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Business, Castles in the Sand

Are mortgage rates really going down?

Feb 27, 2024 – Louise Bolger
February 5, 2024
By Louise Bolger

Condominium disclosures a different animal

There are loads of different animal species in the world and although some are part of the same group, like mammals, they still have differences within their group. This is the same with real estate…
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January 29, 2024
By Joe Hendricks
Tourist tax subsidizes Gulf Islands Ferry service

Tourist tax subsidizes Gulf Islands Ferry service

ANNA MARIA – After launching on Jan. 14, Manatee County’s Gulf Islands Ferry service is now operating three days per week. The county contracts with Clearwater-based Gulf Coast Water Taxi LLC to ope…
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January 29, 2024
By Jason Schaffer
Chamber awards trolley grants

Chamber awards trolley grants

CORTEZ – More than a hundred people packed the Seafood Shack’s Neptune Room on Jan. 25 for the Anna Maria Island Chamber of Commerce’s latest Business Card Exchange, which featured the annual Trolley…
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January 29, 2024
By Louise Bolger

Disclosure vital in ‘stigmatized’ property sale

You may think in the land of sunshine, surf and sand there can be nothing defined as stigmatized. Maybe not, since the word can mean different things to different buyers. The National Association of…
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January 29, 2024
By Jason Schaffer
Year in Review: Tourism

Tourism numbers slip in November

MANATEE COUNTY – Research Data Services’ Ann Wittine presented her state of tourism update to the county Tourist Development Council (TDC) on Jan. 22, comparing tourism in November 2023 to the same m…
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January 23, 2024
By Louise Bolger

Changing tides

Every day I watch the tides change. Sometimes they’re low, sometimes they’re high, and every day is different. You could say almost the same thing about mortgage interest rates, but the tides for rat…
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January 16, 2024
By Louise Bolger

New world order: Renting

Like fashion, real estate goes in and out of vogue. What was all the rage in one decade can be out the next. Well, now the real estate reset is homeownership. My parents grew up in a big city that…
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January 9, 2024
By Joe Hendricks
G.I. Bins keeps City Pier clean

G.I. Bins keeps City Pier clean

ANNA MARIA – Island-based G.I. Bins is responsible for keeping the City Pier clean. Every other week, company owners Ryan Pfahler and Scott Hoogewind spend four to five hours cleaning the pier aft…
January 9, 2024
By Louise Bolger

The heat is on

The U.S. Census Bureau has released its population statistics for the year 2022 to 2023. All I can say is the heat is on in the South. The takeaway here is that Texas and Florida’s population grew b…
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January 9, 2024
By Leslie Lake
Cortez Kitchen to reopen Jan. 14

Cortez Kitchen to reopen Jan. 14

CORTEZ –The grand reopening of the Cortez Kitchen, 4528 119th St. W., is scheduled for Sunday, Jan. 14. The newly-remodeled restaurant and bar is an upgraded version of its former self, featuring a…
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April 9, 2025
11:45 am

The Off-Stage Ladies of the Island Players, April luncheon meeting