News-Press from Fort Myers, Florida • Page 16

6A NEWS-PRESS. FRIDAY, APRIL 8. 1994 TEMPERATURES TIDES Weather Watch STATE Yesterday Today Hi LeOrlk (From Friday till noon Saturday) Tomorrow leOtMt 44 24 rn 72 39 cdy 7i 41 cTr 50 40 rn 64 38 cdy 68 50 cdy Friday Tldet a.m. Tidei p.m. NATIONAL WEATHER Saturday Tides a.m.

High low 57 37 cir Low Low High The Accu-Weather forecast for noon, Friday, April 8. clr Location Big Carlos Pass Boca Grande 1:03 49 31 63 42 69 44 57 53 II 73 63 82 71 77 61 79 61 85 7fl 87 71 80 68 70 47 73 51 83 71 86 63 87 6 6:31 6:03 8:21 6:54 12:39 12:35 1:39 12:49 6:33 6:05 8:23 6:56 12:59 2:03 1:13 -10 -O Os 10s 20s 30s 40s 50 60s 70s 80 90s 100 110 Daytona Beach Ft.Laud Beach Gainesville Jacksonville Key West Miami Orlando Pensacola Tallahassee Tampa Vera Beach W. Palm Beach CANADA High 12:14 12:10 1:14 1224 2:37 12:22 12:36 44 clr 67 6:09 5:41 7:59 6:32 9:39 6:31 7:17 Bokeelia Bonita Beoch Cape Coral Bands separate high temperature zones for the day. 3:26 10:01 12:59 7:03 1:25 7:39 4:19 10:43 1:14 7:19 3:02 10:03 12:27 7:04 1:01 7:41 3:55 10:45 12:50 7:21 3:30 10:21 12:25 6:57 43 37 32 33 47 37 21 3C 27 26 44 23 Cape Romano Captiva IslanJ Edison Bridge Englewood Everglades City ft. Myers Beoch Marco Island Matlacha Naples Pineland Point Ybel Punta Gorda Punta Rassa Redfish Pass St.

James City 44 32 cdy 60 33 clr 66 44 cdy 59 32 cdy 76 54 clr 60 30 clr 63 37 clr 49 31 cdy 52 32 rn 55 35 rn 41 28 sn 39 21 sn 72 48 cdy 50 27 cdy 70 42 cdy 43 26 cdy 47 32 clr 48 28 cdy 38 26 sn 70 42 cdy 46 28 cdy 46 25 rn 73 54 clr 47 28 cdy 60 34 cdy 53 37 cdy 47 26 cdy 45 27 cdy 80 49 cdy 53 35 clr 43 18 cdy 48 31 cdy 50 26 clr Calgary Montreal Ottawa Toronto Vancouver Winnipeg WORLD 9:24 6:25 6:58 9:27 6:02 8:25 6:47 9:26 6:40 6:45 7:15 2:39 1:12 2:54 12:17 1:52 12:21 3:17 1:10 1:16 1:41 9:25 6:27 6:59 9:29 6:03 8:27 6:49 9:28 6:42 6:47 7:17 2:07 12:37 12:40 2:30 1:28 2:53 12:46 12:52 1:17 8:52 6:03 6:26 9:05 5:30 8:03 6:25 9:04 6:18 6:23 6:53 2:02 12:12 12:35 2:05 11:45 1:03 11:57 2:28 12:21 12:27 12:52 68 51 rn 60 38 rn 50 28 cdy 55 35 rn 57 45 rn 39 25 rn 46 36 rn 78 61 cdy 62 40 rn 72 55 rn 63 53 cdy 50 32 cdy 37 21 cdy 47 28 rn 39 28 rn 77 52 rn 48 30 rn 51 43 rn 56 36 cdy 45 27 rn 58 34 cdy 44 28 cir 36 28 sn 40 24 cdy 73 43 clr 40 29 rn 44 18 clr 49 28 cdy 53 29 cdy 57 30 cdy 80 53 cdy 38 21 cdy 45 30 cdy 68 52 rn 70 51 cdy 54 45 rn 82 70 clr 65 40 rn 38 25 sn 60 38 rn 42 30 cdy 64 52 cdy 73 52 clr 65 52 cdy 53 34 cdy 73 56 cdy 51 36 rn 54 34 cdy 36 26 cdy 46 28 clr COLD WARM STATIONARY COLD WARM STATIONARY 0 1994 Accu-Weather, Inc. 63 53 72 43 57 43 52 3 73 6 77 62 90 6 88 61 82 7' 66 4i 50 42 91 75 79 52 2( 79 57 84 6 66 5 45 34 52 43 95 61 57 41 85 43 3 88 7 75 bi 73 THE SKY N.w rv Fir.t -NFull ST Last Apr. 10 2J Apr. 17 Apr. 23 May 2 Sunset today: 7:48 p.m.

Sunrise tomorrow: Moonrise tomorrow Saturn rises at 5:35 a.m.. Mars rises at 6:26 a.m. and Mercury now follows Mars. Athens Barcelona Beijing Berlin Bermuda Cairo Caracas Dhahran Hong Kong Jerusalem London Manila Mexico City Moscow Nairobi Nassau Osaka Oslo Paris Rio Rome San Juan Sapporo Singapore Sydney Tokyo Pressure jA HL E3 ES LTD 0 00 cL-1 HIGH LOW SHOWERS RAIN T-STORMS FLURRIES SNOW ICE SUNNY PT. CLOUDY CLOUDY Via Associated Press Hi La 63 47 55 31 58 30 40 17 49 28 69 51 77 58 59 46 83 41 68 53 72 55 51 22 58 43 63 41 58 36 57 37 70 67 75 53 74 57 64 40 37 22 50 30 62 39 60 33 80 64 61 40 63 43 72 35 57 34 35 25 35 26 56 29 32 19 73 43 58 40 44 26 42 28 52 25 59 45 78 43 49 26 48 25 72 55 57 32 62 40 82 72 78 43 58 34 76 59 42 27 62 39 71 52 57 46 68 41 77 58 66 45 69 44 36 26 38 18 58 56 80 62 57 46 76 61 65 30 37 20 68 50 76 54 67 49 52 40 52 45 57 39 75 57 43 23 68 44 75 57 51 32 75 51 58 31 51 40 86 42 71 57 64 51 57 26 33 08 54 45 72 41 33 16 52 38 60 39 40 26 56 42 65 32 73 58 66 52 64 51 52 40 FLORIDA WEATHER Albuqucrqu Ailantown Amarillo Anchorage Ashavilla Atlanta Atlantic City Austin Baltimore Birmingham Bismarck Boisa Boston Buffalo Charloston.S.C.

Chattanooga Choyonna Chicago Cincinnati Cleveland ColumbiaS.C. Columbus.Ohio Concord, N.H. Dallas-Ft Worth Dayton Denver Dos Moines Dotroit Duluth El Paso Evansville Fairbanks Fargo Flagstaff Fort Wayne Fresno Grand Rapids Great Falls Harrisburg Hartford Spgf Id Honolulu Houston Indianapolis Kansas City Knoxville Las Vegas Lexington Little Rock Los Angeles Louisville Memphis Milwaukee Mpls-StPaul Nashville New Orleans New York City Oklahoma City Omaha Philadelphia Phoenix Pittsburgh Portland.Ore. Providence Raleigh-Durham Rapid City Reno Richmond Rochester Sacramento St Louis Salt Lake City San Antonio San Diego San Francisco Santa Fe StSte Marie Seattle Shreveport Sioux Falls Spokane Syracuse Topeka Toledo Tulsa Wilkes-Barre Youngstown GA. ALA.

Ll MISS, SOUTHWEST FLORIDA Tallahassee 75 51 Jacksonville 75 Recorded at Page Field A U.S. temperature extremes Thursday hlght 87 (normal 83) Pensacola 75 were not available as of pros i time Thursday's low: 3Z Orlando 81 67 (normal 61) I Pep na na na 69 89 0.00 65 890.00 62 88 0.00 66 85 0.00 66 85 0.00 64 84 0.00 Cape Coral LaBelle Lehigh Acres Moore Haven Punta Gorda Naples Sanibel Record high: 54 33 67 48 59 48 189 in 19 85 WEATHERTRACK Gulf of Mexico 78 56 Record low: 41 in 19 50 Gulf water: 76 degrees 51 35 TampaSt. Petersburg 81 1 Atlantic Ocean 49 30 64 51 81 57 48 33 47 42 52 42 48 26 clr 42 30 sn 67 37 cdy 53 28 rn 82 70 clr 74 53 clr 48 32 cdy 67 38 clr 57 45 cdy 7 47 cTr 63 43 cTr 72 56 cdy 51 34 cdy 63 43 cdy 44 33 clr 48 33 clr 56 32 cdy 66 48 clr 54 32 cdy 66 39 clr 65 48 clr 61 42 cdy 57 30 cdy 81 57 clr 45 25 cdy 48 31 rn 54 42 rn 55 32 rn 70 38 cdy 48 34 cdy 52 31 cdy 65 35 clr 64 46 cdy 53 39 cdy 47 35 sn 77 54 clr 68 55 cdy 61 49 cdy 66 35 cdy 42 22 clr 53 42 rn 65 45 clr 49 35 cdy 48 33 rn 39 25 sn 57 40 cdy 65 47 cTr 61 35 clr 47 25 cdy 57 27 clr 54 45 72 58 81" i W. Palm Beach MT T7 CAPE CORAL RAIN ALMANAC Rainfall at Page Field: None as of 8 p.m. Month to date: 0.00 inches Normal for April: 2.85 inches Year to date: 6.66 inches Normal through April: 8.32 inches Relative humidity: 100 at 8 a.m., 63 at 2 p.m.

Highest sustained wind: 12 mph (W) Lake Okeechobee: 14.23 FORT MYERS 84 Forecast TODAY: Partly cloudy, rain chance 20 percent, high in mid 803 TONIGHT: Partly cloudy, rain chance 20 percent, low mid 60 Miami 81c NEWS-PRESS INFO LINE 1-900-773-6000 then press 1 95 a minute -j Using a touch-tone phone, dial anytime for current weather and forecasts for 600 cities, hurricane and tropical storm updates, currency exchanges rates or I travel information. Rotary dialers will get the Sports Hot Line. SPONSORED BY 53 32 cdy 56 34 clr 75 57 rn 63 34 sn 65 46 cdy 37 27 cdy 57 38 rn 69 42 clr 69 56 cdy 60 48 cdy 58 34 cdy 38 12 clr 52 42 rn 52 36 cdy 49 33 cdy 48 35 rn 41 28 rn 43 28 cdy 57 29 cdy 49 32 cdy 68 52 rn 50 40 rn 60 50 rn 59 36 sn Key West I 81 '94 '93 Avg. Rec. Yr.

3.23 5.21 1.89 7.89 '91 2.46 3.35 2.06 10.82 '83 0.97 3.61 2.85 18.58 70 0.00 2.40 1.52 7.66 '41 0.00 2.70 4.11 10.32 '68 0.00- 6.57 8.72 20.10 '74 0.00 6.94 8.57 15.28 '41 0.00 6.57 8.58 16.73 '81 0.00 8.10 8.56 16.60 '69 0.00 6.24 3.86 12.04 '59 0.00 0.75 1.35 8.06 '87 0.00 1.34 1.57 5.42 '40 January February March April May June July August September October November December SATURDAY: Partly cloudy, rain chance 20 percent, high mid 80s Extended forecast SUNDAY- TUESDAY: Partly cloudy, highs In upper 80s, lows In the mid 70s. Boating forecast (Cape Sable to Tarpon Springs) TODAY: Wind 15-20 knots; seas 2-4 feet; bay, Inland waters choppy. TONIGHT: Wind 15-20 knots; seas 2-4 feet; bay, inland waters choppy. 1 1 i 1 LOCAL AIRPORT: iceberg's tip Terrific' time at SW Florida International From Page 1A By LARA GOLD and PETE WINTON News-Press staff writers from Lee County. Even though Canadians have been landing in Lee County since the mid-1980s, those flights have been chartered and not regularly scheduled service.

No regular intercontinental flights have landed here. "We're establishing our place in the global marketplace," said Paul Doherty, executive director of the Lee County Port Authority. "There's going to be more right behind this. This is just the tip of the iceberg." LTU representatives said they added Southwest Florida to their existing Florida routes to Miami and IIIMHIMMIM -Ti-ii Ml. I unanao oecause i they see a burgeon- tr to fill the sinkhole and open on time.

This was gaining national attention. That was the low watermark for the airport. It's gained altitude ever since and now is a fabulous success story." Paula and Ray Greenwalt of Cape Coral stood near entrance of the International Arrivals Building and waited for their nephew who is from Gutersloh, Germany. "As soon as we saw in the paper LTU was coming we called him," Paula Greenwalt said. "He wanted to come earlier a few weeks ago but we told him to wait until LTU.

Why come earlier, when you can fly direct. It's nice for us because we don't have to go to Miami." The Greenwalts travel back to Germany twice a year and it's not hard to guess what airline they will be flying. "LTU, of course," Paula Greenwalt said. Family members greeted Uschi and Guenter Kunka of Dusseldorf whose luggage included two surfboards. This trip was the third time the Kunkas had been to Southwest Florida and the LTU flight "made it much easier" to get here, said Uschi Kunka, who is staying in Punta Gorda.

"Last time, we drove from Miami." Kunka hugged her husband's sister tightly as he loaded their luggage into a van. A welcoming throng greeted passengers of the first LTU flight from Dusseldorf to Southwest Florida International Airport Thursday afternoon. Here's a look at some of what was going on. "Terrific. Underlined, in all capital letters, with exclamation points." That's how John Naylor, president of the Lee County HotelMotel Association, felt about the landing of LTU's first flight.

Germans have been coming to Southwest Florida for years. But they land in Orlando or Miami. After a four-hour drive to Lee County, they wouldn't get to the Pink Shell Beach Bay Resort on Fort Myers Beach, where Naylor is general manager, until nighttime. Now that they're flying into Southwest Florida, Naylor said, they can be on the beach by afternoon. Magda Muzer and Erika Topel of the German-American Social Club of Cape Coral swished miniature German and American flags in the air as passengers slowly trickled out of customs.

They didn't know anyone getting of the plane. They came to have fun. "We wanted to wave flags and JOHN SEVERSONNews-Press ing tourist demand for a different kind of Florida experience. "It's a part of Florida that hasn't been discovered yet it's fresh," said Wolfgang Osinski, LTU's director of marketing, who flew over on the SURF'S UP: German tourist Gunther Kunka, right, of Dusseldorf arrives at Southwest Florida International Airport with two surfboards Thursday. His friend Frank Johnson, who met him at the airport, helps carry the load.

man newspapers resulted in 600 bookings to Southwest Florida in three days. That's exactly the kind of statistics local tourism officials were happy to hear Thursday. Elaine McLaughlin, executive director of the Lee County Visitor and Convention Bureau, said the significance of Thursday's flight "can't be exaggerated," especially at a time when foreign bookings are down 38 percent because of a European recession and fear of crime against tourists. McLaughlin said she hopes this is the start of building back a relationship with foreign tour operators. "This is just the beginning," she said.

"The airport is the most important economic generator we have in terms of growing our tourism market. It's going to secure our future for off-season business." The European visitor market, especially Germans, is one of the fastest growing in Lee County, representing 14 percent of visitors in 1993, or 222,000 tourists. That's up from 22,000 in 1986. Tourism officials especially like European visitors because they take their vacations during the summer, after Southwest Florida's busy domestic tourist season of winter residents and spring breakers. That helps even out the year for local hoteliers, restaurants and other attractions.

But almost as important, local officials say, is the foreign trade that typically follows to established tourist markets. Cargo will be able to be shipped back and forth along with LTU passengers. Tourism officials estimate the weekly LTU flights will pump $7.5 million into the local economy annually and create 178 jobs. Tax collections from the tourism industry would increase nearly $700,000. If one flight a week can do all that, officials say, just think what more can do.

"It's the beginning of something big," Barton said. OSINSKI: Southwest Florida "fresh." plane. He described the airline's routes: Miami has city and listen to the music," Muzer said. A steel drum band played tropical music under a tent set up for the VIP reception. "We might see some of our friends get off the plane," said Topel, who originally is from Germany.

beaches; Or U.S. Rep. Porter Goss, R-Sanibel, stared out across the runway, explaining how a little more than 10 years ago he had been in the same place looking at a giant sinkhole that opened up shortly after the airport was built. "I was thinking: How are we going Inspectors on hand despite earlier turbulence By PETE WINTON News-Press staff writer lando, Walt Disney World, and Southwest Florida? "This one is for gorgeous nature and the relaxed atmosphere." LTU, the largest holiday alriine in Germany, will originate its flights in Munich, go to Dusseldorf, then to Southwest Florida International and finally Miami, before returning to Dusseldorf and Munich. But Osinski sounded optimistic that LTU soon would designate a plane to fly strictly between Dusseldorf and Southwest Florida, especially after the airport's runway lengthening is completed in September.

"That could happen in a short period of time," he said. "I think this is possible." Osinski said just two ads in Ger provide the six inspectors needed once a week. The reason: too little staff and money. That not only would have killed any chances of intercontinental flights landing here, but It would have been a public relations nightmare: Officials already had bally hooed LTU's new service. the airport quickly got some heavy hitters in Washington involved U.S.

Rep. Porter Goss, R-Sanibel, and representatives for U.S. Sen. Connie Mack, R-Cape Coral to talk to INS officials. After two meetings the INS agreed to staff the flights through the summer by sending inspectors from Tampa, Miami and Orlando.

As more international flights start to land here, the airport expects permanent inspectors will be assigned. But there might be some tight situations this summer, when World Cup soccer venues are played in Orlando and Miami. With an influx of foreign fans, inspectors from other airports may not be available to come here. "We'll be meeting with the INS pretty frequently between now and then to try and work things out," said Don Davenport, assistant executive director of the Lee County Port Authority. What a relief.

The immigration inspectors needed to process the passengers from LTU's inaugural flight were on hand Thursday. Last month, that was in doubt. When the airport applied to get more inspectors for the new flight, the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service said it wouldn't be able to smMvraa (mar i 1 kva Lei a sfin ct rd iei 1 1 i aoi a i ki ao 10:.