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Joe Hendricks

Joe Hendricks

February 11, 2017
Joe Hendricks the editor of the Anna Maria Island Sun. As a Sun reporter, Joe primarily covers the cities of Anna Maria and Holmes Beach, including those two city goverments. He also covers Island-related matters at the county and state levels.
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January 15, 2020
By Joe Hendricks
Carolyne Norwood was Anna Maria’s preeminent historian

Carolyne Norwood was Anna Maria’s preeminent historian

ANNA MARIA – Carolyne Norwood played a vital role in preserving the history of Anna Maria Island. She also made a lot of friends during her decades on the Island. Norwood, who passed away on J…
January 14, 2020
By Joe Hendricks
Fire & Stone preparing to reopen

Fire & Stone preparing to reopen

CORTEZ – The owners of the Fire & Stone pizzeria on Cortez Road hope to reopen their restaurant as early as this week. When reopened, the renovated Fire & Stone restaurant will feature the…
January 12, 2020
By Joe Hendricks
Commission rejects Schoenfelder's pier lease offer

Commission rejects Schoenfelder’s pier lease offer

ANNA MARIA – The Anna Maria City Commission has rejected Mario Schoenfelder’s final offer to lease the restaurant and bait shop buildings at the end of the new Anna Maria City Pier. The commission…
January 7, 2020
By Joe Hendricks
Pier lease offer to be discussed Friday

Pier lease offer to be discussed Friday

ANNA MARIA – On Friday, Jan. 10, Mayor Dan Murphy and the Anna Maria City Commission will discuss Mario Schoenfelder’s final offer to lease the restaurant and bait shop buildings being built on the n…
January 7, 2020
By Joe Hendricks
Did a meteorite hit AMI?

Did a meteorite hit AMI?

HOLMES BEACH – Part-time Holmes Beach residents Dorene Collier and AJ LeBlanc wonder if a small meteorite or some other falling object started a small fire in the backyard of Collier’s home on 84th S…
January 4, 2020
By Joe Hendricks
A sailor’s life cut short

A sailor’s life cut short

BRADENTON BEACH – The liveaboard boating community in Bradenton Beach lost a friend and fellow sailor with the recent passing of 59-year-old Octavio Utrera. Utrera previously owned and operated An…
January 2, 2020
By Joe Hendricks
Kyle Shell celebration raises funds for daughter

Kyle Shell celebration raises funds for daughter

BRADENTON BEACH – Kyle Shell’s Saturday, Dec. 28 fundraising celebration of life raised $6,074 to help his 17-year-old daughter, Kaya Sage Shell, attend college in hopes of becoming a doctor. Addi…
January 1, 2020
By Joe Hendricks
Doug Copeland named Sun’s Person of the Year

Doug Copeland named Sun’s Person of the Year

ANNA MARIA – Longtime Anna Maria Commissioner Doug Copeland is The Sun’s Person of the Year for 2019. In December, Copeland finished his final term as a city commissioner and ended his decades of…
December 29, 2019
By Joe Hendricks
New pier takes shape

New pier takes shape

Updated Jan. 2, 2020 – The Anna Maria City Commission will discuss  Schoenfelder’s final offer at a special city meeting  on Friday, Jan. 10 at 10 a.m. Schoenfelder, who divides his time between A…
December 28, 2019
By Joe Hendricks
Pier tenant submits final lease offer

Pier tenant submits final lease offer

ANNA MARIA – Mario Schoenfelder has submitted his final offer for the lease of the restaurant and bait shop buildings being built at the T-end of the new Anna Maria City Pier. Dated Dec. 22 and ad…
December 23, 2019
By Joe Hendricks
Petitioners challenge Cortez Bridge decision

Amended request for Cortez Bridge hearing denied

CORTEZ – The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) has dismissed with prejudice a second request for a formal administrative hearing regarding FDOT’s plans to someday replace the Cortez Bridge…
December 23, 2019
By Joe Hendricks
Displaced osprey gets a new home

Displaced osprey gets a new home

ANNA MARIA – A displaced female osprey has a new nesting place thanks to the combined efforts of the Lake La Vista Homeowners Association and part-time resident Kay Johnson, Florida Power and Light…
December 18, 2019
By Joe Hendricks
Holiday Carols in the Park not dampened by rainy weather

Holiday Carols in the Park not dampened by rainy weather

ANNA MARIA – Despite a steady rain, the city of Anna Maria’s Holiday Carols in the Park started with a bang, when Santa magically appeared through a cloud of orange smoke at the west end of City Pier…
December 10, 2019
By Joe Hendricks
Holiday Boat Parade setting sail soon

Holiday boat parade setting sail soon

BRADENTON BEACH – A fleet of delightfully lit and decorated boats will pass along the Bradenton Beach shoreline during the second annual Bradenton Beach Holiday Boat Parade. Setting sail on Saturd…
December 10, 2019
By Joe Hendricks
Kyle Shell remembered…

Kyle Shell remembered…

BRADENTON BEACH – Anna Maria Island lost a larger than life personality when Kyle Shell passed away on Tuesday, Dec. 3. Kyle was 42 when he died peacefully at the Bradenton Beach home he and his m…