Naples Daily News Weekend Digest Miss something this week? Catch up on a few of our big stories in this quick digest
Cubans gather to witness the historic arrival of President Barack Obama
Hundreds of Cubans gathered Sunday afternoon in the rain, some with umbrellas, others leaning against the wall and more standing wet and unprotected to get a glimpse of President Barack Obama strolling with his family in Old Havana, the first sitting U.S. president to step on Cuban soil since Calvin Coolidge arrived by battleship in 1928.
"I came to see President Obama," said Sonia Ramos, a 50-year-old who works at the nearby tourist bar La Bodeguita del Medio, "to see a president who comes to reestablish relations."-
For Ramos and other Cubans, Obama's arrival brings hope that the relationship between the two countries improves, that the U.S. lifts all restrictions on Cuba, and that more American tourists come to the island and more Cubans are granted visas to travel to the U.S.
Obama landed in Air Force One about 4:20 p.m. to begin his historic trip to the Communist country, part of his ambitious effort to restore normal relations with the island. He was greeted by top Cuban officials, but not Raul Castro. The Cuban leader frequently greets major world figures upon their arrival at Jose Marti International Airport but was absent Sunday. He planned to greet Obama on Monday at Palace of the Revolution.
"This is a historic visit, and it's a historic opportunity to engage with the Cuban people," Obama, joined by first lady Michelle Obama and daughters Malia and Sasha, said during his first stop at a Havana hotel, where he greeted U.S. Embassy staff and their families. Dozens of U.S. lawmakers and business leaders arrived separately for Obama's visit.
His first interaction with Cubans came during his afternoon sightseeing tour near the Havana Cathedral as he and his group walked gingerly on the slippery wet stones. Some in the crowd had smartphones in hand ready to take photos. A girl climbed on a man's shoulders to see over the crowd as Obama arrived in the square.
After nearly a decade at the helm, finish line in sight for Bonita’s venerable mayor
Ben Nelson's 16-year political career started with an emphatic "no" to local government.
"I voted against incorporation and to punish me they made me mayor," Nelson recently joked, sitting in the office of his marine construction company, tucked away behind the Naples-Fort Myers Greyhound Track.
But why, when many of his fellow residents pushed for Bonita Springs to become a city (4,262 in favor versus 3,101 against), was he opposed?
"Because I'm a contractor and contractors and business people in general — and some people — we like status quo. We know the devil we know."
The devil in this case was a Lee County staff he had worked with for more than 30 years. A rapport had been built and now he was faced with starting from scratch.
"I knew them," Nelson said. "I knew what the rules were."
A Southwest Florida native, Nelson also knew that incorporation wasn't without its pitfalls.
"I saw what happened in Marco (Island)," he said. "And other places and it became a zoo. It was embarrassing. There were growing pains that were embarrassing. And I didn't want that for Bonita."
But it was too late. The majority had spoken. And if Bonita was going to be a city, then Nelson was at least going to have a say in how it was run.
With more than 50,000 fans cheering, Cuban baseball takes center stage during Obama’s historic trip
Wearing a New York Yankees ball cap, Gabriel Garcia sat Tuesday in a packed stadium watching his beloved Cuban national team lose to the Tampa Bay Rays in the first game against a Major League Baseball club played in his country since 1999.
Never mind that his home team lost to the Rays 4-1. The 25-year-old Cuban college student enjoyed the sight of a professional game, against an American team, with President Barack Obama sitting on the other side of the Latino American Stadium next to Cuba's leader, Raul Castro. This is the sport Garcia loves, played with passion again in the country he loves, offering hope that perhaps baseball in Cuba will once again be a great pastime that the U.S. and Cuba can share.
"They are symbols that everything can change," Garcia said before the game.
The afternoon baseball game was the last event on Obama's hectic schedule during his historic visit to Cuba, the first by a sitting U.S. president in 88 years. He and Castro would leave before the fourth inning, but the crowd of more than 50,000 would remain to watch what to many was so much more than a baseball game.
Joni James, CEO of the St Petesburg Downtown Partnership, said they brought 52 residents of the Tampa Bay Area to support their team and Tampa's efforts to secure a Cuban consulate for their area. They wanted to make it clear that they welcome the relationship with Cubans.
"I grew up as a child in the Cold War, when Cuba was a place you would never go," James said. "Being here, cheering for my home team in America's favorite pastime and seeing that the Cubans have that in common with us … It's a new day."
Kathryn Leib-Hunter, a soft-spoken bundle of energy, celebrated for mental health work
Mental health advocates and workers from around the state gathered Wednesday to celebrate the life of Kathryn Leib-Hunter, the red-haired force who fought in Collier County for more than 20 years to stamp out the stigma associated with mental illness.
A soft-spoken bundle of energy, Leib-Hunter championed the causes of the mentally ill with her echoing laughter, her optimism and her faith, and in her persistence as the leader of NAMI of Collier County.
She died March 9 at 54, but her work must continue, said state Rep. Kathleen Passidomo.
"She was so proud of her kids," Passidomo said. "And I was so proud of her when she took over what became NAMI. She built that organization to what it is today, to an organization that has helped over 17,000 people in our community."
Leib-Hunter trained more than 700 law enforcement officers and community leaders in crisis intervention for the mentally ill.
She was also instrumental in starting HUGS — Health Under Guided Systems — which screens children for mental health problems and, most importantly, helps their families find services.
For Mikayla Anderson, it’s the bond between horse and rider that helps her round the barrels
The paper-white disc of moon that hangs over the Collier County fairground and the consecutive waves of agrarian festival aromas — funnel cakes in hot oil, sweet hay, fresh animal dung — don't turn Mikayla Anderson's head.
She strides intently toward the fairground's ring, eyes ahead and slightly down. In a field where scores of horses are milling around, the price of clean cowboy boots is eternal vigilance. First and foremost, however, her mind is on the race against herself, trying to better her 15.5-second best in the quick, tough sport few people know: barrel racing.
It's a sport girls and women excel at. That's possibly because of the close, instinctive relationship they can develop with their horses. Mikayla, 17, of Golden Gate Estates, rides, cares for and trains her two mounts nearly four hours a day. Her favorite, Belle (formal name: MJ Fire n Hancock) will wander up and peer in at Mikayla on her family's screened-in porch.
"That horse just pines for her," her mother, Nicole Plantz, marveled, as Belle, doing a nervous prance, nuzzled up against Mikayla's head — and calmed down.
Mikayla, slender and strong and all business, has wrapped Belle's feet wrapped sturdily in black nylon; she'll wash down the wraps as well as the quarterhorse's dusty feet after the race.
"You've got to have that bond between you and the animal," she said. "You've got another animal with a mind of its own and around 1,000 pounds. "
"Realistically, they could crush you at any moment. But instead you've got that bond. You trust your horse and they trust you. You've got to know that they're going to go out there and do their absolute best."
