The ArtsNaples World Festival is about to kick off what may be the top cultural event of the year in Naples.

It’s a Russia fest, from start to finish, and it has something for everybody – Russian music of all sorts, opera, films, theater and even some Russian jazz. And Russian paintings too.

It has Tchaikovsky’s 4th Symphony, Moussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition” (that’s a festival in itself!) and Stravinsky’s “Histore du Soldat.”

It has piano concerts, chamber music and the Naples Philharmonic in full symphony mode.

It has Opera Naples performing Tchaikovsky’s “Eugene Onegin.”

It has the Russian comedy “The Inspector General” at the Sugden Community Theater.

It has Merlin Lickhalter, the visionary who put it all together, and it has the brilliant William Noll, who serves as both impresario and maestro.

There’s never been anything quite like it in Naples. And if all goes well, it could lead to more of the same. Lickhalter and Noll are considering a Latin American theme in 2013 and a Chinese theme in 2014.

This year’s festival schedule has been well publicized, but here it is again.

May 12

The Phil, 8 p.m. – The Naples Philharmonic Orchestra performing Tchaikovsky and more

May 13

The von Liebig, 2 p.m. – The Declassified Chamber Ensemble performing Stravinsky

May 14

The von Liebig, 2 p.m. – Pianist Pavel Neressian performing TchaikovskyMercato Silverspot Theater, 7 p.m. – The Russian film “Thank God I Am Alive”

May 15

The von Liebig, 2 p.m. – The Festival String Quartet performing

Stravinsky and Tchaikovsky

Mercato Silverspot Theater, 2:30 p.m. – “The Vanished Empire”

The Phil, 8 p.m. – The Festival Chamber Orchestra and pianists

Philipp Kopachevsky, Michael Berkovsky and Pavel Neressian performing Rachmaninoff and more

May 16

The von Liebig, 2 p.m. – Pianist Pavel Neressian performing Moussorgsky

Mercato Silverspot Theater, 5 p.m. – “Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears”

Sugden, 8 p.m. – “The Inspector General”

May 17

Sugden Theater, 3:30 p.m. – “The Inspector General”

Mercato Silverspot Theater, 7:30 p.m. – “Elena”

The Phil, 8 p.m. – Opera Naples performing “Eugene Onegin”

May 18

The von Liebig, 2 p.m. – Pianist Philipp Kopachevsky performing Rachmaninoff

Sugden, Theater, 8 p.m. – “The Inspector General”

In addition, throughout the week there will be Jazz a la Russe from 9 p.m. in the Lobby Lounge of the Ritz-Carlton, Children’s Theater from 3 p.m. at the Golisano Children’s Museum and works by Russian artists at the von Liebig and the Naples Museum of Art.

Don’t miss this amazing week. Tickets are still available for many of the events.

The ArtsNaples slogan is “Stay in May.” You’ll be glad you did!

From Trecker’s blog, The Residents’ Corner, at naplesnews.com/blogs. Trecker, a retired executive of Pfizer, is a founder and vice president of the Collier Community Alliance; a director of the Pelican Bay Services Division and Collier County Presidents Council; and former chairman of the Pelican Bay Foundation and Pelican Bay Property Owners Association.

information provided by Naplesnews.com

Top 10 Turnaround Housing Markets

Cities hardest hit by the foreclosure crisis are among some of the cities leading a housing recovery, Move Inc. reports in its Top Turnaround Town Report for May.

Move Inc. compiled a list of Top Turnaround Towns for this month, using year-over-year housing data from the first quarters of 2012 and 2011. Many of the cities in the top 25 that have seen the biggest boosts in price appreciation are also seeing a big drop to inventories of homes for-sale. Some of the states that suffered the worst of the foreclosure crisis — such as Florida, Arizona, and California — have cities represented on the list, and are showing some of the biggest signs of recovery.

The following are the top 10 turnaround markets, according to Move Inc.’s report from May (including the year-over-year median list price increases).

1. Phoenix-Mesa, Ariz.
Median list price increase from Q1 2011 to Q1 2012: +26.94%

2. Miami
Median list price increase from Q1 2011 to Q1 2012: +24.32%

3. Orlando
Median list price increase from Q1 2011 to Q1 2012: +11.54%

4. Boise City, Idaho
Median list price increase from Q1 2011 to Q1 2012: +17.53%

5. Naples, Fla.
Median list price increase from Q1 2011 to Q1 2012: +14.34%

6. Oakland, Calif.
Median list price increase from Q1 2011 to Q1 2012: +7.07%

7. Fort Myers-Cape Coral, Fla.
Median list price increase from Q1 2011 to Q1 2012: +18.27%

8. Lakeland-Winter Haven, Fla.
Median list price increase from Q1 2011 to Q1 2012: +12.95%

9. Sarasota-Bradenton, Fla.
Median list price increase from Q1 2011 to Q1 2012: +12.56%

10. Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Fla.
Median list price increase from Q1 2011 to Q1 2012: +11.92%

“We continue to see signs of stabilization and recovery on the local level throughout the country,” says Steve Berkowitz, CEO of Realtor.com operator, Move Inc.  “By all indications, the 2012 housing market is unfolding as we expected, and we’re encouraged with the progress local markets are making. However, much will depend on the continued health of our economy, specifically job rates, and how lenders will release their foreclosure inventories.”

information provided by Realtormag.com

NAPLES — After vacationing in Naples for six years, Sara and Jared Gruett began searching last summer for a home and a place to start a business in Collier County.

By August, the couple had sold their Minneapolis-based towing and impounds company and headed south to open a pizza parlor. Although they had no restaurant experience, the Gruetts had confidence the national economy was on an uptick and the feeling they were the right people to fill a local niche.

“We knew about the seasonal business but we thought ours was something that people year-round would visit,” Sara Gruett said of Valento’s Pizza and Hoagies, a Midwestern-style eatery that opened in November on Ninth Street South. “Pizza is something that the average family is going to be eating once a week or once a month.”

Like the Gruetts, small-business owners and big-name companies alike have come to Southwest Florida in recent months, betting that consumers are ready once again to pull out their wallets and put money back into the local economy.

After the U.S. economy took a nose-dive at the end of 2007, many businesses folded, or survived by laying off workers. In 2009, there were 32,000 fewer new for-profit corporations in Florida than there were in 2007, according to the Secretary of State’s office.

But in 2011, the number of those new filings — while not back up to pre-recession levels — increased for the second year in a row.

Among the 109,000-plus new business entities was Gabby Abbey’s, a Marco Island boutique that opened Thanksgiving weekend. First-time business owner Denise Goldman said the timing seemed right to open when an acquaintance told her about the empty storefront toward the beginning of season.

“It seemed like a good opportunity, and I had some money,” said Goldman, who had wanted to open a store after working in New York City’s garment district several years ago. “It’s still a learning experience for us, but season was good for us.”

While Goldman has “some concerns” about Collier’s economic outlook, she said she hopes to stay afloat by stocking the shop with merchandise that appeals to budget-strapped customers.

“What I tried to do, and what I think I’m succeeding at, is keeping prices as low as possible,” she said. “I think, ‘How do I feel about prices when I go into a shop?’”

In a Chamber survey of 201 Naples-area business owners late last year, 41 percent said they believed the economy was improving, 46 percent said it was holding steady and 13 percent said it was in decline. Two-thirds of the optimists planned to hire more workers.

“People are looking to spend money,” said Marci-Nicole Seamples, vice president of communications for the Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce. “We had a strong tourist season, and we’ve seen an increase in members joining (the chamber), back up to numbers from before the recession.”

About six years ago when he started with the Chamber, Don Neer, director of new member services, said about 90 percent of new members were new businesses. In 2008, there were 2,178 members, a record high for the Chamber.

“Then when we started the recession, it’s what I call a third, a third, a third,” he said — a third of new members were new businesses, a third were owners who were coming back after having been out of business and the last third were businesses that had been around for some time but had never been a member of the Chamber.

“All of a sudden, they were saying, ‘Help!’” Neer said.

Still, more than 400 businesses dropped their Chamber membership during the three-year period from 2007 to 2010. Of them, more than 250 went out of business or relocated, Neer said.

In the past six to eight months, however, new businesses are once again taking a larger piece of the pie, he said. At the end of April, the Chamber had about 1,800 members — 63 more members than it did in June 2011.

“Many of those members that had dropped us have joined back with us,” Neer said. “It gives us a good feeling that those who left because of economic woes are now finding themselves in better financial position.”

Although no one group seems to keep a tally of new businesses versus those that have closed, some economists say conditions appear to be getting better for local entrepreneurs and business owners.

“Consumer confidence has gone up, the stock market has come up, demand for goods and services are up,” said Gary Jackson, director of the Regional Economic Research Institute at Florida Gulf Coast University in Estero. “It’s tough to open in a slow recovery … but we’re seeing opportunities, and that’s a good sign.”

Although it’s a small increase, Bonita Springs city officials issued permits for 40 new businesses in the first quarter of 2012, compared with 30 for the first quarter of last year.

And while they’re not all new, 43 businesses joined the Bonita Springs Chamber of Commerce in January, February and March of this year.

Business owner Michelle S. Brown joined in January after opening Alternative Natural Healthcare, an acupuncture and homeopathic medicines clinic, in September.

“I think the economy is pretty sluggish, but people that are ill are willing to spend money on health care,” Brown said. “People have always had discretionary money to spend — it just depends what they spend the money on.”

Jackson, the FGCU director, advised that business owners could improve their chances for success by studying the competition and finding gaps.

“To me as an economist, it’s all about finding unserved needs or demands or new technology to help people,” he said.

Information provided by NaplesNews.com