Port LaBelle Foreclosure Sale

LABELLE, FL. (March 30, 2005) -- A Naples bank foreclosed on a Miami land
developer and the court held a sale of its 25 lots in Port LaBelle today.
The 1st National Bank held a mortgage on 25 one-third acre lots in Port
LaBelle owned by Florida Development Corp. The company originally paid about
$23 thousand per lot in October, 2002 according to county records and was
unsuccessful at re-selling enough lots to pay the mortgage. The company sold
about two lots for about $23,000 each, and a home was built on one.

The bank, owed about $357,000, elected to foreclose when agreed upon
payments were not made. A Cape Coral investor, Rodney Troyer made the
successful bid at auction of $615, 000 or about $24,600 per lot. Also
bidding was a Broward county investor, and a local real estate agent.

Port LaBelle lots have been under a speculative frenzy in the last 12 months
as real estate agents make contracts to buy lots from mostly out-of-state
owners and then re-sell them within a few weeks at large markups.

Indian Res Cattle To Be Tagged

MOORE HAVEN, FL. -- Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner
Charles H. Bronson has launched a historic pilot project with the Seminole
Tribe of Florida that will track cattle from birth to grocery stores.
Bronson will meet with representatives of the Seminole Tribe at Brighton
Indian Reservation near the town of Moore Haven for a demonstration of the
project on Thursday, March 31, at 11 a.m.
The project involves putting electronic tags on about 10,000 head of cattle
so they can be traced throughout their lifetime. The tags will allow
officials to trace the movement of any animal diagnosed with certain
communicable diseases, including BSE and foot-and-mouth, disease within 48
hours.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) stepped up its efforts
to create a national animal identification program when a cow in Washington
state tested positive in December 2003 for bovine spongiform encephalopathy
(BSE), widely referred to as "mad cow disease." The cow was traced back to
Canada and no additional cattle have tested positive for BSE in the United
States since then. However, a lack of a national animal ID system made it
more difficult to quickly determine exactly where the infected cow had been
to find out if other cows in herds where the animal had been located were
also infected. The USDA has been working with various states on pilot
animal ID projects which will be used to assist in developing a national
system.

The project is being funded by a USDA grant of $95,600. The Florida
Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services participated in a
cooperative training program for Seminole Tribe herd owners in mid-February
to introduce the new ID system.

Proponents of animal identification systems say they will improve consumer
confidence in the domestic market and assist in maintaining and opening
international markets for U.S. beef. Animal identification is voluntary
but may be required by the federal government by 2007.

Statement By Governor

"After an extraordinarily difficult and tragic journey, Terri Schiavo is at
rest. Columba and I offer our condolences to Mr. and Mrs. Schindler, Bobby
Schindler, Suzanne Vitadamo and to all those who offered their prayers and
support to Terri's family over these past weeks, months and years. These
prayers were not in vain.

"Many across our state and around the world are deeply grieved by the way
Terri died. I feel that grief very sharply as well. I remain convinced,
however, that Terri's death is a window through which we can see the many
issues left unresolved in our families and in our society. For that, we
can be thankful for all that the life of Terri Schiavo has taught us.

"I still firmly believe that human life is a gift and a mystery, and that
its mystery is most evident at its beginning and ending. May all of us
whose hearts were moved during the life of Terri Schiavo grow in wisdom at
its ending."

Senior Connections Gets Grant

LABELLE, FL. -- Senior Connections of Southwest Florida is one of 52
agencies selected
out of 65 applicants to receive a 2005 Winter Cycle Grant from the SW FL
Community Foundation. The $10,000 grant was recently awarded for the
purchase of a home delivered meal truck for the agency's elderly
nutrition program in Glades County. "With federal and state funds
shrinking, this could not have come at a better time," says Sue Gulley,
Executive Director of Senior Connections. She added, "Our purpose, to
enhance the quality of life and promote independent living among the
elders in our communities, cannot be accomplished if there are older
people in need of a hot meal who cannot be helped because we can't get a
vehicle to their home to provide it."

The truck will operate in the
small community of Buckhead Ridge, an area hard hit by last summer's
hurricanes. Gulley added that it was difficult to deliver "food, water
and ice" to elderly victims of the storms last year because the agency's
fourteen-year old minivan would not start most days. Senior Connections
of Southwest Florida, Inc. a United Way Partner Agency, and lead agency
for services to elders under grants from the Area Agency on Aging of SW
FL and Dept. of Elder Affairs, offers a variety of services to older
adults sixty years of age or older to help them remain independent for
as long as that is their choice. For additional information, please feel
free to contact their offices in LaBelle at (863) 675-1446, in Clewiston
at (863)983-7088 or in Moore Haven at (863) 946-1821.

LaBelle Home Prices Increasing

LABELLE, FL. (March 25, 2005) -- The week of 3/15/2005 to 3/22/2005, there
were 5 homes sold in the LaBelle area for an average price of $138,200. The
highest priced home was on Oklahoma Avenue for $254,000 while the least
expensive home was $84,000 on South Edgewater Circle in Port LaBelle.