Vol. 12 No. 39 - July 11, 2012

news

Anna Maria Island Sun News StoryStar spangled pirates

The Island saw one of its best parades on July 4 this year. There were a lot of participants riding bikes, skates, and, of course, cars. Of course the Anna Maria Island Privateers brought their parade ship and there were three other ships from other crewes. The parade went along without a hitch. Some of the participants deployed squirt guns to keep the people watching the event cool in the hot summer sun. More...

Anna Maria Island Sun News StoryPart of pier could stay closed for months

BRADENTON BEACH – The dozen or so boats that were pulled from their moorings by Tropical Storm Debby left their mark on the bay area near the Bridge Street Pier. Some of them pulled loose from their moorings and sank; some were driven into the center of the Intracoastal Waterway and about a half dozen hit the pier itself.The boats damaged the pier to the point that the city had to close it to anglers and walkers, and it doesn’t look like it will be reopened for a while. More...

Anna Maria Island Sun News Story$7.3m OK’d for Debby damage

BRADENTON BEACH – The federal government has approved up to $7.3 million in emergency funds for Manatee County to repair damage caused by Tropical Storm Debby. Most of it will go for renourishing Coquina Beach, although some of it will go for other projects such as infrastructure that suffered wind or flood damage, including the Bridge Street Pier. More...

Anna Maria Island Sun News StorySun captures 14 awards in statewide competition

MIRAMAR BEACH - The Anna Maria Island Sun earned 14 awards in the Florida Press Association 2011 Better Weekly Newspaper Contest. Seven staff members and contributors combined to win the honors, which included two first place awards by Staff Writer Cindy Lane and one by cartoonist Steve Borggren. In addition to the three firsts, the staff took four second place and seven third place awards. The following is a complete listing of all the honors. More...

Anna Maria Island Sun News StoryWaves of emotion

COCOA BEACH – 500 surfers paddled into a circle in the Atlantic Ocean off Cocoa Beach on Sunday to honor former Anna Maria Island resident Rich Salick, who passed away last week at age 62 after emergency surgery at Orlando Regional Medical Center.

Twice that many had filled Club Zion Community Church in Cocoa Beach the day before to celebrate the life of the pro surfer, who was the face – and heart – of the National Kidney Foundation of Florida.More...

Bird killer suspect’s mental capacity questioned

The man arrested June 16 and charged with killing an egret that was eating one of his Koi fish may not face trial, if a request to have him declared incapacitated is successful.

Officials from the Department of Children and Families (DCF) went to Laurie Pardee’s house in Key Royale on Thursday, June 28, to have Pardee Baker Acted. That gave authorities permission to take custody of him for 72 hours while they gave him medical and mental examinations. More...

Anna Maria Island Sun News StoryStudents honored after parade

HOLMES BEACH – It was the end of another successful Fourth of July Parade and the Anna Maria Island Privateers gathered at the Island Beach Café to celebrate the 19 students who won scholarships totaling $22,000.

Only five winners were present to collect their scholarship checks because most of them were working. As Privateer Tim “Hammer” Thompson put it, “They’re doing what they’re supposed to be doing.” More...

Georgia showing some improvement

Georgia Rose Gibbons is walking with a walker and trying to communicate, good news for a woman who narrowly escaped death when she was hit by a car while walking along the road in Tallahassee, where she was attending college.

Her father, Bob Gibbons, wrote this update. More...



features

Anna Maria Island Sun News StoryChicksaw Nation films at DeSoto

The Chickasaw Nation filmed scenes for a documentary film about Hernando De Soto and the Chickasaw at De Soto National Memorial last month.

The film will recount De Soto’s 1539-1543 expedition and his clash with the Chickasaw in their ancestral home of Alabama and Mississippi. More...



OUTDOORS

Anna Maria Island Sun News StorySustainable and authentic Florida: Exploring Herb Hiller’s “Sense of Place”

I was first introduced to Herb Hiller at a conference of the Society of American Travel Writers in Orlando a few years back. The theme of the event was the new digital landscape including Facebook, Twitter, and applications for the iPhone and the Android cell platforms. The conference explored the opportunities the new technology held for journalists and photographers. It was a fascinating event with presentations by some of the “pioneers” that were using these new technologies online and through digital publications. Although he was present for all of the conference presentations, Hiller (a past president) didn’t address the group until the end of the event. When he did he riveted those present (and this writer in particular) with a talk on the real meaning of the Florida experience. More...



real estate

In real estate location is everything

At the risk of lowering my writing standards with the use of a well worn cliché, I need to say it again; what’s the most important thing in real estate? Location, location, location. This has never been truer than in our fledgling real estate market which is just starting to get its legs out under it.

The proof of this is a recent survey conducted by the Internet search engine Zillow indicating that real estate markets are not experiencing a recovery equally. What they report is not that startling - basically homes in sought-after areas are recovering faster than homes in marginal neighborhoods. As demand in these areas increases prices start going up, ultimately pushing buyers into some of the less desirable areas eventually producing a nationwide recovery. More...



business

Anna Maria Island Sun News StoryRetreat to eco-elegant Aluna

Sometimes we all just need a time out and I don’t mean a too much sugar five-year-old time out, I mean a spiritual time out that keeps you isolated from the world if only for a little while. Aluna Wellness Holistic Wellness Center and Spa in Bradenton Beach offers healthy and soothing services designed to transform a moment in time.

Dr. Tricia Graziano is a Board Certified Acupuncture Physician who has been practicing on Anna Maria Island for almost six years and currently has the only acupuncture practice on the Island. Her dream has always been to combine her acupuncture skills and holistic principles to create a wellness center focused on an individual’s needs and health. More...

Anna Maria Island Sun News Story

Safe withdrawal rates – Part III

Investment Corner

In the first two parts of this series we reviewed William Bengen’s research into the safe withdrawal rate from a diversified portfolio of stocks and bonds, which turned out to be about 4.5 percent of the principal value – adjusted for inflation each year. In all but one case, someone retiring in 1969, the portfolio tested would have lasted at least 30 years. Meaning that for the vast majority of people retiring in their 60s they would not run out of money during their lifetime.

We also reviewed the fact that the 1969 retiree, whose plan would have lasted about 28 years, was limited by variables such as the high inflation rate of the 1970s and 1980s, as well as a poorly performing stock market for the first 13 years of the retirement period. More...



turtles

Illegal beach repairs impacting turtles

Beachfront property owners trying to repair erosion caused by Tropical Storm Debby last month need permits, or they violate turtle laws, according to Steve West, with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).

“It’s not unusual for people to take matters into their own hands, but this is marine turtle season,” said West, who has been inspecting Anna Maria Island beaches. “I think that it is being violated quite a bit, and turtle people are upset.”

People have been dumping gravel, building stairways and spreading new sand, all violations observed and reported by Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and Shorebird Monitoring Director Suzi Fox since last month’s storm. More...



SPORTS

Summer sports off to great start

Youth Indoor Soccer

(5-7 year-olds) Results:

Bowes Imaging Center  14
Southern Greens  5
Alessandro Rincon scored 12 goals and Aliva Enzo chipped in with two for the Bowes Imaging Center win. Travis Bates scored all five for the Southern Greens team. More...

Traveling sisterhood towels

Feasting on Fitness

My kids loved the movie, “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.” I don’t remember the plot except for a pair of pants with sentimental value traveling the globe. The movie script popped up after my morning at Manatee Beach.

It was beautiful as it almost always is. Building clouds in the Gulf, 10 or 20 degrees cooler than most other places in the U.S. My hometown of St. Louis breached a record-breaking 104 degrees yesterday. A nice breeze cooled my personal training client and me as we came back from a two-mile run/walk session that started and ended at Manatee Beach. More...


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