BRENT BATTEN

“There are people who are likely to come to Collier County just to see a toilet in a toll booth. That could be a tourist attraction.” _ Commission Chairman Fred Coyle

In a place called the Spin Room, where spokespeople and high-profile supporters told reporters how well their candidate did in the preceding two hours, Herman Cain strode forth to face the press himself.

In 30-plus years of service with Collier County Parks and Recreation, Jim Thomas navigated through multiple changes in leadership, deflected unsatisfied customers and handled growing responsibilities with a booming laugh and a friendly demeanor. He was ultimately done in by ...

CREW named Rivera, who represents part of Collier County, as one of its “2011 Most Corrupt.”

On the big issues of the day, the parties tend not to work together very well, even though they talk about the need to do so. That is neither surprising nor necessarily distressing.

When it comes to economic development, Collier County has hit the Reset button. A vote Thursday by the board of directors of the Collier County Economic Development Council to close its doors means the county will look for a new ...

You know better than to cry over spilled milk. But when you read this, you may want to.

If the marriage between CNN and the Tea Party Express seems odd to you, you’re not alone. Even the tea party activists populating preliminary events in advance of Monday’s CNN/Tea Party Express debate among Republican presidential hopefuls in Tampa questioned ...

What do you remember about Sept. 11, 2001?

Two examples from here in Collier County stand as, if not polar opposites, at least starkly different examples, of how that money was used and how it benefitted, or didn’t, the overall economy.

To our dismay, this wasn’t a bikini contest at all. The event had more to do with the physical attributes of the individuals wearing the swimsuits than the swimsuits themselves.

If the map is accurate, in Collier and Lee counties the number of children facing hunger is disturbing.

Contrary to critics, Mohlke sees nothing untoward or reckless about the process that at this stage has produced five alternatives for where district lines might be drawn to equalize population and fairly represent Collier’s residents.

Randall is a one-name wonder, narrating animal videos in an irreverent and often profane manner.

If pastor Terry Jones brings his Christian Dove World Outreach Center to Lee County, there can be little doubt a film crew will be close behind to begin work on “The Beverly Hills of the East Billies.”

If the plan Scott proposed earlier this year to bring the cost of insurance for state employees more in line with what the rest of us pay would have passed, he would have been lambasted for “balancing the budget on ...

What I was really seeing was a morality play about birds and jealousy and evolution from monarchy to democracy and such.

The potential of Viagra and similar drugs to cause changes in color perception has at least one local resident worried that the presence of new blue lights on traffic signal standards will have erectile dysfunction patients slamming into each other ...

Suddenly reassigned Collier County housing director Marcy Krumbine has accumulated enough unused vacation and sick time to form a golden parachute that would carry her to the end of tenure with local government _ had she been hired two years ...

So what Richard Daly of Naples is trying to do isn’t really new, it’s just done in a new way. Daly and his son, Blair, started a web site, PetitionTheGovernment.com where people can weigh in on topics ranging from national ...

Shealy is the world’s foremost purveyor of skunk ape lore, the legends of a Yeti-like creature roaming the wilds of the Everglades and Big Cypress.

Updated flood zone maps produced by the Federal Emergency Management Agency put all of western Collier County in a flood zone, meaning the Red Cross won’t place volunteers in schools converted to shelters as it has in the past.

It has all the markings of one of those spitting matches between the Collier County commissioners and Clerk of Courts Dwight Brock in which millions of dollars are at stake, attorneys are paid to haggle over fine points of law ...

One faction is labeled as extremist. Can you guess which one?

Three times Hiller, the only attorney on the commission, put on her legal hat and three times had that hat handed to her, ending up on the short end of 4 to 1 votes and generating a fair amount of ...

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, less than a year into his freshman term, is emerging as the Republicans’ most telegenic and relatable spokesman as the debt crisis puts a spotlight on the differences between their party and the Democrats.

You can add to the list the abject inability to guess what’s going on with unemployment. But we’re a plucky species, and by golly we keep on trying.

Being in the majority is no guarantee you won’t sometimes be a minority.

The state is poised to spend almost $7 million to add two feet of pavement to the shoulders on U.S. 41 east of State Road 29 all the way to the Dade County line.

Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, the state’s “insurer of last resort,” has grown to be the third largest writer of property insurance in the country.

It is often said government needs to run more like a business. Let’s be more specific: Government needs to run more like a restaurant.

The big cuts in the big debt cutting deal will never happen.

The water fluoridation debate is coming to Southwest Florida.

We’re always told to look on the bright side of things and in a society that values a good yarn loosely based on reality, at a time when baseless celebrity is exulted and life is cheap, the death of little ...

The wealth of history and lore surrounding July 4 demands that every once in a while we review the lives of the Founding Fathers, the origins of our seminal documents and the volume of beans coming from North Dakota.

It’s one thing not to have the support of a particular county commissioner. It’s quite another not to have the support of the particular commissioner who represents your district.

As counterintuitive as it may sound, tax breaks are a means of maximizing tax revenue.

How did Cain, a successful businessman with a knack for turning around struggling companies, come to be a radio host?

Our job ostensibly was to offer advice on matters pertaining to Collier County. I say ostensibly because our real job was raising money.

McBride, a self-described former marijuana smuggler, has moved the site of a reunion with his fellow reformed outlaws to Naples after hearing criticism from folks in Everglades City, where it was originally set.

Georgia Hiller has introduced and vows to research an idea that is sure to go over with City Council like an Anthony Weiner photo spread — beach parking garages in the city.

David Shealy’s been trekking through the Everglades for 35 years looking for the skunk ape. This week, he’ll have company.

Sort of like the tide and the sea turtles, the issue of improved restrooms and concessions keeps coming back to Vanderbilt Beach.

Remember when the title “Honorable” bestowed upon members of Congress meant something? Neither do I.

Dr. David Perlmutter doesn’t want to say, “I told you so.” But somehow, he’s almost compelled to in the wake of the World Health Organization announcement last week that cell phone use possibly causes cancer in humans.

A 9 percent increase is deemed a “cut” because it is $2 billion less than what the president requested.

It came as sad news to hear Jim Tressel, the most successful Ohio State football coach in a generation, had resigned Monday.

Good emergency planning is universal, be it for a tornado, a hurricane or a zombie invasion.

McBride says he isn’t proud of what he and his crew did in the 1980s, but he’s not apologetic either.

His participation was noteworthy in that it represented one of the first times a Tea Party candidate’s insertion in the race was used to draw votes away from a more conservative contender.