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Caption: Naples Daily News Weekend Digest Miss something this week?
Catch up on a few of our big stories in this quick digest.
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Caption: Businesses shuttered by 5th Ave. fire still in limbo as investigation drags on s u b t i t l e
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Caption: Flowering plants still grow around the entrance to the Grace Lakes Florist shop. Picture frames are stacked up in the Michael Mesnik frame gallery. Around the corner, beds, box springs and brand new bedsheets fill the showroom of the Mattress Firm store.
But the building at the east edge of Fifth Avenue South and 11th Street South stands empty, blocked off by yellow police ribbon nearly two months after fire swept through early on the morning of Feb. 20, killing 32-year-old tenant Steven Leonard and shuttering the businesses it housed.
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Caption: T I T L E “Everything (was) sitting in smoke and water for so long. I deal in pretty and beautiful. The insurance company thinks that a fire service just comes in and cleans everything up. I’m a small business. My sales have been down tremendously. It’s been a horrifying experience.”
Read more: http://bit.ly/1DhS4dl
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Caption: At Everglades, Obama warns of damage from climate neglect s u b t i t l e
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Caption: Amid lurking alligators and the steamy heat of Florida's Everglades, President Barack Obama on Wednesday sounded the alarm about damage from climate change he said was already wreaking mayhem in Florida and across the United States.
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Caption: T I T L E In an implicit rebuke to Florida's governor and other Republicans, Obama accused those who deny the man-made causes of climate change of sticking their heads in the sand.
"You do not have time to deny the effects of climate change," Obama said.
Read more here: http://bit.ly/1HueQF3
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Caption: Atlanta Botanical Garden gets a piece of Corkscrew's "super" ghost orchid for posterity, propagation
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Caption: Phil Wittman stood at the base of the bald cypress tree towering over Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, looked up, and started climbing — 10, 20, 50 feet — getting closer to the ghost orchid with every rope pull.
Nobody had made the trek until this week. But this ghost was special, a “super” specimen that grows in a spot higher than most and puts out as many as 20 blooms compared to the one or two, maybe three, that mere mortal ghost orchids manage to show off.
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Caption: T I T L E That’s why the Atlanta Botanical Garden wanted one of its seed pods. When you have something as special and beloved as Corkscrew’s “super” ghost orchid, you don’t mess around with chance, said Jenny Cruse-Sanders, VP for science and conservation at the Atlanta Botanical Garden.
Read more here: http://bit.ly/1HtWrtm
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Caption: Wacky for Wawa: First Southwest Florida stores officially open
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Caption: When Lee County’s first Wawa convenience store opened its doors Thursday morning, more than 50 people filed in to explore it — and Julio Osegueda was customer No. 1.
Osegueda, 25, said he slept two hours after a late night disc jockey gig, showered and then started the line outside Wawa’s new Fort Myers location on Colonial Boulevard at 6:45 a.m.
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Caption: T I T L E Wawa, a Pennsylvania-based chain named after a community that is named after an indigenous North American tribe’s word for “goose,” is known for having a cultlike following of loyal customers who love its coffee, its fresh sandwiches, and its customer service.
Read more here: http://bit.ly/1bqoX1k
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Caption: After a decision is reversed, Nosey the elephant performed Friday s u b t i t l e
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Caption: A vote made by circus organizers in the eleventh hour reversed a decision about whether to allow the elephant at the center of a weeklong controversy to perform.
Nosey, a female African elephant, performed at three circus shows scheduled Friday at the Lee Civic Center through the Araba Shriners of Fort Myers.
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Caption: T I T L E “A vote was taken by all Shriners present and a vote was made in the affirmative to let it perform,” said Ken Wellborn, circus chairman.
Animal activists who say Nosey is abused by her owner Hugo Liebel have bombarded the Shriners with phone calls this week, asking that they cancel their circus performances.
Read more here: http://bit.ly/1bqoCvv
Caption: For these stories and more, check out naplesnews.com