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M A Y 2 3 - 2 9 , 2025
3A | MORE HOMES
3B | SUMMER SCENE
7A | DOG HOUSE?
homes near Picayune Strand State Forest
Center for the Arts announce summer seasons
buyers’ selections, Realtors group says
Collier Commission OKs plans for 423
For the first time, Artis•Naples, Marco Island
Furry friends now factoring into home-
Naples family has strong ties to new pope By Therese McDevitt terry.mcdevitt@naplespress.com
Around the world, Catholics and non-Catholics alike reacted with stunned surprise to the news on May 8 that an American had been named Pope following the death of Pope Francis in late April. In a move that shocked many who had expected an Italian cardinal Francis Rooney to be named, Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost of Chicago was anointed as the 267th Pope, the spiritual leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics. The new Pope took Leo as his papal name, becoming Leo XIV. Among those surprised by the news was Naples businessman and former Congressman Francis Rooney, who also previously served as Ambassador to the Holy See (the Vatican) under President George W. Bush from 2005 to 2008. Rooney is the former chairman of Manhattan Construction and the current chair of Rooney Holdings based in Naples. He and his wife, Kathleen, are parishioners at St. Ann Catholic Church in Naples.
First American Pope, but also ‘Pan-American’
Rooney, like many others with inside knowledge of the Vatican, was convinced that the next Pontiff would be Italian — or at least would not be American. He described the Conclave of Cardinals, during which the Pope is choSee POPE, Page 4A
What Jim Kurth’s property looked like after the fire. Photo courtesy Shenna Zurbrigg
Wildfire season unites neighbors, changes lives By Ed Scott ed.scott@naplespress.com
Jim Kurth and daughter Shenna Zurbrigg stand in front of his home in 2025. Photo by Ed Scott
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Clearing begins for new charter school Q: I see land has been cleared just west of 951 on the south side of Vanderbilt Beach Road. What is going in there? – Martha McKee, Naples
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Living on acreage in unincorporated Collier County means being close enough to “the city” to get one’s nails done professionally, but rural neighbors might not notice your manicure right away. Residents along and near Le Buffs Road, south of Beck Boulevard and the Interstate 75 toll plaza and east of Collier Boulevard, have lived there for decades. Few things will spark them to move — including a devastating wildfire. Three wildfires have rolled through the neighborhood since about 2009, neighbors said. One in early March
2017 that destroyed four homes was especially memorable. Some neighbors were reluctant to comply with a mandatory evacuation, preferring to stay and do what they could to protect their homes. But the residents eventually left, with and without their farm animals. Some felt pushed out. They managed to save important documents, however. Firefighters found one resident in his pond with his mouth just above water while the fire was burning through. Another said faith in God was an important factor in surviving wildfires. The fire zig-zagged, rambling past some homes and engulfing others, a
A: The clearing of trees on four residential properties on Seventh Avenue Northwest recently began for a Collier County public charter school on the south side of Vanderbilt Beach Road west of Collier Boulevard. The new site for Mason Classical Academy is about 11 miles north of the MCA South Campus that the charter school leases for kindergarten through sixth grade at 3073 Horseshoe Drive S. in Naples; and about 6 miles away from the MCA North Campus it owns for grades 7-12 on the former Hodges Universi-
Tim Aten Knows Tim Aten
ty campus at 2647 Professional Circle in North Naples. When the new school building is completed next year, MCA plans to relocate its South Campus to the new 17-acre site off Vanderbilt Beach Road. The project’s site development plan proposes a 1,500-student school for kindergarten through eighth grade. The proposed two-story school will have 109,282 square feet of gross floor area. The 30-foottall school will have 55,125 square feet on its first floor and 54,157
The clearing of trees on four residential properties on Seventh Avenue Northwest recently began for a Collier County public charter school on the south side of Vanderbilt Beach Road west of Collier Boulevard. Photo by Tim Aten
square feet on its second floor, plans show. MCA purchased the contiguous residential properties for its new
campus in four transactions last August totaling more than $6 million, See ATEN KNOWS, Page 5A
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