Appalling proposal
I write as a strong advocate for public education, and a former member and president of the school board for an outstanding public school district. I write as a person who attended public schools and sent my children to public schools. I strongly oppose the Case Settlement with Florida Citizens Alliance (FLCA) on the consent agenda for the Collier County School Board meeting on Wednesday, February 4. This settlement will allow FLCA access to parent email addresses on a “opt out” basis. In other words, unless parents indicate they do not want their email addresses shared, they will be given to FLCA. This will allow FLCA to send their newsletter to CCPS parents. FLCA is an organization with a specific agenda — an agenda I believe is not shared by the majority of the community — thus giving that organization favored access to share their viewpoints with parents. In addition, CCPS will pay FLCA $30,000 in legal fees. I have written a 3-page letter to the School Board outlining the reasons why this is an appalling proposal. The Board should never have been in the position of spending time and money on a request like this. Please join me in asking the Board to vote no.
Sharon Harris-Ewing, Naples
School Board should vote no
I have been fighting against voucher schools, textbook censorship, as well as interference in curriculum by religious minorities such as the FLCA (Florida Citizens Alliance) as a proponent of public education (and libraries). Newly retired after teaching for CCPS for more than 32 years, I see that the barrage of attacks is not letting up. Why should the separation of church and state suddenly be important to those who would post the Ten Commandments in all public schools? Never mind that students are not all Christians nor religious. It seems that the FLCA feels entitled to gain access to parental email addresses to distribute their propaganda and has the gall to demand that CCPS reimburse them for their “legal troubles” for trying to coerce the district to hand them over. To add insult to so many injuries, it appears that the school board is entertaining using our tax dollars to pay said fee. The district must vote “NO” against settling with the FLCA. Capitulating to this narrow-minded, power-hungry group that hardly represents the will of the rest of the community, will set a bad precedent and give them preferential status that they do not merit.
Cynthia Odierna, Naples
Stop the snooping
Attorney Marshall H. Tanick’s recent warning should ring alarm bells for every taxpayer in Collier County. By expanding a surveillance dragnet that creates “hotlists” of innocent drivers, we are buying a legal liability when we should be buying safety.
When questioned about this, Sheriff Rambosk claims the county “can’t afford” advanced safety technologies. Yet he finds ample budget to prioritize SWAT team technology that may never be used, even as our roads become increasingly lethal. 2024 was the deadliest year on Collier County roads since 2018, with over 6,200 crashes and 61 fatalities. We cannot “afford” the status quo.
Collier County should instead adopt the focused technologies active in Chicago and the new “Photo Cop II” pilot in Minnesota. Specifically, Chicago’s “Children’s Safety Zones” protect schools by ticketing reckless drivers (speeding 6+ mph over the limit) rather than logging the license plate of every mom driving to Publix. Furthermore, “acoustic cameras” crack down on the modified mufflers that plague our neighborhoods. This targets the quality-of-life issues residents actually complain about — noise and speeding — without treating every citizen like a suspect.
Stop the snooping. Start protecting our quiet neighborhoods and our children.
Bebe Kanter. Naples
Safety or accountability?
In The News-Press Sunday, Feb. 1 “Your Turn” column, guest columnist Lauren Melo discusses HB 807 and accountability for traffic violations that result in crashes. Accountability is important — but timing matters. By tying enhanced penalties and insurance requirements to violations only after an accident occurs, HB 807 addresses consequences once harm has already been done. Traffic-safety research consistently points to a more effective approach: preventing dangerous behavior before someone is injured. What most reliably changes driver behavior is not harsher penalties after the fact, but the certainty of enforcement beforehand. Drivers behave when they believe violations will be detected — regardless of whether a crash occurs. That is why many jurisdictions have turned to targeted, transparent automated enforcement for the very violations cited in HB 807: red-light running, speeding, and failure to yield. When cameras are placed based on documented crash risk, clearly signed, independently audited, transparent to the public, and when revenue is dedicated to safety improvements and victim compensation, studies show reductions in dangerous behavior and serious crashes, along with increased public acceptance over time. Ultimately, accountability should be measured by fewer crashes and fewer victims, not simply by harsher consequences after the fact. A system that reliably detects and deters dangerous behavior before someone is injured better serves drivers, pedestrians, and families alike. If the goal of HB 807 is truly to strengthen safety, Florida should focus first on preventing violations — not waiting for an accident to prove accountability was needed.
Charles McClinton, Cape Coral
Evaluating Trump record
If you are put off by our president’s continual pomposity and bloviations, I can’t say I blame you at times, but I would also encourage being aware of his amazing energy and almost daily accomplishments. He’s done more national good every month than his pathetic predecessor hiding in his basement for four years; and his efforts are making America significantly better, not worse.Regarding the Biden open border policy crime of the century, please don’t shed tears for the millions of aliens who have broken our laws by illegally entering our country. Regardless of political baloney, they have no legal rights here. They should be deported. Obama deported millions. They should not be competing with you for billions of your tax dollars for their subsistence.
Peace through strength is imperative in dealing with adversaries like the drug lords, the mullahs and the communists. Our president understands that one needs to get their attention before talking with them. You should read “The Art of the Deal” to comprehend his life-long success in negotiating. Inaction led to over 100,000 American deaths annually between 2021-2023 from drug overdoses, mostly driven by synthetic opioids like fentanyl.
Regarding law enforcement shootings in Minnesota, each had one common denominator. The victims were deliberately disobeying lawful orders. I suspect most intelligent beings would recognize the grave danger in such behavior.
Dr. Robert A. Strohaver, Naples
Violent confrontation
I am getting “Pretti” tired of people characterizing this domestic terrorist as an innocent little nurse who wouldn’t hurt a fly. Have you looked at the video from a week before he was shot when he got in a fight with the Border Patrol, chasing them, spitting on their car and kicking out a taillight when they tried to just drive away. He was taken to the ground, but I am guessing, turned loose. Why wasn’t he charged with assaulting a federal officer and destruction of government property? Taillights can easily cost more than a thousand dollars. That firmly puts this in felony range. Out on bail from a violent felony usually causes loss of your concealed weapon’s license. I do understand the right to bear arms; I have a license to carry but that has to come with accepting the awesome responsibility. It makes me wonder about the training required for that license in Minnesota. One tip, if you are planning another violent confrontation with the cops, leave your gun at home in the safe. Armed confrontation with the police never turns out well.
Greg Fretwell, Estero
Cities, states that oppose ICE
Following is a suggestion for the Trump administration when dealing with states & cities that do not want I.C.E. in their community.
“Those cities that do not want the assistance of I.C.E. must send forth a plan with a reasonable time table to rid their community of illegal criminal immigrants, those that the Biden administration wrongfully let into our country for four years. If this plan is not put forth or the plan not adhered to then federal funding will be held.”
The issue with illegal criminal immigrants is not a political game and they must be deported. The Trump administration is attempting to rid our country of bad people. You might not like the tactics that his administration is using so here is an opportunity for a state / city that opposes I.C.E. to develop their own plan to rid their community of illegal criminals.
Bob Shea, Naples
Respect constitutional limits
The recent killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis demand urgent public scrutiny. These were not isolated tragedies — they were constitutional violations carried out by federal agents on U.S. soil. Video evidence and eyewitness accounts show peaceful assembly disrupted, a licensed firearm seized without provocation, and lethal force used without due process. Minnesota’s own Bureau of Criminal Apprehension was denied access to investigate, undermining the state’s authority and the public’s right to transparency.
These actions violate the First, Second, Fourth, Tenth, and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution. Our founding document does not permit masked, unidentified agents to operate with impunity in our cities. Federal law enforcement must be held accountable. They must identify themselves, follow warrant procedures, respect state jurisdiction, and uphold due process — or lose the funding that enables these abuses.
I urge every reader to contact their senators and representatives. Demand oversight. Demand constitutional compliance. Demand justice.
Linda Lindquist, North Fort Myers
Leftists’ warped reasoning
Clearly, leftists’ ability to practice logic, reason and the perception of their reality is warped under peer pressure and misplaced emotions. They recklessly throw insults at the POTUS like rose petals at a rainbow coalition parade! Wrong again they say he has a “Narrow view of females.” Apparently they are totally ignorant of the female persons upon which Donald Trump has bestowed trust and power to lead several key White House and Executive Cabinet positions. Let’s start with Susie Wiles, CHIEF of Staff; Pam Bondi, Attorney General; Karoline Leavitt, Press Secretary; Elaine Chao, Sec. of Labor; Kristi Noem, Sec. of Homeland Security; Deb Haaland (native Am.), Sec. of the Interior; Nikki Haley, Amb. to the UN; Megan Smith, CHIEF Technology Officer; Brooke Rollins, Sec. of Agriculture; Joby Wells, Sec. of Labor; Linda McMahon, Sec. of Education; Kelly Loeffler, Small Business Administrator; plus, Judith Miller, Megan Messerly, Mercedes Schlapp, Denise Carte, Kellyanne Conway, Kristin Nielsen, Hope Hicks, Betsy DeVos, Stephanie Grisham and current Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders! If they ever stopped wringing their hands, put down their pacifier and changed the channel from CNN they might recognize those names!
They identify as empathetic when they declare President Trump to be a sexist because he and Secretary of War Hegseth both advocate for a gender-blind meritocracy in military combat! Gee, I always wanted my little sister to experience a muddy & bloody foxhole under fire!
In the mode of the privileged aristocrats they fancy themselves to be they ask, “If you deport all the illegal aliens who will pick our crops and clean our homes?” The answer is simple! The same people who did it before Biden invited 12-25 million (?) illegal aliens into the country, gave them cell phones, SNAP benefits and put them up in swanky NYC hotels so they could also illegally vote for their sugar daddy! Furthermore, the standard of living for our legal resident aliens will improve when the illegals are gone and waiting in line for a VISA to return legally! What kind of a person would deliberately enable the selfish cheater who cuts in line? You?
Tom Perkins, Fort Myers
Right to bear arms
The January 31, 2026 Naples News letter claiming that the Second Amendment does not protect an individual right to bear arms rests on selective reading, historical amnesia, and settled law denial. The amendment’s operative clause — “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed” — uses the same phrase “the people” found in the First and Fourth Amendments, which unquestionably protect individual rights, not government privileges. To argue otherwise requires redefining constitutional language to suit modern political preferences.
Historically, the Founders viewed an armed citizenry as a safeguard against tyranny and a necessary component of self-defense. Firearms ownership was common and expected among free people, not confined to organized militias. The militia clause explains a purpose, not a limitation — just as freedom of the press is not restricted to printing presses owned by the state.
Legally, the argument is already settled. In District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) and reaffirmed in McDonald v. Chicago(2010) and Bruen (2022), the Supreme Court held that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess firearms for lawful purposes, including self-defense. Dismissing these rulings does not strengthen the letter’s case; it exposes its ideological nature.
Rights do not disappear because they are controversial. The Second Amendment means exactly what it says — and what history, text, and law consistently confirm.
Murray Sabrin, Ph.D., Naples
Stifling dissent
Don’t you see the similarity? Mussolini had his blackshirts. Hitler had his brownshirts. Trump has his masked ICE. They all had and have had the same mission. “Do away with differences and dissent.”
After almost 250 years, our goal as a nation has been to strive for a more perfect union. We have faced a lot of challenges to that goal. The nation now has a president striving to tear apart our nation’s goal. Let’s all not let this president deter a more perfect union.
Fred Mosser, Bonita Springs
Authoritarianism then and now
During the 1929 financial crisis, the German Nazi Party encouraged its citizens to hate and blame their neighbors, particularly those of Jewish descent.
The Party: Ignored Parliamentary Laws and began to govern by a violent fascist dictatorship; Eliminated opposition voices using the media as a propaganda tool; Eliminated legal “due process” granting the secret police (Gestapo) unchecked power to imprison political opponents without trial and move them to concentration camps killing over 20.9 million.
In 2024, the United States elected Donald Trump as president with Republicans running the Senate and the House. The Trump administration has: Encouraged U.S. citizens to use hate blaming “illegal immigrants” for high costs and crime; Ignored the Constitution and used executive orders to bypass congressional approval; Attacked the media threatening to revoke media licenses; Targeted political opponents with legal action; Eliminated legal “due process” for immigrants and allowed masked secret ICE agents to ignore the rule of law when making arrests in immigrants’ homes, workplaces and on the street; Held thousands of men and women (and some children) in dehumanizing U.S. and foreign detention centers. 74% of detainees had no criminal convictions; Pardoned more than 1,500 criminals convicted of the Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol.
Please call your congressperson and senators. Urge them to ensure this administration abides by the constitutional rule of law. Demand they do their jobs holding the DOJ and (ICE and Border Patrol) accountable for all their actions and requiring treatment of immigrants with basic human dignity. Ken Peterson, MAJ U.S. Army (Ret.), Punta Gorda
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: No religious interference in school curriculum | Opinion letters
Reporting by Letter writers / Fort Myers News-Press
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