Grand Affaire a celebration

ANNA MARIA – The Grande Affaire Saturday night was The Center's first attempt to celebrate paying off the mortgage and it was a success, according to Center Director Kristen Lessig.

Although the amount of money raised was unknown at press time, she said the revamped annual fund-raiser was the product of teamwork.

"It has been a great year with a new committee," she said. "It went extremely well." More...

Pier repairs two years away

ANNA MARIA – According to Mayor Dan Murphy, it's going to be at least two years before the rehabilitation of the city pier begins.

During last week's City Commission meeting, Murphy said the city is looking at a two-year permitting process, followed by a one year rehabilitation process at an estimated cost of $1.7 million.

"I think it's going to be bigger. I would define the problem as a $2 million problem by the time you get through with it, and I think it's a three to four year period of time," he said.

Murphy said those who currently operate businesses and work on the pier should see no interruption to their employment or operations in the next two years. More...

Commissioner objects to noise policy change

HOLMES BEACH – Commissioner Jean Peelen objected to the city's new policy regarding noise complaints.

"I object to the policy being changed with no input from the commission. "

Police Chief Bill Tokajer recently announced that a caller must give his/her name and information, meet with the officer, sign an affidavit on a founded violation and be willing to testify in court if required after the city lost a court case involving a noise citation.

He further said if the above does not occur, the officer would take no action other than to go by the location where a complaint was received and ask the occupants to lessen the noise. More...

City receives clean audit

BRADENTON BEACH – The city received a clean audit for the 2014-2015 fiscal year, and the auditors declared the city's finances to be in sound shape.

The annual audit was conducted by the Sarasota-based CS&L accounting firm. On Tuesday, April 12, auditors Randy Dillingham and Jeff Gerhard presented the audit report to the mayor, city commissioners and department heads.

"No material weaknesses, sufficient deficiencies or compliance findings are reported. At year-end, the city was in a good financial position," Dillingham said. More...

City finances reviewed

BRADENTON BEACH – The audit report presented to the City Commission last week provided a snap-shot of the city's finances at the end of the 2014-15 fiscal year.

The fiscal year began Oct. 1, 2014 and ended Sept. 30, 2015.

At year-end, the city had a total net worth of $9.46 million, including land, buildings and other assets.

In 2014-15, the city received $2,729,044 in general fund revenues, $915,130 in Community Redevelopment Agency revenues and $2,403 in library revenues, for a total of $3,646,577. More...

Food and Wine on Pine set for May 7

ANNA MARIA – Food and Wine on Pine, the Island's premier culinary and cultural event, is set for May 7, with a rain date of May 8, on picturesque Pine Avenue in Anna Maria, where guests will experience the area's finest food, wine, art and music.

The event will include unique offerings from more than 20 area restaurants, 30 upscale wines, craft and domestic beers, 32 juried artists, more than 30 musical acts, actors portraying Anna Maria's historical characters and for the kids an art tent and an activity area. More...

Parking and access are commission priorities

ANNA MARIA – City Commissioners have compiled a priority agenda list containing numerous items they wish to address. Some items have already been addressed, some are being addressed and some have yet to be discussed.

Commissioner Dale Woodland recently proposed the priority list and asked the other commissioners to submit ideas to supplement his.

Right of way parking, protecting beach accesses and addressing parking along beach access streets made the list and were discussed at the Thursday, April 14, meeting. More...

City to give relief to some corner lots

HOLMES BEACH – City commissioners instructed City Planner Bill Brisson to begin drafting an ordinance to give relief to some corner lot owners.

The issue came to the city's attention in March when a couple's attempt to build a house on their lot with three front yards in the Palm Harbor subdivision highlighted problems with two ordinances approved last year. One was Ordinance 15-19, which required a front yard along each street upon which a lot or parcel fronts; and the other was Ordinance 15-20, which banned front yard pools.

At last week's meeting, Peggy Jude, of One Palm Harbor Drive, proposed the concept of designating a primary front yard tied to the address and a secondary front yard with a 3- to 4-foot encroachment to allow for pool equipment. She also asked about fence height for a secondary front yard. More...

Good times at Cortez picnic

CORTEZ – A cool breeze blew off Sarasota Bay, and mullet splashed near the Albert Few-Miller public dock where the close-knit residents of the historic fishing village of Cortez gathered on Saturday at their annual Cortez Community Picnic.

Students from the Manatee School for the Arts presented a maritime art exhibit with photographs and paintings of Cortez, and entertained with readings from books about Cortez.

All enjoyed the potluck lunch featuring fresh mullet – a Cortez staple – with shrimp, hush puppies, vegetable side dishes and homemade desserts, including a tart made with guava, another Cortez staple. More...

Protecting seabirds

The first sign of action was vague and a few miles in the distance. Without the clue we got from the terns and pelicans wheeling above the water's surface we may never have found the frenzy of feeding little tunny we encountered as we motored closer to the action. Thanks to the birds we enjoyed some fast action, following the birds as they tracked the movement of the schools below the water's surface.

When local anglers fish the bays and gulf waters they share that space with numerous seabirds. All too often they find themselves having to deal with one of these birds when they are inadvertently hooked.

This is home for the birds and they are a valuable resource for anglers often leading them to the fish that they're seeking. Problems develop when seabirds, particularly terns and pelicans, mistake the bait anglers' use as an easy meal. They can also be hooked by anglers using flies and artificial lures when they cast into feeding fish that the birds hover over. Trouble ensues if the fisherman doesn't know how to properly deal with the situation. All too often the line breaks and the birds trail it to their eventual roost. More...

Water is what it's all about

I recently learned a new word "Uehvtkv" which means ocean in the language spoken by the Seminole Native Americans of Florida. It seems that wherever we go on Anna Maria we're surrounded by the ocean. Something that I recently appreciated while showing a group of young women new to the area around Anna Maria Island. They were as impressed by the water as the Seminoles, and just like the Seminoles, getting as close to the water as possible is where everyone wants to be, and the closer to the water the more expensive. Therefore, here is my five-month analysis of Anna Maria Island and Cortez properties that sold for one million or more.

The following statistics are from the Manatee County Property Appraiser's website and include sales between Nov. 1, 2015, through March 31, 2016, that are recorded as $900,000 and over. I generally include sales between $900,000 and one million since many of them are so close to the million dollar criteria that I feel they should be noted. More...

It's a new day at A Hair Day Salon & Spa

Change is a wonderful thing, and when Faith Baglieri decided it was time to grow and expand her hair salon, she didn't hold back. In February, Baglieri moved her business from the middle of the Mount Vernon Plaza to a much larger and very visible location facing Cortez Road. And that wasn't all. She added an entire menu of services, turning what once was a traditional hair salon into a salon and spa.

The new décor at A Hair Day Salon & Spa will make you feel like you're walking on to a beach with its sky blue walls, tropical fans and sandpiper murals. In addition, all of the hair stations are brand spanking new as well as the furnishings for the new spa, which features a soothing massage room. More...

Dividend income from stocks is tax preferenced

As investors examine how to generate income from their investment capital, the subject of taxation on income becomes important. For those in the highest income brackets, more than 40 percent of ordinary income may be lost to federal taxes and in most states there is additional income tax at the state level (but not in Florida). Of course we are not talking about income earned inside an IRA or other tax qualified account, where taxes are paid as distributions are taken from the account, or not at all in the case of a Roth-style qualified account.

Ordinary income is that received from employment or business profits, distributions from annuities and traditional IRAs, interest payments from bonds (except municipal bonds), Social Security and other pensions. More...

Brothers Moss light up the championship field: Beach House Real Estate victorious

Beach House Real Estate 21
Moss Builders 13

Just before sundown, the regular season league leader faced the second seeded team in the adult co-ed flag football championship game at The Center Wednesday night. Beach House Real Estate, #1 seed, proved why they were at the top of the league against worthy opponents #2 seed Moss Builders.

What proved to be a showdown between brothers Ryan Moss and Jon Moss kept those on the sidelines and the dozen spectators, more than half part of the closely-knit Moss family, engaged in the 40 minutes battle the entire time. More...

Turtles, trees benefit from app

A project that uses an android app instead of pencil, paper and a clipboard is designed to save both turtles and trees, according to Suzi Fox, director of Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and Shorebird Monitoring.

The not-for-profit organization's volunteers walk Anna Maria Island's beaches each morning from May 1 to Oct. 31 searching for flipper tracks that indicate that sea turtles have nested the night before.

Instead of recording data on clipboards showing the date, the location of nests, whether eggs are in the nests or whether they were false crawls and many other statistics, Turtle Watch is the first organization of its kind to use an app to enter the data electronically. More...