard the outline of a game plan they hope to use to re-elect President Barack Obama come November.

With the nation's electoral eye cast toward Tampa during the Republican National Convention, the normal sounds of traffic and honking horns competed with speakers with bull horns trumpeting a mix of religion and politics.

A calm before the storm, both literal and figurative, held over downtown Tampa on Sunday as the Republican National Convention arrived like feeder bands in advance of a tropical storm.

People in Southwest Florida are keenly in­terested in the results of Tuesday’s election. Apparently, people out­side Southwest Florida are too.

What struck McDaniel, and others who saw the email, is the last line, which reads, “Dwight Brock Campaign … Naples, 34117, United States.”

Anybody who, after 34 years of watching county commissioners squabble, just gets up, walks out of a meeting, goes down the hall and turns in his resignation, merits some sort of special recognition.

Clearly, the Olympics need to be downsized. And I have just the solution — get rid of swimming.

One can’t help but suspect that in this election, where a relatively small number of votes may be enough to propel a person to Congress, the political rookie going up against bigger names with more money may be onto something.

President Barack Obama has an approval rating of less than 50 percent.Congress has one that is less than half of that. If sentiments around the halls of county government are any indication, the people who work for them fare even ...

The Republican and Democratic parties are beneficiaries of a system that places high qualifying fees on potential candidates and in turn returns the bulk of that money to the parties

As the discourse and disharmony over fire district consolidation burns like a brushfire around Collier County, a smaller debate smolders within the confines of City Hall.

The three departments have outlined a plan under which they merge, not with each other but with the ambulance service already operating in their boundaries.

While some wealthy people do pay a lower rate, that's not necessarily a bad thing. The Buffett Rule being debated in the U.S. Senate this week focuses attention on those who benefit from tax shelters.

A March 14 document from zoning manager Ray Bellows sought a change to the county's Land Development Code. In it he wrote: "This amendment is intended to clarify that aviation related uses are permitted as an essential service on the ...

The county manager’s office is drafting an ordinance to create a Public Safety Authority, an important component envisioned in a year-old report issued by a panel of community health care leaders.

There are plenty of jokes to be made over the Gallup survey that places Naples among the least obese metropolitan areas of the country. ---- But look a bit deeper into the survey and its ramifications and there’s cause for ...

Going almost unnoticed in the talk about millions and billions bouncing around Tallahassee these days is a matter of thousands that is worth noting.

"At the end of the day, that’s what attorneys should do, represent the people, not just corporations and government."

Relations between the Collier County Commission and its staff and Clerk of Courts Dwight Brock have never been what one would call convivial.

Broadcasters, journalists and the like have the makings of a good representative every bit as much as the comedians, football players and vintners there with them.

2011 year in review: Summer better than others.

Also included is a provision that allows citizens of two-thirds of the states, via petitions, to propose an amendment.

The Lincoln-Douglas debates ... would be virtually unrecognizable to a modern audience accustomed to what passes for debate today

- I disagree with Commissioner Georgia Hiller. ---- I hope somebody does question her being on county property.

Compared to other places, Collier County’s property tax base is too heavily residential.

Halloween is right around the corner. Perhaps that explains why friends of the Occupy movement are trying to dress it up in so many costumes.

You can clip this list out an take it with you to Walmart the next time you seek to add to your collection.

An eye-popping portion of the strategic plan speaks of a “capital investment coalition” which would raise $100 million a year for five years, money that would be available to invest in businesses that will drive the diverse economy of the ...

The appearance of the occupation movement so close to home offers a columnist an excellent opportunity to poke fun at the protestors.

Before the votes are counted, or even cast, Cain appears to have scored a win Friday when a panel of political appointees selected Jan. 31 as Florida’s primary date.

“The list that I have in the packet reads like a ‘Who’s Who’ of Jackson Lab. I was actually rolling on the floor laughing. I said, ‘Wow! Same old, same old.’ We need new ideas and new people.” Commissioner Georgia ...