To the Editor:

After seeing the local news coverage on the MEDSTAR suspension, I felt compelled to write this as this suspension directly affects your islands residences. As a taxpaying citizen of Lee County I am outraged by this suspension as I’m sure many of your residents are. The suspension of the MEDSTAR helicopter ambulance has been coming up frequently at my community's club house.

The following is a prepared statement given by Rick Hirsch, an avid Boca Grande angler and Bonefish & Tarpon Trust representative, to the Federal Wildlife Commission at their Thursday, Sept. 6 meeting in Tampa regarding Charlotte Harbor.

Thank you Chairman Wright, FWC (Fish and Wildlife Conservation) Commissioners and hard-working staff. I appreciate the years you have devoted towards the protection of Florida’s ecosystems, its fisheries and specifically the Boca Grande tarpon issue.

BY MELISSA LATERZA - Ralph DiLena Jr. spent the first six years of his life on the Gold Coast of Long Island, in Huntington, New York.

“Huntington was very family friendly,” said Ralph. “I lived on a cul-de-sac with lots of friends. I remember building forts outdoors and riding bikes. It couldn’t get any better for a kid. I used to run with my dad at Walt Whitman High School. Sometimes he would take me for a milk shake afterwards. I recently went back for a visit and decided to relive some of those moments. I skipped the run and had a milk shake at the same place.”

Charlotte County’s Coastal Cleanup of 2012 will be held on Saturday, Sept. 15 from 8 a.m. until noon. Some local beaches, such as Little Gasparilla Island, are working on getting groups together to participate.

Supply pick-up will take place from 4 to 7 p.m. at the environmental campus, 25550 Harbor View Road in Port Charlotte.

BY MARCY SHORTUSE - It started with a whimper and ended with a whine. Tropical Storm Isaac, which many meteorologists thought would have a major impact on our area, essentially passed us by without a hitch.

BY MARCY SHORTUSE - On Monday, Aug. 20, Boca Grande Community Center employees walked into a mess. The phones were ringing ... and ringing ... and ringing ... but no one was there. At first they thought it was due to storms that had occurred over the weekend, but they soon found out they were victims of a scam.