SUB S CRIBE TODAY F O R L O C A L S, BY L O C A L S
naplespress.com
$2.00
F E B . 2 1 - 2 7, 2025
3A | RED TIDE ABATES
3B | ARTS FILL THE STAGE
5B | ARTS HONORS
Collier shores has lessened, for now
arts arrive in Naples
honored at Spring into the Arts gala in March
Red tide algae bloom that had affected
Tim Aten Knows Tim Aten
Golden Gate Golf Course redevelopment underway
As wine and cars leave,
Six local women who foster arts will be
Ukraine’s struggles
FEAR FROM AFAR
Q: What is being constructed on the west side of Collier Boulevard about a quarter mile south of Golden Gate Parkway? Huge parcel. – Dennis Hanlon, Naples Q: Any news on the Arthrex/ Golden Gate Golf Course? I thought construction would have started by now. – Finlay White, Naples A: The future use for the 54-yearold Golden Gate Golf Course was still unknown in 2019 when the property was purchased by Collier County government for $29.1 million. Few people could have envisioned everything planned for the 167 acres at Golden Gate Parkway and Collier Boulevard, but a series of groundbreaking redevelopment projects now underway there is opening eyes. “This is a very special location. It was the last large piece of open space in the urban area of Collier County. You won’t find another piece of property in the urban area like this,” Collier County Commissioner Burt L. Saunders said. “So, to me, this was a mustpurchase, and the board had the foresight to do that.” Time was ticking at the time of the purchase six years ago because the former owner of the golf course had applied to build about 750 residential units on the property. “That’s when I jumped in and basically said for the benefit of the Golden Gate community, but also for the entire county, we can
Natalie Santarsiero, president of the Naples Chapter of the Ukrainian National Women’s League of America, explains the borders of Ukraine before the Russian invasion. Photo by Liz Gorman
Ukrainian natives, friends see smoke-filled future in war’s year 3 By Harriet Howard Heithaus harriet.heithaus@naplespress.com
On Feb. 24, Ukraine begins year three of fighting a war with Russia many in the world thought would not last past week three. It’s an observance Southwest Floridians with ties to Ukraine fear won’t be the last. The Ukrainian community in Collier County — in fact, in all of Southwest Florida — is strong,
and a number of refugees have been invited here for at least temporary resettlement. So the war in that country is a natural topic for a group of Ukrainian-heritage Neapolitans, immigrants and an Estero man who travels around Ukraine every three months. The group met to discuss a future they care deeply about, and while their politics may be different, they agree on what they want for Ukraine. “What needs to happen is we need to have peace,” declared Halyna Traversa, a retired at-
torney in Estero who is a native of Ukraine. “The people in Ukraine are tired. They’re exhausted. It’s true they’re having a hard time recruiting to fight. They’re trying to keep young men at home so they can be there as a future generation.” Real peace would come with a four-part package “in my fantasies,” continued Vera Eliashevsky, a winter Naples resident and a member of the sister city organization linking Chicago with Kyiv since 1991: See UKRAINE, Page 9A
See ATEN KNOWS, Page 7A
Collier Sheriff plans to increase immigration arrest powers 0
51497
40346
1
By Aisling Swift
Collier County Sheriff Kevin Rambosk wants to expand his immigration powers to be more proactive, allowing him to reinstate a federal program to allow deputies to arrest immigrants with criminal pasts who are here illegally. The sheriff made his remarks to the Board of County Commissioners on Feb. 11, two days before Gov. Ron DeSantis signed stringent anti-immigrant laws — the strongest nationwide — to carry
out President Donald Trump’s mass deportation plan. “We’re not talking about good, hard-working people who want to be here for a better life,” Rambosk said. “We’re talking about people who are taking advantage of our residents in Collier County … Sheriff Kevin They’re involved in everything Rambosk from domestic violence to child molestation to aggravated battery to battery on law enforcement [officers].”
Rambosk was in Washington, D.C., a week earlier for a confidential briefing with border czar Tom Homan and other border security and border-patrol officials. Homan, who served as acting U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement director during Trump’s last administration, is in charge of the nation’s borders. Rambosk said he asked Homan to give Collier the authority to reinstate the 287(g) law-enforcement program so the county can investigate immigrants here illegally. “ … We have the longest-standing, most producSee CCSO, Page 11A
FIRST FAIR EVERYWHERE.
The faces you trust. The local news you rely on.