Allegiant begins service today from Punta Gorda Airport (PGD) to Richmond International Airport (RIC). To celebrate, the company is offering round-trip fares on the new route starting at $75 each way (rules and restrictions apply). The new seasonal flights will operate twice weekly and bring an additional 15,000 travelers to Charlotte County. With the addition of this new route, Allegiant will now serve 47 cities from Punta Gorda Airport (PGD). Flight days, times and the lowest fares can be found at Allegiant.com.

 

Voters preparing for the March 17 Bonita Springs City Council race have a new resource to learn about each candidate: podcasts. The Bonita Springs Area Chamber of Commerce has interviewed all five candidates running in the special election, and those interviews are available now for free at BonitaSpringsChamber.com/Podcast. Listeners can also hear an interview with the Lee and Collier Supervisors of Elections, Tommy Doyle and Jennifer Edwards, to get an overview of the major elections happening in 2020, and the processes voters need to understand to make their vote count. The Bonita Springs Area Chamber’s “Chamber Chat” podcast series, including all candidate interviews, is available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

 

The Florida Small Business Development Center at Florida Gulf Coast University (FSBDC at FGCU) will present the 2020 Distinguished Entrepreneur Awards Dinner from 6-9 p.m. on May 5 at Bonita Bay Club. The awards recognize three outstanding Southwest Florida business owners for their success, innovative technology and business advocacy. The event provides an opportunity for the local business community to celebrate their achievements. Nominations for the 2020 Distinguished Entrepreneur Awards close on Feb. 15. Click here for the nomination form. To attend the event, click here.

 

Florida gas prices are declining again after briefly rising early last week. The state average jumped 6 cents per gallon, Tuesday. However, that increase was cut in half by the weekend. Florida drivers are now paying an average price of $2.39 per gallon. That’s 17 cents less than this year’s high, and 2 cents more than this year’s low. Sunday’s state average is 2 cents per gallon more than this time last week, and 14 cents more than this time last year. Last week’s increase snapped an 18-day streak of declines for a total discount of 19 cents. Punta Gorda was among the Florida metro markets with the least expensive regional gas prices, priced at about $2.33 per gallon.

 

Naples has ranked No. 1 in SmartAsset’s “Best Places to Retire” study for the fourth consecutive year. To find the best places to retire, the study measures tax friendliness, the number of doctors’ offices and recreation and social opportunities for seniors in each city. Naples was reported with 13.6% for the average percentage paid in sales and income tax; 27.1 doctors’ offices per 1,000 people; 9.2 recreation centers per 1,000 people; 1.0 retirement centers per 1,000 people; 52.8% in the percentage of seniors; and Best Place to Retire Index of 100.0. More details on the study, including the methodology and interactive map, can be found here.