WEEk of APRIL 5, 2023
VOLUME 61, NUMBER 20
Lee County leads state in manatee deaths By NATHAN MAYBERG
nmayberg@breezenewspapers.com
Lee County is off to a bad start with manatee deaths this year. In the first two months of 2023, 29 manatee deaths were recorded for the county. That figure far outpaces any other county in the state. Citrus County and Hillsborough County each had 12 manatee deaths recorded by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission for the first two months of the year. The FWC recently posted a bulletin reminding boaters to go slow while enjoying the local waters and to be on the lookout for manatees, which are considered a threatened species. Many seasonal manatee zones in the See MANATEE DEATHS, page 20
IslanderInsIde Community Egg Hunt to feature hunt, Easter bunny and more By TIFFANY REPECKI
trepecki@breezenewspapers.com
T
he islands community is invited out to a free weekend event to celebrate the Easter holiday. The city of Sanibel's Recreation Department will host a “Community Egg Hunt” on April 8 from 9 to 11 a.m. at the pavilion at The Sanibel School on Sanibel. Open to the public with no reg-
istration required, it will feature an egg hunt for ages 2-12, along with photos with the Easter Bunny and more. Gabby Cooper Angeles, program coordinator with the Sanibel Recreation Center and Recreation Department, explained that the Children's Education Center of the Islands on Sanibel typically holds an annual community event to mark the holiday, but is unable to this
year due to hurricane damages. “We have the resources and we wanted to collaborate,” she said. The egg hunt will start promptly at 9:30 a.m. There will be approximately 1,500 regular eggs for participating children to search for in the area that will be filled with prizes and possibly candy. See EGG HUNT, page 20
Curbside mail service returns on Sanibel post-storm By TIFFANY REPECKI
trepecki@breezenewspapers.com
Mail delivery resumed on Sanibel last week and residents need a mailbox up to receive theirs. Almost six months after Hurricane Ian stuck, delivery service returned on March 27. “Please get the mailboxes put up,” Sanibel Postmaster Tirzah Althouse said. “They need to make sure that they have an approved mailbox set up where their previous mailbox was for curbside delivery.” The U.S. Postal Service is not responsible for replacing the mailboxes on the
island. “They will then be able to get their mail every day and return to some type of normalcy,” she said. For those living in condos or some neighborhoods that use a centralized mail unit with keys, the homeowners' associations or management companies are responsible for ensuring that residents are able to access their individual boxes. If the unit is gone, they are also responsible for replacing it. If a mailbox is up and the address for delivery is one's home or business address on Sanibel, mail will be delivered to that
address — unless there is an active forward or change of address in the system. “They will need to cancel that,” Althouse said of any forward or change of address. People can do so online at www.usps.com or by visiting any post office. Mail may still be picked up at the temporary facility at 650 Tarpon Bay Road, Sanibel, for those who do not yet have a mailbox in place and are utilizing the physical address of a residence or business. See MAIL SERVICE, page 20
alsOInsIdetOday Guest Commentary........................4 Web Poll.........................................4 Captiva Current..........................6-7 Business......................................8 Preserving Paradise.....................12 Island Living................................14 Sports.........................................16 Classifieds 31