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No BettyParkerPARKER ON POLITICS

Her column will return soon.

Florida Gulf Coast University profes-sor Patrick Niner says if state lawmak-ers don’t want concealed weapons intheir workplace then they shouldn’t betrying to make them part of the workingenvironment at colleges

“The reason why is because in my opi-nion it compromises the sense of trustbetween faculty and students,” said Nin-

er, a member of the FGCU Faculty Sen-ate. “When you introduced somethinglike concealed weapons on a campus,then what it does it causes everybody tobe a little bit on edge. It causes every-body to trust everybody a little bit less.”

Niner and 27 other members of theFaculty Senate voted Friday in favor of aresolution that opposes House Bill 4001and Senate Bill 68. Both pieces of legisla-

EDUCATION

FGCU board opposes gun billFaculty Senate votes against legislation that wouldallow concealed weapons on college campuses in Fla.

THYRIE BLANDTBLAND@NEWS-PRESS.COM

THYRIE BLAND/THE NEWS-PRESS

The Florida Gulf Coast University Faculty Senate voted Friday in favor of a resolution thatopposes legislation that would allow concealed weapons on college campuses in Florida.See Guns, Page 6A

Although Marco Island is morethan 1,000 miles from Capitol Hill inWashington, the vibrations felt fromthe unexpected resignation of Speak-er of the House John Boehner werefelt on the island.

Boehner and his family have beenregulars on Marco for years. His lovefor golf, fishing and a cadre of Ohiofriends has drawn him for years. Inlate 2014, Boehner and his wife, Deb-bie, purchased a condominium onMarco’s south end.

No one was more surprised by theRepublican leader’s announcementthan Ed Adams and his wife, Nellie.They are from Ohio and close to Boeh-ner and his wife.

In fact, they were invited to seePope Francis on the Capitol lawnSept. 24 after his address to Congress.The pope made an appearance on thespeaker’s balcony.

“We went to dinner with the speak-er, Debbie, other family membersand a couple of close friends onThursday evening,” Ed Adams said.“Nothing was ever mentioned, in-stead we just reflected on the eventsof the day and normal discussionsthat friends would have around thedinner table.

“We respect and love John and hisfamily and that must have been a dif-ficult decision, but I don’t think it re-volved around whether or not he

MARCO ISLAND

SUE KELLER/THE NEWS-PRESS

John Boehner poses with the late StanGober of Goodland. Boehner often visitedwith the Marco club owner.

Islandershoping tosee Boehneraround town Now that he is retiring asSpeaker, he’ll have time

STEVE STEFANIDESSSTEFANIDES@COMCAST.NET

See Boehner, Page 17A

NEW YORK — You know how people say they wishFlorida restaurants were like those in New York City?

“New Yorkers wish their restaurants were like Flor-ida’s,” said chef-owner Fabrizio Aielli from Sea Salt inNaples, after plating his free-range chicken-stuffedPine Island octopus ink ravioli with white truffles,homemade ricotta, Venus clam ragù and liquid eggyolk.

Within the warm kitchen at the historic JamesBeard House in windy, rainy, 50-degree Manhattan,Aielli cooked alongside celebrated chocolatier Nor-man Love, chef-owner Harold Balink of CRU in FortMyers, chef-owner Todd Johnson of Rumrunners inCape Coral and chef George Fistrovich of The Ritz-Carlton Resorts of Naples.

Friday night’s six-course Coastal Florida Dinner —showcasing Southwest Florida’s culinary talent withits natural bounty— sold out within three days, Lovesaid.

James Beard Foundation events are designed toeducate, inspire and foster an appreciation of Amer-ican cuisine. Anointed the “Dean of American cook-ery” by the New York Times in 1954, Beard laid thegroundwork for the U.S. food revolution with the firstfood program on TV in 1946. A multiple cookbook au-

thor, Beard used his Manhattan home as a cookingschool, where he was one of the first to champion localproducts and markets, as well as nurture a generationof American chefs and cookbook authors who changedthe way we eat.

“Cooking at the Beard House, for me, stands for ...”Love paused. “It’s a pinnacle of accomplishment. It’s aprivilege. What makes it even more special is to do

DINING IN NEW YORK

They’re spreadingnews on local food

PHOTOS BY AMY SOWDER/SPECIAL TO THE NEWS-PRESS

Chef-owner Harold Balink, of CRU in Fort Myers, cooked spear-caught Gulf grouper with crispy oysters, flash-sauteedEverglades tomatoes and buttery Florida orange sauce Friday night at the James Beard House in Manhattan.

Southwest Florida’s finest,and their fare, on display atBeard House in New York AMY SOWDERASOWDER@NEWS-PRESS.COM

Chef-owner Todd Johnson, of Rumrunners in Cape Coral,cooked Rosy Tomorrows heritage pork belly for three daysbefore crisping it on the flat-top grill.

See Chefs, Page 6A

“It’s a pinnacle ofaccomplishment. It’s a privilege. Whatmakes it even morespecial is to do thiswith friends.”NORMAN LOVE, CHOCOLATIER

this with friends.”Each chef created two dishes reflect-

ing his culinary style and SouthwestFlorida’s natural resources. A few feetaway, Johnson leaned down to inspectthe Rosy Tomorrows Heritage FarmRed Wattle pork belly, snapping andcrackling lazily on the flat top grill.Johnson cooked the pig for three daysbefore this skin-crisping finish. Flour-ishes of miso caramel will dress up hispig trio of belly, shoulder confit withbutternut squash puree and mint-mari-gold tenderloin.

“This is a blast,” Johnson said, squig-gling the miso caramel across a pan.“It’s fun to do it together. It’s a lot lessstress.”

Next to him, Fistrovich wrapped spa-ghetti-shaped noodles made from Gulfshrimp mousse, which he will combinewith cabbage he planted 88 days earlierat his garden on the property of TheRitz-Carlton Beach Resort of Naples.Balink, meanwhile, inspected his plateof gleaming spear-caught Gulf grouperwith crispy oysters, flash-sauteed Ever-glades tomatoes and buttery Florida or-ange sauce.

Love handpicked these chefs be-cause he respects their lifelong dedica-tion to cuisine, its quality and their in-tegrity.

“He called me when I was driving,and I was laughing, ‘Are you kiddingme? I’d love to do this.’ It’s a great hon-or,” Balink said. “People come to ourarea and see it’s not just chain restau-rants. It’s eclectic, creative restaurants,and it’s growing.

“Farm-to-table is finally gettingthere.”

Connect with this reporter: @Amy-Sowder (Twitter).

ChefsContinued from Page 3A

PHOTOS BY AMY SOWDER/SPECIAL TO THE NEWS-PRESS

Above: Chefs George Fistrovich and JuanPablo De La Sota Riva, of The Ritz-CarltonResorts of Naples, cooked Friday night forCoastal Florida Feast in Manhattan.

Left: Chef-owner Fabrizio Aielli, of Sea Salt inNaples, created free-range chicken-stuffedPine Island octopus ink ravioli with whitetruffles, homemade ricotta, Venus clam raguand liquid egg yolk.

6A » SATURDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2015 » THE NEWS-PRESS E1

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tion would allow concealed weapons oncollege campuses in Florida.

One faculty member abstained fromvoting on the resolution.

“Faculty has no interest in seeing stu-dents carrying guns, and students havezero interest in seeing faculty haveguns,” Niner said. “The student govern-ment has made that very clear. We don’twant our mutual sense of collegiality tobe in any way compromised.”

The vote taken Friday came one dayafter Chris Mercer, 26 killed nine peopleand wounded 10 others at Umpqua Com-

munity College in Roseberg, Ore. Mer-cer was killed in a gunfight with law en-forcement.

FGCU freshman student AmandaHill, 18, points to the shooting as a reasonwhy allowing guns on college campuseswould be a bad idea.

“Kids were shot because we havepretty lax gun laws,” she said. “I thinkthe tightening of gun laws overall wouldhelp prevent stuff like that. People havethe right to defend themselves, but thereis a line.”

But Ryan Dodge, 19, a sophomore atFGCU, said he thinks allowing peoplewith concealed weapons on college cam-puses could save lives.

“Say it happened in the library —someone just pulls out a gun and goescrazy,” he said. “If there were people

there that had concealed weapons, theycould stop it early before he gets to killmore people.”

Dodge said if the Florida legislationpassed, it would make him feel safer.

“I think in the future maybe I wouldget a conceal carry license,” he said.

Last year, similar gun legislationdidn’t make out of committee. That legis-lation also was opposed by FGCU’s Fac-ulty Senate.

Sandra Pavelka, vice president of theFaculty Senate, said the discussion inone of her classes Thursday turned to-ward the community college shootingand the concealed weapons legislationafter one of her students pulled up anews story about the shooting on a cell-phone.

“We had a very balanced argument,

but in the end they were opposed to hav-ing concealed weapons on campus,” Pa-velka said. “They would feel less safewith concealed weapons on campus.They also reiterated that it’s importantfor law enforcement to take care of that,not for just some random person carry-ing a weapon.”

Faculty Senate member Jo Stechersaid the way this country deals with car-rying guns — as a right — isn’t workingand it’s time for a different approach.

“We have to do something positiveabout this because the next time it hap-pens could be in tiny little Fort Myers orNaples,” she said. “It might not be here.It could be at FSW. It could be at BellTower in the movie theater.”

GunsContinued from Page 3A