Collier Citizen Opinion

LET US KNOW: Who do you think is the most peculiar person? Full story »

It is disheartening to see the outfall of the tough decisions facing local businesses as they move forward in these economic time.
We see and hear the affects of those decisions in our daily lives as we talk with our friends, neighbors and congregation members, man of whom have lost jobs, businesses and homes. As bad as it is to read and hear daily news reports on the economic outfall, it is much harder to look into the faces of those Full story »

Sales were not what retailers had hoped for this holiday season. In fact, this year has been so troubling to so many retailers that an estimated 148,000 businesses shut their doors by Dec. 31. In the first half of 2009, an additional 73,000 are expected to do the same. While the most likely culprit is the troubled economy, there are other factors that certainly contributed. Full story »

Thanks to your story and ensuing response from the community, Family to Family had its most successful year of gift-giving in addition to making many helpful connections including a year-round storage space. This year, 28 of our 92 families were single moms raising 1-7 children (an average of four children) in comparison with four single dads (three raising one child each and one raising two) -- an astonishing eye opener!
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Happy New Year, everyone! Let us hope this new year brings many blessings and good health to everyone and that our economy begins to improve.
Our new South Regional Library invites you to join them for the “Ancient Art of Sound,” at 2 p.m., Jan. 22. A descriptive paragraph states: “Feel more vitality, joy and clarity as sound saluterist Cathy Blair bathes listeners in the unique sounds of singing quartz crystal bowls. Played in sequence, the harmonious tones are said to excite and balance every cell in your body.”
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f you really want to play bridge, but think duplicate bridge is too competitive, or make other excuses, such as the people playing are not as friendly as auction bridge players, you are limiting yourself. In duplicate bridge, you bid and play the cards that are dealt in such a way as to get the most out of the hand. Full story »

Happy New Year! This is the first column for 2009 and writing it makes me ponder what to expect in the year ahead. There isn’t anyone out there in the “expert” world predicting a boom year or roaring growth like that experienced in the past five years. This also means that we can expect the brakes to remain applied to government spending in the coming year, as predicted by our administrators in the front page story of this issue.
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It has not been difficult to say goodbye to 2008, I’m just glad it is over. Certainly, the past year will be noteworthy and even historical, for the vast majority of it was a year of eroding savings, disappearing pension plans, lost jobs, closing businesses and huge reductions in our home values. Not a lot to cheer about there. Full story »

Dear Editor: There are honest people in Naples. My Build a Bear teddy bear was left on a bench near where my car was parked. I had changed my glasses there. When I got to my car and discovered I had left the box with my bear in it, I hurried back to the bench, and it was gone.
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My old friend Barney called the other day. I hadn’t seen him in some time, so I was a bit surprised to hear his voice. “Have you made your New Year’s resolutions yet?” he asked. Truth be told, I hadn’t planned to make resolutions, this year, since mine never seem to last beyond the making of them.
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Comment on your New Year resolution. Full story »

As we recap the year, it is hard not to think about what will happen in 2009. We’ve seen the economic downturn hit Florida and our area the hardest. The State of Florida has to go back for a tour of combat against lower-than-expected revenues. State legislators have four options to solve the revenue shortfalls -- raise taxes, cut spending, steal from reserves, or a combination of the above. Full story »

Tell us your New Year’s prediction for 2009. Full story »

The accumulation of “stuff” has dominated the Christmas season for most people over the years. Despite its origin as a religious celebration, Christmas has become the most intense retail event of the year, beginning with the Thanksgiving holiday and continuing into the New Year, spending, buying and accumulating “stuff” is the primary focus of far too many people. Full story »

A few days ago, thinking I would be back home in a few minutes, I drove to a local shopping center and left my garage door and two house doors unlocked. When I returned, I was surprised and a little frightened to find all three doors locked.
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