3 To Know: Donna Fiala subject of new book
1. Donna Fiala subject of new book
Are you interested in the job duties and responsibilities that shaped Donna Fiala as a Collier County commissioner? Would you like to know some of the background behind the planning, directing, and coordinating of operational activities that shaped East Naples and Marco Island?
“The People’s Commissioner: Donna Fiala,” written by local authors Lynn Alexander, Marisa Cleveland, and Stephanie Spell, is a collection of vignettes documenting the effect on Commission District I.
Join Fiala and Library Director Tanya Williams at the South Regional Library, 8065 Lely Cultural Parkway, Naples at 5 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 14, to discuss the book.
A book signing and sales will follow the discussion. All proceeds from the sale of the book will benefit the East Naples Kiwanis Foundation.
Registration is required and can be made online at collierlibrary.org.
2. Elimination of medical expense deduction would affect Florida residents
Naples retiree Stephen Burns would pay $1,400 or more in income taxes if a longstanding medical expense deduction is repealed.
The 72-year-old is not happy with the U.S. House tax plan that would eliminate the deduction, which has been crucial for him and an estimated 634,000 Florida residents with high medical expenses and moderate incomes.
The retired psychiatrist said he is especially annoyed that U.S. Rep. Francis Rooney, R-Naples, who he pointed out is a multimillionaire, voted for the tax plan that repeals the deduction.
Burns knows how to “value shop” and would need to split prescription pills in half to reduce out-of-pocket medical expenses if the deduction is repealed. His adjusted gross income was about $37,000 in 2016.
“I’m concerned things will only get worse,” Burns said. “I can save a couple thousand here and there, but the older I get, the more I will spend.”
3. Woman arrested after arguing over fresh bacon at McDonald's in Golden Gate
A woman faces a battery charge after an argument with another woman over fresh bacon Thursday, according to a Collier County Sheriff’s Office report.
Widna St. Jean, 24, was at the McDonald’s inside a BP gas station in Golden Gate when the woman came in from the drive-thru to complain that she didn't have fresh bacon on her sandwich, according to the report.
McDonald’s staff told the woman the bacon was fresh, but she said she was a former McDonald’s employee and that it was not fresh bacon, the report said.
St. Jean told deputies she began arguing with the woman because she didn't like the way she was talking to her friend.
A worker eventually gave the woman new bacon, and she left and got back in her red Nissan, according to the report.
St. Jean then left the McDonald's and continued the argument with the woman, striking her on the side of the head and leaving a a 2-inch scratch on her forearm, according to the report.