Errors found in report on pipeline

ANNA MARIA – Several mistakes were made in a key environmental impact report on Port Dolphin, including overestimating the amount of available beach renourishment sand off Anna Maria Island.

A 12-page correction of the U.S. Coast Guard’s two-volume Environmental Impact Statement on the deepwater port project lists 10 errors - including some previously raised by Longboat Key officials - that could impact the project’s imminent approval. More...

Fishermen to seek federal aid

CORTEZ – Commercial fishermen plan to travel to Washington D.C. this month to ask lawmakers to keep their businesses afloat, in the wake of a gear ban and looming regulations intended to save sea turtles.

They want regulators to lift the temporary ban on longline grouper fishing gear that became effective in May, and compensate those whose gear and vessels would be excluded from the fishery under new permanent longline rules, said Bob Spaeth, executive director of the Southern Offshore Fishermen’s Association. More...

Sandbar honored by travel Web site

The Sandbar restaurant has been named one of the top five beach restaurants by the international travel Web site nowfly.co.uk. 

(The London) Times Online rated Nowfly as one of the top 10 travel Web sites for 2009. It is mainly a resource for inexpensive flights, hotels and car rentals but recently joined forces with travel journalist Marcus Waring to launch Zip It, Nowfly’s travel column. More...

Pier inspection shows needed repairs

ANNA MARIA — The city pier needs some work. The final report from an inspection of the entire structure on Aug. 24 and 25 won’t be available for a couple of weeks, but at first glance, engineers said there’s some work that needs to be done.

“The pier isn’t going to collapse tomorrow,” said Lawrence Essman, an engineer from Miami hired to inspect the structure of the pier. “But the alignment of the pilings along the sides of the pier has been deflected.” More...

Wirries wins summer talent contest

ANNA MARIA – A sparkling performance by 12-year-old Maria Wirries clinched her first place win in the Island’s Got Talent contest on Sunday night at the Sandbar restaurant.

Judges Katy Demick, Jim Turner and Mark Ibasfalean were blown away when the versatile songstress hit the final high note on Linda Ronstadt’s dreamy “Blue Bayou,” a total departure from her Broadway-style performance of “New York, New York” in last week’s second round. More...

Keep Labor Day safe for manatees

HOLMES BEACH – Many people who witnessed an accident between a car and a motorcycle last Friday between 5 and 6 p.m. thought the cyclist would be another statistic, but that wasn’t the case.

That cyclist was Bob Hills, husband of Realtor Betsy Hills, and while he’s not up and about, he still with us and his injuries could be worse. More...

More TV time for Mermaid

ANNA MARIA – When the area’s all-news television station goes looking for fine food, it often ends up on Anna Maria Island.

Last week, Bay News 9’s Roy DeJesus and cameraman Roger Johnson spent some quality time with Ed and Andrea Spring, owners of the Sign of the Mermaid. More...

Bayfront Park remains under water quality advisory

For the second week in a row, swimmers are advised to stay out of the waters off Bayfront Park north in Anna Maria.

The Manatee County Health Department posted the water quality advisory due to high bacterial counts after the weekly testing.

An advisory indicates that water contact may pose an increased risk of infectious disease, particularly to susceptible individuals, according to the Health Department. More...

Center supporters invade bowling alley

Once a year, the staff and management of AMF Bradenton Lanes entertain the crew from Anna Maria Island as they bowl to raise money for the AMI Community Center. This year was the 19th for the O’Connor Bowling Challenge, and there was a waiting list of people who wanted to join the fun.

And it was a lot of fun.

It was also profitable for the Center. Business manager Sandy Pruett said that they made around $10,000 from the event. More...

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Extend your season in Big Sky country

Most of Florida’s summer season offers unparalleled fishing to area anglers. Snook, trout, redfish, grouper, tarpon, snapper and a smorgasbord of pelagic species swim area waters. While many snowbirds head north in May or June, anglers in the know wouldn’t think of leaving Florida that early in the season.

That all changes when the tarpon thin out and the day time temperatures and humidity make fishing local waters uncomfortable for anglers and fish alike. This doesn’t mean that we’re not interested in pursuing our passion. More...

Breathe deeply, the fire isn't over yet

If you were reading the local and national papers a few weeks ago when the July housing statistics were published, you would have gotten the impression that we were in the middle of a nationwide fire sale on residential housing. True, there were some impressive numbers giving hope to buyers, sellers and real estate professionals, but take a deep breath the fire isn’t over yet. More...

Hats off to fun Whitney Bank exchange

HOLMES BEACH – Good food, good times and Mother Nature combined for an exciting Anna Maria Island Chamber of Commerce Business Card Exchange Aug. 26 at Whitney Bank.

Whitney Bank Branch Manager Lois Gift has always gone all out to make its annual hosting fun and this time, it had a hat contest, delicious food catered by the Sandbar restaurant, a well-stocked bar behind the teller counter and a rain and lightning show outside. More...

Bond-based portfolios

Traditionally, most mainstream advice on asset allocation within investment portfolios has tended to lean toward emphasizing common stocks over fixed income to take advantage of the higher long-term rates of return traditionally offered by equity investments compared to bonds.

This philosophy lead to typical portfolio allocations for retired individuals of 60 percent in stocks and 40 percent in bonds. Of course, the recommended allocation could vary based on the individual situation and personality for assuming risk. More...

Turtle season beginning to wind down

Turtle nesting season on Anna Maria Island and elsewhere in the state is beginning to wind down.

“Well over half the nests have hatched already,” said Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch Director Suzi Fox. “We haven’t had a new nest in over two weeks, so I think we can safely say that the females are done laying their eggs. Now we just watch the nests and hope all the hatchlings get into the Gulf safely.”

Of 167 nests this year, 102 had hatched out by Aug. 28, with an estimated 8,891 babies scrambling into the water. More...