News-Press from Fort Myers, Florida • Page 1

rlJL JL OT CO) IT I FRIDAY, AUGUST 19, 2005 PUBLISHED SINCE 1884 BONITA COLLIER 25 Mick Omecpteonf Red tide suspected in sea-life deaths Two-thirds of ranch could be preserved IFY0UG0 The Babcock Preservation Partnership will meet from 5-7 p.m. today to discuss developments in efforts to preserve the Babcock Ranch. The meeting is open to the public, and will take place at the Southwest Florida Regional Planning Council Building, 1926 Victoria Ave, near downtown Fort Myers. From our archives: Past coverage, aerial video and photo galleries from Babcock Ranch BY BETTY PARKER About two-thirds of the Babcock Ranch could be set aside for preservation under one scenario suggested this week by developer Syd Kitsoa That would leave about 20,000 acres for Kitson, who has a contract to buy the ranch, to develop. It also would leave a host of questions, such as how many homes per acre he would need to make the project financially feasible.

Carol Newcomb-Jones, of the Babcock Preservation Partnership, said she attended a meeting with Kitson and representatives of several environmental groups Wednesday. Kitson told them he may be willing to sell the state 70,000 or 71,000 acres of environmentally sensitive land, and concentrate development on See BABCOCK A2 TRAGEDY STRIKES AT CONSTRUCTION SITE Dolphins, turtles, manatees mostly found north of Lee BY KEVIN LOLLAR The red tide that just won't go away is the chief suspect in the deaths of sea turtles, manatees and dolphins in Southwest Florida during the last three months. Deaths include more than 100 dead sea turtles from Sarasota County to Pinellas County, six bottlenose dolphins in Sarasota and 15 manatees, including two found in Lee County. Scientists consider red FLOATING GALLERY IN THE WORKS BONITA PAIR'S YACHT IDEA TAKES SHAPE BUSINESS Dl A tide only a suspect because, in some cases, toxin analyses have not been completed. In others, the animals were too decomposed to give much information.

Red tide is the suspect because all of the animals were recovered in areas affected by toxins. Red tide is a natural phenomenon caused when the single-celled alga Karenia brevis, or K. brevis, undergoes a popu INSIDE The first state pollution limits in the Caloosahatchee River watershed are taking effect. A rule expected by Sept 30 would require landowners west of Clewistonto reduce fecal col-iform in the water by 36 percent. B2 TODD STUBINGTHE NEWS-PRESS Forensic investigator Brett Harding photographs the scene where lightning hit a condominium roof, killing two roofers and injuring a third on Stella Del Mar Lane in the Peppertree Pointe complex on lona Road on Thursday.

According to Harding, lightning hit the roof where the small hole is along the roofline, and exited farther along the roofline. Lightning kills 2 roofers lation explosion, or bloom. K. brevis produces a powerful toxin, but under normal concentrations it causes no problems. Most of the animals died to the north, but Lee County has had plenty of dead fish.

"There's a fish kill around Boca Grande Pass, and a lot of dead fish floating in from the north," said Wendell Kittles, who runs Jay Bird Charters out of Bokeelia. "I ran offshore last week, seven miles off Redfish Pass, and everything was coming off the bottom, flounder, eels, you name it. But my live well was full of pinfish, and they were all healthy. So the water was bad on the bottom and clean on the top." The recent outbreak of red tide was detected Dec. 20 from Cedar Key to Clearwater and was killing fish at Sanibel by Feb.

16. It has disappeared from Lee County and reappeared several times, while lingering from Sarasota to Pinellas counties. Because red tide moves with winds and currents, no one can predict where it will go and whether more animals will die. This summer's sea turtle deaths are not necessarily associated with nesting season, which See RED TIDE A2 PREPS START JAMBOREES FOOTBALL KICKS OFF SPORTS Cl i 'x BY JOEL MORONEY Lightning from a fast-moving thunderstorm lulled two Fort Myers roofers Thursday afternoon as they were getting ready to go home for the day. A nearby coworker, who escaped the strike, went for help.

Because he spoke only Spanish, he had to use hand signals to explain what happened to a neighborhood couple. They called 911 and were able to get a Spanish-speaking dispatcher. The men were killed shortly before 3:30 p.m. Thursday on Stella Del Mar Lane in the Peppertree Pointe complex on lona Road. A third worker was taken to Health-Park Medical Center for observation, said Lauri McMahon, spokeswoman for the Iona-McGregor Fire District -Chris Rakos, general manager of Colonial Roofing, said it was unclear whether they were leaving because of the approaching storm or were about to quit for the day.

Carlos Guillen was pronounced dead at the scene. The identity of the second man is not being released until SB Stay informed: Get the latest red tide readings TODD STUBINGTHE NEWS-PRESS Colonial Roofing general manager Chris Rakos talks on his cell phone Thursday at the scene where two of his roofers were killed and a third was injured by lightning on Stella Del Mar Lane. BPffiB "I ran offshore last week, seven miles off Redfish Pass, and everything was coming off the bottom, flounder, eels, you name it Wendell Kittles, Jay Bird Charters, Bokeelia during the summer months. They hit hardest through the center of the state and along the southwest coast Rakos said one of the men who was killed worked for the company for about seven months; the other started See LIGHTNING A3 next of kin are notified. Florida averages about nine lightning deaths a year, most in the nation, according to the National Weather Service.

Also dubbed the "lightning capital" of the United States by climatologists, the greatest number of strikes occur Gaza evictions turn violent A i INSIDE WEATHER High 96 Low 77 Afternoon storms, 30 percent chance of rain; complete forecast BIO LOCAL Chanely Ortiz was almost home when she became Lee County's 101st traffk death of the year. Bl Jewish settlers resist forced evacuation by police at the synagogue of the Jewish settlement of Neve Dekalim on Thursday. Israeli forces stormed Gaza's largest synagogue to remove some 1,500 protesters holed up inside, one of the last bastions of resistance to the Gaza pullout. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS INSIDE More on the forceful removal of Israeli settlers from Gaza. A3 inside Gaza's largest synagogue.

Protesters lay on the floor with their arms linked, kicking against the Israeli forces while supporters held their shoulders In a tug-of-war. After breaking the human chain, troops dragged protesters out of the synagogue one by one, holding them by their arms and legs they twisted and squirmed. Outside, teenage girls confronted a wall of troops surrounding the building, waving their fists and screaming, "You're driving Jews out of a synagogue. The last time this happened was the Holocaust You're Jews, you have a Jewish heart, you don't have to do this." Dozens of protesters at Kfar Darom sequestered themselves behind razor-wire on the synagogue roof, at first singing and waving flags, then attacking soldiers below with their arsenal of caustic liquids and objects, including paint-filled lightbulbs. police and soldiers stripped off their clothes after being doused Comrades poured water on their heads and torsos to wash them.

Breaking the siege, army cranes lowered metal cages filled with helmeted troops onto the roof, as a cannon sprayed protesters with blasts of blue-tinted water. At Neve Dekalim, troops wrestled for hours against some 1,500 extremists making their last stand The Associated Press KFAR DAROM, GAZA STRIP -Riot troops stormed synagogues in two hardline Jewish settlements Thursday to evict hundreds of militant holdouts who locked arms in a human chain and pelted soldiers with acid, oil and sand, the most violent clashes in Israel's historic Gaza pullout. By the close of the day, 14,000 unarmed forces had cleared all but four of Gaza's 21 settlements including Kfar Darom and Neve Dekalim, pillars of resistance to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to cede Gaza to the Palestinians and alter the course of Mideast peacemaking. The News-Press, A Gannett Newspaper Copyright 00 i 1 1 UilSt) Mo WAi www i uw Homes Availabla www.my-greenbrlar.com www.ushome.com a.