This is Southwest Florida InFocus.

Coming up the takeaways from No Kings Day after millions of Americans joined in protests last Saturday in southwest Florida.

Voices from both sides of the aisle.

Wonder if common ground can be reached in our politically divided country.

The Sunshine State is the nation's leader in reclaimed water, but there are concerns facing our aging water treatment plants and keeping the legacy of Bob Rauschenberg alive.

We talk with the director of the American Artist Gallery, located right here in Southwest Florida.

Hello, I'm Sandra Victorova.

Thank you very much for joining us.

Well, nearly 7 million people in more than 2700 cities and towns lined streets and parks for the nationwide No Kings Day.

Making it one of the largest single day demonstrations in U.S.

history.

Organizers praised the turnout, which they say was, quote, a nonviolent defiance of authoritarianism.

In Southwest Florida, more than 2000 people pre-registered to voice their frustrations with the Trump administration.

That, according to indivisible and No kings.org organizers.

The protesters expressed anger over a variety of white House actions, from the use of the National Guard to patrol American cities to immigration enforcement raids, to cuts on federal spending.

Others say they turned out to defend the First Amendment during a press conference aboard Air Force One.

President Trump dismissed the rallies and defended his actions as commander in chief.

Demonstrations were very small, very ineffective, and the people who act.

And when you look at those people, those are not representative of the people of our country.

Mr.

president, I was 19, and by the way, I'm not a king.

I'm not a king.

I work my way up to make our country great.

And so it is.

I'm not a king at all.

Southwest Floridians at local rallies from Sebring to Naples vocalized their uneasiness with today's political climate.

In this get.

I'm out here because I do not want a king.

And in our white House.

Hey, hey.

Whoa, whoa.

No.

I'm here to show my dedication and a love for America.

We need to stand up to Donald Trump in the House of Representatives.

The senators, and every person that is against the United States.

We need to watch out for our senior citizens, our children especially.

We need America.

Back to what it used to be when we came out from the bow.

There's no protest going on in Hendry County.

We wanted to come out and show our support for the No Kings movement.

Really, just to let people know that they're not alone.

You know, even in a red state, there's there's a lot of us who don't approve of what's going on in the white House, in the government at large.

You know, the weaponizing of the government, the fear, isolating our communities, tearing us apart.

I've been scared.

I've been totally like, feeling like I'm alone.

You know, there's a lot of, you know, Republicans are my neighbors.

But it's nice to hear that there's so many people that actually are still out here.

And it's all consuming to me at this point.

It's so important to rescue us from this literal coup that we're in the middle of, and we've got to all stand up and stand together and squash all of the lies, all of the corruption, all of the greed and all of that.

And get our country that this is what it looks like.

I feel like we're in a position where if we don't speak up, things are just going to get worse.

My dad fought in World War Two against the kind of things we're seeing happening in this country, and I don't want to relive history.

I never been to a demonstration, even during my college years, with the Vietnam thing.

But I've written to my congressmen and senators, and I just don't know that Congress is getting us anywhere.

And I feel that, the country needs to say that all of us don't go along with what's going on with the current administration.

The country is clearly on the wrong track in so many ways.

Trump does not have his eye on the things that are most important.

Probably one of the things that are happening with Trump and our government.

It's unfair.

It's totally unfair to the.

One question stemming from the No King's Day protests is whether or not the core ideals of America liberty, freedom, and justice for all can survive today's political divisiveness.

WGCUs Mike Walcher explored that question.

We started by talking with an expert on American politics, and then we turn to some of you, the people, and we spoke with folks who have been in public life here for a long time.

I see hope in a future for us, especially with the younger generation learning and going forward.

That's Tara Jenner, the Republican state committeewoman from Lee County.

Dave Aronberg is a lifelong Democrat, a former state legislator and state attorney, now with his own law firm in Palm Beach County.

I'm worried, but I'm not as pessimistic as most other people because the courts have pushed back and they continue to do so.

Even some Trump appointed judges have done so.

Linda Penniman says she's independent.

No party affiliation.

She's on the Naples City Council.

We're watching democracy go right out the window, in my opinion.

But with speeches, you usually have to come up with your own method of measuring it.

Bethany Morrow is an assistant professor in political science at Fgcu.

Her specialty is American politics.

I feel like we're in not a great spot, but a good spot.

I think that there's a lot that worries me about the system, and a lot of that comes from our faith in the system, because it saddens me to see my students kind of lacking that trust in these institutions.

It's terminated.

Talmadge terminated.

We start with Donald Trump trying to expand presidential power like never before.

Our experts point out the era of the strong president.

I tell you, the blunt fact started 90 years ago under liberal Democrat Franklin Roosevelt.

Most presidents of both parties have pushed the boundaries.

Ever since Congress, the legislative branch and our system of checks and balances gets the blame, even from a Republican.

I think sometimes Congress needs to put their big boy pants on and do their job, because if they don't, if there's a vacuum, it's going to be filled by a strong personality.

Lately, the president has sent the National Guard and the military into big cities to fight crime.

Dave Aronberg says this is a perfect time for Democrats to flip the script on the president.

We are going to resolve this problem by funding the police, not by bringing in the military on our streets, not by federalize on the National Guard, but funding the police.

I want the crime.

What about claims of loss, of freedom of expression?

As we've seen, people can protest nationwide.

Others counterprotest.

So are you feeling free?

The last five years have been a pretty rough ride, and I think we're clawing our way back to our our liberties.

It's upsetting some people, but I think it's because the restoration of law and order is contrary to their designs for global, globalism, which really has to remove America to happen.

I think that fascism is existing within federal government and state government, and we can't do anything except fight back in the way that democracy wants us to fight back, which is with protest.

Some people believe polarization, our massive political divide may be the root cause of our concerns, but also the hardest to resolve.

Yes, the nation was split in the Civil War as Americans killed each other by the hundreds of thousands.

The 1960s brought political assassinations, riots in big cities as black people demanded civil rights and protest against the Vietnam War filled the streets.

The nation survived those traumas.

But as January 6th, 2021 shows, violence can fill our current wide divide.

Is there any way to bring people back together?

Hopefully, at some point in time we're going to say, you know this.

This has been fun.

I don't know why we continue along this path.

It hasn't been fun.

I've lost a relationship with my sister.

There are other friends that you know I can't talk politics with.

I mean, this is this.

This is a big price to pay for having a two party system that is bifurcated as badly as they are.

Dave Aronberg says his party can stop what he calls a move to other democratic principles.

And that's where the Democratic Party is going to have to decide whether it it wants to make noise or win elections.

And I think that you can't do anything unless you win elections.

You can't you can't save our democracy unless you start winning elections.

So I don't wanna put too much pressure on my party, but the, the future of our countries is upon us.

Is, depends on us to get it right.

Other thoughts about the future.

We're going to have a great country again.

It's all a matter of knowing what your rights are and what the government limitations are.

If you don't know what those two things are, you will give up your rights inadvertently, and the government invariably will take it.

When it comes to democracy, it's all a facade, really.

And it's really just something to keep everyone complacent at the end of the day.

And who is keeping people that way?

Really the 1%, the people who control our governments worldwide.

We have the longest standing constitution in world history.

So something has worked.

Whether it will continue to.

I think it will.

But obviously things can.

Things can change.

Next year, our nation celebrates a milestone birthday.

250 years of the American model of government.

And some of the people we spoke to tend to agree.

We also could be nearing a crossroads, and the path we choose could determine how we govern ourselves and how we define freedom for many years to come.

For WGCU news, I'm Mike Walcher.

Many people are looking to find ways to have discussions across political lines on Wednesday, October 29th.

Braver angels Southwest Florida is hosting a debate workshop.

They're a national nonprofit who are, quote, dedicated to bridging the political divide and fostering respectful conversations across differences.

Their workshop discussing Alligator Alcatraz will be held at Fort Myers Regional Library on First Street beginning at 5:30 p.m.. Well, coming up, walking a mile in someone else's shoes.

Dozens of southwest Floridians get a better understanding of life for the visually impaired.

As Florida's population continues to grow.

The state has gone all in using reclaimed water to preserve drinking water.

Florida leads the nation in reclaimed water production.

In fact, state law says that it's safe for the environment and people.

But a recent GQ investigation into the state's plans for reclaimed water shows more problems than solutions.

Senior environmental reporter Tom Bayles found another issue during a recent public tour at a local water reclamation facility.

Learning how wastewater can flow into a treatment plant just to flow back out.

Is water clean enough to irrigate public parks and golf courses?

Is fascinating enough that tickets to each free tour are limited.

Curiosity is what do they got and how are they incorporated and what are they trying to do?

Rick Doherty took a tour of the Burnt Stormwater Treatment and Reclamation facility with friends last week.

The slurry of sewage that makes its way into a water treatment plant is filled with everything.

Humans flushed down a toilet or drain.

The reclaimed water that comes out is a fraction of the nearly 1 billion gallons created every day statewide.

Doherty, who lives in the nearby Burnt Store Isles neighborhood, would irrigate his lawn with it if he could.

I do not use any reclaimed water in BSI.

It's not available to us.

The transformation from sewage to reclaimed water at a plant is a complex and finely tuned process that appears simple.

Plant workers use screens, bubbling air, microscopic organisms, chemicals, gravity, and the better part of a day.

Two big problems with Florida's reliance on reclaimed water.

Start where the treatment plant ends.

How do we process it?

So when it leaves the plant, the water is no longer full of contaminants?

And where do we store that much water until it's needed?

The state is aware that most reclaimed water plants are pushing obsolescence.

Estimates put the cost of upgrading the reclaimed water system and hundreds of millions of dollars.

Big money is needed to buy big plots of land for lakes able to store many billions of gallons of reclaimed water during the wet season.

The huge reservoirs, together with the better delivery system of purple pipes and pumps, would help when climate change brings more frequent and longer lasting droughts.

Little money has been spent on aging water treatment plants to improve technology.

That right now is unable to filter out all traces of pharmaceuticals forever.

Chemicals and nutrients.

Polling finds the aging workforce is highly pessimistic.

There will never be enough money or political capital to do any of it, much less increase the meager wages paid to younger workers taking over for them.

John Meyer is Charlotte County's superintendent of treatment facilities.

He said some local politicians are spending money on upgrading plants.

But it's a statewide problem that people everywhere will have to pay for.

Nobody wants to spend money on something that you can't see.

Why am I spending two and 300 bucks a month for water and sewer?

But when you take the time to understand the process and what we're trying to accomplish here, like so much else in Florida, even the Everglades restoration, it's all about water.

I don't want to paint this dark picture that reclaimed water is out of out of the picture because it's not.

We're never going to get there unless unless we have some kind of way to store that water during the wet season and pumping out during the dry season.

This is one of a series of stories we are working on about water reclamation in Southwest Florida.

To stay in touch with the latest developments.

You can head to gcu.org or download the WGCU app for WGCU news.

I'm Tom Bayles.

Three years ago, Hurricane Ian tore the roof off of the Blanchard House Museum in Punta Gorda.

That damage forced the historic site, which honors the history and culture of the local African-American community, to close its door.

After much hard work, the museum has reopened.

As WGCUs Elizabeth Andarge reports, the Blanchard House restorations came just in time for its centennial celebration.

The Blanchard house is turning 100 years old.

It's Charlotte County's only black history museum, and it's journey, like the community it represents, is one of sacrifice and self-reliance.

And she just had this dream.

She says you can't help how to go out of history unless you tell our total history.

And so to date, to have the number of people who've come here to see the people who really believe in the Blanchard house, believe in Bernice's dream, believe in what we do.

I am just thrilled.

After being closed for years due to Hurricane Ian and the pandemic.

The Blanchard House stands tall once more.

Its grand reopening drew community members eager to reconnect with a place that holds so much history.

How does this little southern town, how was it able to develop so differently from surrounding towns and decay?

And so this exhibit is about the beginnings of Florida.

Who these people were at the beginning.

Martha Beretta, director and daughter of Bernice Russell, shares the origins of how her mother received the house from Joseph Blanchard and his wife.

Mrs.

Blanchard was a mail order bride.

He put her in a very nice house.

He had been a fisherman.

She had two daughters, like my grandmother.

They were friends with them.

When they died, the house was still just here because my mother's association with them.

She bought this house and she bought with the intention of having a museum.

We had our our land owners and four of them were African-American.

We're very proud of the fact that we helped to incorporate this town.

Jaha Cummings, Blanchard's son, speaks about the house's role in the community.

If you notice the brown signs, those equal, either among them or visitors.

And so what we do is that by telling, just untold, untold history, we're we're actually part of the mechanics of the society.

And so we preserve the history.

But but we also are part of the economy as well.

The Blanchard House plans to expand its role with the creation of a cultural heritage center.

The project will connect the Blanchard House to the nearby Gene Cleveland House, creating a space that encourages intergenerational conversations.

Because I think at this point in time, we're raising our children to not have dreams.

We're telling them all the things that they cannot do.

And what we need to do is actually show them through looking at their elders as a model of the things that they can do when they want something done, and how to go into the color community.

The Colored People Association just did it.

They just want to gather here for WGCU News in Punta Gorda.

I'm Elizabeth Andarge.

The Blanchard House Museum is open Thursday through Saturday from 10 a.m.

to 4 p.m.. You can learn more at the Blanchard house.org.

There are nearly 300,000 Floridians living with some type of vision impairment that, according to the Florida Council of the blind, the visually impaired can face unfair stigmas, be treated as helpless.

One community event is hoping to improve understanding for the blind community's needs by allowing Southwest Floridians to walk a mile in someone else's shoes, WGCUs Kate Cronin reports.

Today, Lakes Regional Library is hosting the first of hopefully many White Cane days.

They hope to raise awareness for the experience of sightless people.

The library has partnered with Southwest Florida Council of the blind and the Lighthouse of Southwest Florida.

White Cane Day is a time to educate the public on the struggles of living with vision impairment.

Sightless individuals use specialized canes to safely navigate unfamiliar environments.

We can get the awareness out to everybody how important it is for blind people to use our white cane to user guide dogs, that you can be independent even if you're totally blind.

Now great.

Yep.

The library hosted a sightless walk through the intersection of Gladiolus Drive and Basse Road.

Sighted participants were blindfolded and taught how to use a white cane.

They were guided through the intersection by library staff and Lee County sheriffs.

We just went on a little cane walk, so I got to blindfold myself and learn how to use a cane and walk without seeing, which was quite an experience.

My stepson is blind.

He's completely blind.

And I think for me, it was nice to be able to step into his world.

The event was attended by over a dozen organizations that provide services allowing sightless people to live independently.

Tools like magnifiers, text to audio readers, and Braille displays make life more accessible.

It's not every day you can completely change your perspective and walk in someone else's shoes, and we're literally going to be walking in their shoes blindfolded with a cane, going out to that intersection and really experiencing what somebody who's blind has to go through on a day to day basis.

The library offers a talking books collection, which includes books in braille and audio books.

Baker hopes to continue hosting White Cane Day each year to better the public's understanding of how sightless people go through life.

For WGCU news, I'm Kate Cronin.

You can see all the side What started as a letter to artist Bob Rauschenberg would lead to the chance to keep the artist's legacy alive after the break.

Meet the man who runs the Rauschenberg Gallery right here in Southwest Florida.

Well, Jade Dellinger has curated museum shows for some of the most recognizable artists of the 20th century William Burroughs, Jack Kerouac, and Keith Haring.

Today, Dellinger serves as the director of the Bob Rauschenberg Gallery at Florida Southwestern State College, currently celebrating a look back on 100 years of the painter's work weeks.

Arts reporter Tom Hall shares the special connection that made Dellinger the obvious choice to carry on the Captiva artist's legacy.

When he returned from China in 1985, Rauschenberg stopped at the monkey dock on Captiva to watch the sunset.

The owner, Victor, handed him a letter that had been mailed to the artist care of the pub.

It turned out to be a fan letter from a young man named Jade Dellinger.

Knowing that if I sent it to the Leo Castelli Gallery in New York or to, you know, even had I gotten his address on Captiva, there would be gatekeepers.

I wrote to Mr.

Robert Rauschenberg, care of the Monkey Duck pub.

Dellinger knew a thing or two about fan letters.

His grandfather was MLB Hall of Famer Eddie Roush, and Dellinger spent many a weekend helping his granddad answer fan mail.

I was 13, 14, 15 years old.

I was having grown up around baseball.

Knowing Mickey Mantle and Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams and Yogi Berra, they were all big fans of his because generationally he was older.

He was the oldest living person in the Baseball Hall of Fame at the time.

But it didn't interest me.

I played soccer all my life.

I got interested in art.

Dellinger had read a magazine article that mentioned how Rauschenberg often enjoyed a drink at sunset at the Monkey Dock.

That gave Dellinger an idea.

I ended the letter with a piece enclosed as $10.

Let me buy you a drink.

A week and a half later came a knock on the door.

My parents answer.

Call for me.

I have to sign for some big package that has arrived.

It's a large tube.

It's canceled.

Captiva island.

And in it was this lithographic poster.

It was a new lithograph.

Rauschenberg had made a graphic studio for the exhibitions in China as part of his Rauschenberg Overseas Cultural Interchange.

Rauschenberg had personalized it or that was signed for Jade from Bob Rauschenberg and a handwritten note that said, I'll have that drink and wish you luck.

Just before I go to work tonight, I've put a gift in your pocket.

Best RR Dellinger never met Rauschenberg in person.

I was in the same room with him a couple of times.

But then as a high school kid or a college kid, rather, I was always too intimidated.

When the director position for the Bob Rauschenberg Gallery at Florida Southwestern came open.

Dellinger jumped at.

Since 2013, Dellinger has curated numerous exhibits that perpetuate and expand Rauschenberg's legacy.

And that poster that Rauschenberg gave them.

It hangs on the wall over his desk to remind him of his special connection to the gallery's namesake.

For WGCU news, I'm Tom Hall.

The Bob Rauschenberg Gallery is located at Florida Southwestern State College in Fort Myers.

They're open Monday through Saturday, and it is free to the public.

Their current exhibition, Rauschenberg 100 A Centennial Celebration, will remain on display until December 6th.

Well, coming up next week, a look at the state of schools in the Sunshine State.

We talk with the president of the Florida Education Association to learn more about declining test scores and the changing climate for teachers, what they can and can't say in and out of the classroom.

Well, we thank you so much for joining us.

Make sure to download that WGCU app or visit WGU dawg where you can find all of our stories, plus those extended interviews, and be sure to join us here next week on Southwest Florida InFocus.