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M A Y 1 6 - 2 2 , 2025
3A | BEARS VS. HUMANS
3A | SAFE ON THE WATER
3B | ROLLING ART
comes amid more bear encounters
to help reduce mishaps on the water
Museum offers hood’s-eye view of aesthetics
The mauling of a Collier man and his dog
Tim Aten Knows Tim Aten
Home Depot clears land for new store
Local courses teach safe boating practices
Show motoring into Revs Institute
FOR THE LOVE OF ANIMALS
Bakers’ gifts help area pets in need
Q: I see trees coming down across from Lely. Is that where Home Depot is going to build? – Kim Phillips Bernth, Naples Q: Just curious, do you know what’s going in over on 41 where the Wave 101 radio station was that was just knocked down? Thanks. – Dave Belleau, Naples A: Clearing began in March on the wooded acreage along U.S. 41 East in East Naples that will be the future home of the third Home Depot store in Collier County. The Home Depot’s Southeast Naples project includes a 107,709-square-foot store with an adjoining 28,018-square-foot garden center on the southeast corner of Tamiami Trail East and Barefoot Williams Road. Construction of the big-box home improvement store is targeted for completion in March 2026, county documents show. The general contractor is R.A. Rogers Construction, a company from Altamonte Springs that specializes in retail, office, institutional and industrial warehouse construction. The engineer on record is Kimley-Horn & Associates. Atlanta-based Home Depot USA paid more than $13.25 million in October 2022 to acquire the combined six parcels totaling 13.79 acres in transactions that involved four different property owners, county records show. Home Depot’s narrow property See ATEN KNOWS, Page 7A
Jay and Patty Baker play with two six-month-old golden retriever puppies in a yard at Patty Baker Humane Society Naples on May 1. Photos by Liz Gorman
By Therese McDevitt terry.mcdevitt@naplespress.com
When Jay Baker decided to surprise his wife, Patty, with a $5 million gift in her honor to what was then called Humane Society Naples, he was concerned that the news would leak out before it was announced at the organization’s gala in March. “I’ve done surprise parties for her for other things, and she’s always found out,” Jay Baker said during a recent interview with the couple at the newly renamed Patty Baker Humane Society Naples. “But this, she didn’t find out.” The small number of staff members at the
Shyla, currently at Patty Baker Humane Society Naples on Airport-Pulling Road, is one of 52 dogs and 32 cats across all of the shelter’s locations patiently waiting to find a forever home.
Humane Society who knew about the gift had been sworn to secrecy, with a plan to make the announcement from the stage at the March 21 gala while thanking the Bakers for serving as honorary co-chairs. On the night of the event, before Jay could make his surprise announcement, Patty spoke up with a $500,000 pledge to the organization on the couple’s behalf. “I was thinking, ‘Patty, hold your horses!’” Jay said with a laughing glance at her. Asked how surprised she was by Jay’s gift that night, Patty said she was “totally gobsmacked.” “If I had been wearing socks, it would’ve See DONATION, Page 6A
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Naples permit firm denies fraud By Aisling Swift
A Naples permit and design plan firm accused of fraud contends that the use of a 91-year-old retired architect’s seal was a misunderstanding, not fraud. In an answer filed April 30, Octavio Sarmiento of ASSA Designs LLC contends there was no fraud or breach of contract with Naples designer David
Wainscott, who, along with Sarmiento and 23 others, is being investigated by the state Board of Architecture and Interior Design. Sarmiento’s answer is the latest salvo in a wide-ranging permit-fraud case in Collier County that began in January, when Marco Island building officials discovered Wainscott and others were using the architectural seal of 91-year-old Gene Cravillion, who hasn’t practiced since August
2022 and lives in a North Naples assisted-living facility. Department of Business and Professional Regulation records show Wainscott has a long history of unlicensed activity dating to 1991, including representing himself as an architect or engineer. Most recently, in November 2023, he was fined $24,000 by the Board of Architecture
Octavio Sarmiento
David Wainscott
See INVESTIGATION, Page 5A
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