Debby bruises Island

ANNA MARIA ISLAND – Tropical Storm Debby developed in the Gulf of Mexico last weekend and left a trail of damage in Manatee County and throughout the Tampa Bay area without coming any closer than 200 miles from the mainland.

High winds and torrential rains pelted the Island all day Sunday and into Sunday night, causing widespread flooding and downing tree limbs and power lines. More...

Mosquito invasion puts county on alert

There’s a population explosion on the Island but it has nothing to do with cute little babies in bassinettes.

This one comes armed with a bite that will leave you scratching and scratching and scratching. It’s called the aedes aegypti or more informally, the yellow fever mosquito and it is most active between sunrise and sunset, the opposite of other mosquitos.

“There’s a very significant infestation of mosquitos on the Island,” explained Chris Lesser, assistant director of the Manatee County Mosquito Control District. “The number of complaints from residents is disproportionate to other urban areas of the county.” More...

Groin replacements in the budget

BRADENTON BEACH – Surfers and anglers rejoice. It appears there is money in the county budget to replace all three groins that have fallen into ruin along Cortez and Coquina beaches.

That’s the word from Bradenton Beach Police Lt. John Cosby, a member of the city’s Capital Improvements Projects (CIP) Committee, at the group’s June 20 meeting. More...

Privateers to ride Skullywag in parade

The Island’s band of pirates is hoping for two miracles – collecting enough money to refurbish their parade ship, the Skullywag, and getting the vehicle to start for their July Fourth parade.

Privateer’s spokesperson Lisa Ritchey confirmed they would be using the ship after putting out a call for help from the public. She said the converted school bus was sometimes hard to start, but they feel it will be able to run. More...

Chickens fly the coop

ANNA MARIA – What no one else seemed to be able to do in three weeks, Wildlife Inc. did in two days.

With her crew of three volunteers, Gail Straight, of Wildlife, Inc. rounded up three roosters and one hen in Anna Maria’s Historical Park on Monday, June 18, and three more chickens and one more rooster on Tuesday, June 19.

“I think we got them all,” she said. “We caught the last one across the street. Hopefully that’s it, but if anyone sees any more, they can contact me. They’ve been sent to a farm in North Port to live.” More...

Concerts in the Park will rock for the pirates on Friday

HOLMES BEACH – Concerts in the Park will serve up music, food, art and more on Friday, June 29 on the field next to Holmes Beach City Hall to benefit the Anna Maria Island Privateers.

The free event begins at 5 p.m. with music from D.J./M.C. Chris Grumley. Scott’s Garage follows from 5:30-7:30 p.m. with Scott Pritchard on guitar and vocals, Chris Corigan on drums and vocals and Scott Matski on bass and vocals. Highway 41 takes the stage from 8-10 p.m., with classic rock and pop from the 70s to today, featuring Danielle Hollobaugh, lead/backing vocals: Adrienne Summerall, lead/backing vocals; Rick Schicitano, keyboards/vocals; Jeff Kemper, bass and lead/backing vocals; Mike Rettig, lead guitar; Dave Russell, drums; and Dave Glaser, guitar and lead/backing vocals. More...

Man charged with killing egret

A Key Royale resident was arrested June 16 and charged with killing a white egret because it ate a fish from his front yard fishpond.

Holmes Beach Police arrested 74-year-old Laurie Miles Pardee, Jr. after witnesses said he shot the bird, beat it with a net and stomped it to death because it ate a Koi from his pond in front of his house. He was charged with felony cruelty to animals and discharging a firearm in public. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission also charged him with unlawful taking of a migratory bird. More...

Wrong name cited in Sandpiper suit

HOLMES BEACH - The city of Bradenton Beach and Sandpiper Resort Co-op Inc. have challenged a lawsuit filed against them by Holmes Beach, saying the mobile home park was wrongly listed as “Sandpiper Co-Op Resort Inc.” in the lawsuit.

A motion to quash the service of process in the civil case alleges that Doug LeFevre, who is listed as president and a director of the Sandpiper Resort Co-Op Inc. with the Florida Division of Corporations, “is not the registered agent or officer of any corporation named Sandpiper Co-Op Resort Inc.,” according to the motion by Sandpiper attorney Charles Webb, of Anna Maria. More...

Principal glad he made the move

HOLMES BEACH – Nearly a week had passed since school let out for the year, and David Marshall was assessing his first year at Anna Maria Elementary School after moving from Blackburn Elementary.

“It was a great first year,” he said. “All the things that went on, the parents and teachers shared true involvement and all the community support from the volunteers and businesses were great for the school.” More...

Jack cravelle: Bull dogs of the sea

Jack Cravelle are not a target species of most anglers who fish with fly, spin or bait casters. The majority of these fish are caught inshore by anglers looking for trout, redfish, snook and other species. Small Jack cravelle are even considered trash fish by many anglers, but once they hook one over five pounds they usually have a new appreciation of these bull dogs of the sea.

During the summer months, it’s not uncommon to see large schools of big Jack cravelle along local beaches where they pursue schools of baitfish. While even small Jacks can put up a feisty battle, larger members of the species are incredibly challenging. A big Jack on the west coast will run about 15 to 20 pounds and can put up an awe inspiring fight. It’s not uncommon for a 10- to 15-pound fish to fight for 15 to 20 minutes on a 12-weight fly rod used for tarpon. More...

How risky is condo buying?

As humans we all have a different tolerance for risk. Some of us like the 80-year-old woman whose harness malfunctioned while skydiving will try almost anything. Others are convinced that jumbo jets were not meant to fly. Most of us are somewhere in the middle, which is a good thing for the real estate market.

As we all now know, buying real estate, whether it’s a single family home, condominium, townhouse or commercial property, comes with some risk not unlike buying stocks and bonds. Since there are no real guarantees, every buyer needs to find what his/her risk threshold is. More...

Lovin' lobster at Lobstah's

Remember the classic lobster scene from Woody Allen’s 1977 movie, "Annie Hall," with Allen and Diane Keaton chasing lobsters around the floor of their beach house? If cooking lobster at home presents the same challenge to you as it did to Annie Hall, there’s a restaurant in Holmes Beach that makes it look easy.

In March the curtain went up on the second act of Jeff Levey’s life on Anna Maria. The first act was when he and his wife Bert Schaefer purchased the iconic Ginny’s & Jane E’s in Anna Maria once they relocated to the west coast of Florida. After talking to hundreds of residents and visitors who passed through Ginny’s, Levey decided the one thing the Island was missing was the availability of fresh cold water lobster and shellfish. More...

Safe withdrawal rates: Part II

In Part I of this article two weeks ago we reviewed the concept of the safe withdrawal rate from diversified investment portfolios, as originated by William Bengen, a California-based financial planner who pioneered this concept about 20 years ago. His conclusion was that the safe withdrawal rate from a diversified portfolio, allowing for inflation adjustments, was 4.5 percent per year. At this withdrawal rate, a portfolio should last 30 years before the owner would run out of money. More...

Storm devastates bird, turtle nests

BRADENTON BEACH – Tropical Storm Debby has claimed all 368 shorebird nests on Anna Maria Island and an unknown number of the 180 sea turtle nests so far, as forecasters predicted the storm will continue into this week.

The storm took 355 black skimmer nests (a species of special concern), 15 least tern nests and four snowy plover nests (both threatened species) due to rain inundating the nesting area, said Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and Shorebird Monitoring Director Suzi Fox. More...

Community Center Cup Champions

The newly added spring adult co-ed soccer season at the Anna Maria Island Community Center is now officially over. The season capped off on Thursday night with the first ever adult all-star game and then the Cup Championship.

Ten weeks ago, eight teams began the journey towards the title. But in the end it was the Don Meilner & Son Construction team that was crowned champions. Doing it with authority and leaving no doubt, they shutout the powerhouse Florida Discount Signs team 8-0. More...

Readers praise graduation stance

The response to last week’s column on the Manatee High School valedictorian Sarah Ecker, who didn’t give a speech at graduation or even get a mention in the program, has been overwhelmingly kind. A summary of responses follows, with Sarah’s dad first:

I would like to thank you very much for the kind words about my daughter. There are not enough words that can express a father’s happiness regarding Sarah’s accomplishments. As a parent, I was blessed when Sarah was born, making me the proud father I am today as I was when I first set eyes on her. More...