Vol. 14 No. 27 - April 30, 2014

news

Anna Maria Island Sun News StoryU.S. Supreme Court to hear fisherman’s appeal

CORTEZ – What does a dead grouper have in common with a falsified financial document?

That’s the question that the U.S. Supreme Court will consider when it hears the appeal of commercial fisherman John Yates.

The high court announced Monday morning that it would consider Yates’ appeal of his 2011 conviction in Fort Myers federal court of disposing of evidence to prevent seizure and destroying evidence to impede or obstruct a federal investigation. More...

No answers yet in boating fatality off Egmont Key

ANNA MARIA – Officials are waiting for word from the District 12 Coroner’s Office as to the cause of death of Henry West hicks, 60, a Tampa attorney who lived in Anna Maria and died apparently while retrieving the anchor to his 27-foot boat approximately three miles west of Anna Maria Island on Saturday, around 4:15 p.m.

According to officer Baryl Martin, from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, Hicks was with his wife, Christine, when the incident occurred. His organization won’t issue a final report until the coroner’s office releases the cause of death, and a person at the coroner’s office said the report might take days to be issued. More...

The food and wine star at Food and Wine on Pine

ANNA MARIA – As the name suggests, food and wine are the stars at the annual Food and Wine on Pine event set for Saturday, May 3, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Pine Avenue in Anna Maria.

Visitors can eat and drink their way down Pine Avenue, enjoying a variety of fresh, local Florida foods provided by 25 restaurants, 30 varietals of wine from various suppliers and a selection of beers and craft beers sponsored by JJ Taylor. More...

Activities at Food and Wine on Pine

ANNA MARIA – Youths will have a great time at Food and Wine on Pine in the kids’ area across the street from Roser Church.

“There will be Nickelodeon style games including eating chocolate covered donuts off a string, watermelon grinding, blowgun marshmallow shooting, grubbing and fishing, guess the gross item, plastic darts, ball throwing games and a bell ringing game,” said Pastor Ed Moss, of CrossPointe Fellowship, which sponsors the game area. More...

Anna Maria Island Sun News Story Pier bids opened

BRADENTON BEACH – The sealed bids for the city pier reconstruction project were opened on Monday, April 21.

Taking place in the Tingley Memorial Library meeting room, the bid opening process conducted by City Clerk Jamie Anderson took less than less than 10 minutes, with the bids ranging from $1.2 million to $1.8 million.

More...

Zaccagnino presents parking plan

HOLMES BEACH – Commissioner David Zaccagnino presented a parking control plan last week that includes taking control of the public beach and issuing parking passes to all Manatee County residents

“It’s clear the public wants something to be done,” Zaccagnino stressed. “I’m fed up with the TDC (Manatee County Tourist Development Council),” which he said has funded sports tournaments, a power boat race and a film festival, but has ignored the Island cities’ requests for help. More...

Key Royale residents vent about speed cushion

HOLMES BEACH – Residents of Key Royale expressed their anger at not being consulted about the installation of a speed cushion on Key Royale Drive in front of Mayor Carmel Monti’s house.

“Forty-one people were stopped today in two hours, which proves that the speed bump is not working; your presence is,” Piroska Planck said to Chief Bill Tokajer. “The residents were never notified. More...

Community Center facing financial troubles

ANNA MARIA – It was a remark by Executive Director Dawn Stiles that precipitated a serious discussion of finances at the Center’s board of directors meeting Friday.

During a review of a new animal policy, Stiles remarked, “I find it interesting that there’s so much attention paid to this and less attention paid to financials.”

This prompted Holmes Beach Commissioner David Zaccagnino to ask, “Is there a problem with the financials we should know about?” More...



features

Anna Maria Island Sun News StoryBuried since WWII, artifacts unearthed on beach

BRADENTON BEACH – When Richard Beldman returned to Ontario after his month-long stay at the Runaway Bay resort, he left behind a collection of World War II era ammunition casings he unearthed from the renourished beach across the street.

The majority of Beldman’s discoveries are now the property of the Anna Maria Island Historical Society, as Beldman felt it was only right that the artifacts remain in the community where they were found. More...



OUTDOORS

Anna Maria Island Sun News Story Sister Keys clean up May 17

The Sister Keys are a shining example of the possibilities we have to enhance and save critical areas of the bay for future generations. If you haven’t had the opportunity to see a naturally functioning habitat resurrected from uplands chocked with invasive species, here’s your chance to see first-hand the restorative power of nature. The Sister Keys have the distinction of being the largest undeveloped group of islands between Tampa Bay and Charlotte Harbor. More...



real estate

House swapping in paradise

As indicated in last week’s column, the sale of vacation homes is soaring in the country, and, of course, the same is true on Anna Maria Island. But does owning a vacation property prevent you from perusing your dreams of traveling? If you own property on Anna Maria Island, you’re sitting on a very desirable vacation location that can also help fulfill your vacation dreams.

House swapping has been around for a long time and can be the perfect fit for second homeowners who want to put their property to work for them without outright renting. Let’s say you have a beachfront cottage on Anna Maria and you want to travel to Europe or South America or California, but don’t want the expense and inconvenience of staying in hotels. By joining one of the more than 20 home exchange groups, it’s possible to find a home in the location you want and the time frame that interests you. In exchange, you would make your cottage available at the same time. More...



business

Anna Maria Island Sun News StoryLaPensee pool division going swimmingly

Except for maybe cookies, no one likes cookie cutter anything, especially when it comes to our homes. Custom designed is the name of the game. We all want to commission our projects to a particular specification that reflects our personalities and lifestyle, so why would building a pool be any different?

LaPensee Plumbing & Pools has been servicing its customers on Anna Maria Island for almost 30 years. Its grown from a small family business to a big family business with 36 employees still headed up by Karen LaPensee and her son, Greg. But they’re not willing to sit on their laurels. They’re in the business of building their business, and now they’re also building swimming pools. More...

Anna Maria Island Sun News Story

Dividend growth stocks cheap compared to high yield stocks

Investment Corner

The argument of whether U.S. equity prices are cheap, fairly valued or expensive relative to historic valuation measures is being waged in the media on a daily basis. One theory that cannot be easily refuted is the idea that companies which raise their dividend frequently and aggressively are much more reasonably valued than the companies which sport higher, but more stagnant dividend yields.

The stock market can be divided for purposes of analysis many ways. Large companies vs. small, dividend paying stocks vs. non-dividend paying stocks, and as indicated above, rising dividend companies vs. stagnant dividend payers. More...



SPORTS

Anna Maria Island Sun News Story

'Smile Deep' soccer tournament

Paul Hayward has been a positive influence to children and adults, not only with soccer, but in life. His positive disposition, despite having extensive stage four cancer for many years, has been an inspiration to everyone he crosses paths with.

Many Island residents, friends and teammates of Hayward are organizing a charitable 4 v 4 soccer tournament to be hosted at the Anna Maria Island Community Center on May 17. “Smile Deep,” named after one of his many peace loving phrases, will help raise much needed funds. While Hayward and his family are poised to meet the many challenges brought on by his next phase of medical treatment, they need help. More...


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