News-Press from Fort Myers, Florida • Page 37

A DEATH LIKE PERRY CO.V.O'S IS REMARKABLE: In these days, scandal-free obits are rare 2E BRAND-NEW BABIES: Announcements of recent births around Southwest Florida 4E The News-Press AMY BENNETT WILLIAMS Lifestyles Editor 335-0561 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday SECTION For more entertainment news: www.gurfcoastjng.comV TUESDAY, MAY 22, 2001 INSIDE: People 2E Horoscopes 2E Bridge 2E Comics 5E TV listings 6E DONT TOLERATE BULUES AND THEIR FAMES: Drive 'em out of town, John Rosemond says 2E Lifestyles 'It's very exciting. For a small station in Southwest Florida, we're doing pretty Toby Ann Cooke, WGCU-TV programming director Nightclub Atfantizz has gone under Lawsuits blamed for quick closing Ml -7 -n Photos by ANDREW WESTThe News-Press UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL: Antonio Rodriguez, second from right, chief videographer for WGCU Public Broadcasting, adjusts a microphone on Judge Isaac Anderson during a break in an interview with Valerie Alker, second from left, a TVFM news producer for WGCU. At left is WGCU videographer Tim Kenney. The crew was filming a segment for the "In Focus" news show.

WGCU GROWS UP -'hfmm it's IN CHARGE: Kathleen Davey, general WGCU Public Broadcasting, stands in V. Leonard Pitts Jr. leonardpittsmindsprlng.com Governor's motherhood causes ruckus DONT GET ME wrong: Massachusetts is probably as screwed up as any other state. Probably has all sorts of problems. But am I really supposed to believe the Bay State is such a hotbed of crisis that the infrastructure will collapse if the governor takes a few days off? I'm talking about Jane Swift.

At 36, she is believed to have been the nation's first pregnant governor until a week ago, that is, when she became the first governor to give birth. To fraternal twin girls, no less. It is those claims to fame that have raised a ruckus in Boston and beyond. Swift's obstetrician, you see, had ordered her hospitalized for bed rest, forcing the governor to conduct the state's business from the maternity ward at Brigham and Women's Hospital But last week, the Governor's Council, an eight-member elected panel, voted to ask the state's top court if it was constitutional for her to conduct meetings by speaker-phone. This was widely seen as an attempt to force Swift to relinquish power.

There are two distinct dimensions to what's going on here, both fascinating. The first is political. Swift is a Republican in a heavily Democratic state. The members of the Governor's Council are all members of the donkey party, as is the man who would replace her should she relinquish power. It all leads to the unavoidable conclusion that state Democrats were less concerned with constitutionality than expediency.

They saw what they thought was a chance to use Swift's pregnancy as a political weapon. Unfortunately, if a weapon they somehow pointed at their own feet. Which brings me to the second dimension of all this: sexism. Put simply, it's impossible to imagine we would be having this discussion if Jane Swift were a man. Earlier this year, the governor of Rhode Island was laid up at home for more than a month, recovering from surgery for prostate cancer.

No one demanded he surrender his powers. Ronald Reagan recuperated from a gunshot wound while president; Dwight Eisenhower suffered a heart attack, a bout with ileitis and a minor stroke. We accept their incapacities but not hers? Take it as proof that, though we've made great progress toward gender equity, we have not yet arrived. It's galling that this bunch of goobers would try to use Swift's babies as an excuse to, in effect, take her job. If this is the garbage they try with a woman who has a high-profile position, a full-time staff and a six-figure salary, my goodness Just imagine what they do with a woman who does not Leonard Pitts Jr.

is a columnist for The Miami Herald, 1 Herald Plaza, Miami, FL 33132. Write to him via e-mail at or by calling (888) 251-4407. By DENISEL SCOTT Fort Myers has lost one of its main venues for national touring rock bands. Nightclub Atlantizz went out of business Sunday, blaming the closure on two separate lawsuits totaling more than $60,000. The club's co-owner, Adrian Stahl, issued a press release that all upcoming shows including Saturday's Iggy Pop concert are canceled.

Stahl responded to interview requests with an e-mail that stated he didn't want to provide any information except the statement "Two lawsuits had cost the company too much money in the past and would cost more and more in the future." Stahl's press release and voice maU message at the nightclub, however, did provide the names of the plaintiffs former employee Jeremy Pape, 23, and patron William CWillkomm, 23. Pape had an eye injury in March 1999 while working as the head of security at the bar, formerly called Orbit Night Club. He had thrown a beer bottle in a trash can that shattered and cut his eye. Pape sued for medical coverage after Orbit's owner, Bruno Aegerter, claimed he was an independent contractor with no right to workers' compensation benefits. The other law suit, by Willkomm, alleges Orbit was negligent in securing the safety of the premises after he was maced by a bouncer when a fight broke out near him in November 1998.

After he fell to the floor, incapacitated by the spray, another patron stabbed him four times. A call to Willkomm's attorney was not returned. Roy DeOliveira, co-owner of Access Denied Security Corporation in Fort Myers, said he contracted to work security for some concerts at Atlantizz. He's not surprised internal security problems are part of the club's downfalL "The reason they're going out of business is the education of the security guards is very limited," DeOliveira said. They pick people off the street They're macing kids and hurting kids.

Bouncers should not carry mace." Josh Walker, 26, of Fort Myers, regularly attended concerts at the club. He said he never witnessed problems with the bouncers and attributed the club's failure to lack of promotion "By Adantizz closing, it's going to totally take, away from the area," he said "Everywhere else is too small or too big. There's always Ricochet but that's a country bar. No rock band's going to play there. Their patrons wouldn't stand for it" Atlantizz's main competition in small venue rock clubs is the Indigo Room in downtown Fort Myers, See ATLANTIZZ 3E km POP ift I 'I TV station lures viewers with educational shows, local productions By CHARLES RUNNELLS Cartoons are just cartoons colorful, fast-paced and mostly mindless.

And they hardly meet Marie Mahan's recommended daily allowance of brain food for her children Thank goodness for WGCU. The Estero TV station transfixes Mahan's kids every day with fun-while-you-learn shows such as "Sesame Street" and "Barney Friends" reliable spots where her 6-monuV old and 2-year-old can learn their ABCs and l-2-3s as they sing along. "It's just good children's programming," said Mahan, 33. Tm glad if there for the children to watch. It's the only place where you can find shows like that" That's the niche WGCU has carved for itself since it signed on in September 1983 (first as WSFP-TV, and later as WGCU-TV).

See WGCU 3E manager and dean of instructional technology and broadcast services for the station's studio. FACTS ABOUT PBS AND WGCU-TV 4 i i i Gulf Coast University. The TV station was called WSFP before it moved to the FGCU campus. Almost one-third of national PBS stations are operated at universities. The others are run by community organizations, state authorities or local educational and municipal authorities.

WGCU-TV has 30 employees, including engineers, producers, camera operators and management Staffers from WGCU-AM often help produce news shows. WGCU-TV does more than broadcast educational shows, ft sponsored this year's Gulf Coast Jazz Fest and recently distributed 500 health information kits. PBS is a nonprofit company owned and operated by 348 U.S. public television stations, including WGCU-TV in Estero. WGCU relies on donors and government funding.

About 21 6,000 people a month watch WGCU. "We are consistently, according to Nielsen, the most-watched PBS station in the state of Florida," said general manager Kathleen Davey. That means more viewers than Miami or Tampa. WGCU recently changed its on-air identification. Instead of just "WGCU," the station now calls itself to "WGCU: PBS 3." Eighty percent of viewers know the station as cable channel 3, Davey said.

WGCU is a service of Florida WRAPPING IT UP: Tim Kenney, right, shoots video of Judge Isaac Anderson after an interview with him for WGCU's news show "In Focus." BOX OFFICE LOVABLE OGRE 'SHREK' DOMINATES: DreamWorks won ugly at the weekend box office with "Shrek," a tale of an ogre with a heart that recorded the second-highest opening ever for an animated film. Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at North American theaters: 1. "Shrek," $42.1 million. 2. "The Mummy Returns," $20.5 million.

3. "A Knight's Tale," $10.7 million. 4. "Angel Eyes," $9.5 million. 5.

"Bridget Jones's Diary," $3.8 million. 6. "Along Came a Spider," $2.4 million. 7. "Driven," $1.9 million.

8. "Blow," $1.3 million. 9. "Spy Kids," $1.29 million. 10.

"Memento," $1.28 million. TODAY'S TOP TICKET TURTLE TALK: School-age children are invited to find out about sea turtles at the North Fort Myers Public Library at 4:30 p.m. today. Judy Eaton, Turtle Time volunteer, will tell how sea turtles live and what we can do to help. The library is at 2001 N.

Tamiami TrailNorth Fort Myers. The program is free, and because seating is limited, registration is requested. Call the library at 997-0320 and choose option 3. TELEVISION TONIGHT BEST BET: "Frasier," 9 p.m. on WBBHNBC.

Back-to-back episodes comprise the season finale, in which Martin meets a mysterious woman and Frasier wants to go away with his new love but Niles, Daphne and Martin join him on a trip to Belize. VCR ALERT: "Beyond Human," 8 p.m. on WGCU1'BS. "Living Machines" explores how moving and "thinking" robots are designed based upon the structure and function of the human brain..