Incumbents victorious in county and Holmes Beach

At large Manatee County Commissioner Carol Whitmore received more than twice the votes as her opponent Sundae Knight in Tuesday’s election.

“I’m shocked at the results, but thank goodness it’s over,” Whitmore said. “I ran a clean campaign, and I’m happy. I’ll keep up the hard work.”

Whitmore’s tally was 70,025 to Knight’s 31,656. She will be serving her second four-year term. More...

Selby wins Anna Maria mayors race

Political newcomer Mike Selby is now the mayor of Anna Maria.

“I’m humbled that people trust me enough and have faith in me enough to vote for me,” Selby said Tuesday night, in the middle of  celebrating his victory with friends and supporters. “I’ll work hard to try to bring the city back together.”

Selby took 54.43 percent of the vote with a total of 509 to his opponent Sandy Mattick’s 45.56 or 426 votes. More...

Vosburgh wins in Bradenton Beach

BRADENTON BEACH – Jan Vosburgh scored a convincing win in her first election after serving several months as a city commissioner replacing Bob Bartelt on the commission when Bartelt took over as mayor earlier this year.

Vosburgh had 60 percent of the tally with 273 votes to Michael Harrington’s 182, or 40 percent of the vote. Harrington, who served on the city’s mooring field committee, was Vosburgh’s lone challenger for the Ward 4 seat. More...

Sabine mystery persists

HOLMES BEACH – Her favorite holiday, Halloween, has just passed, and Election Day, Nov. 4, marks two years since anyone has reported seeing Haley’s Motel co-owner Sabine Musil-Buehler.

Her disappearance remains a mystery to law enforcement officials. In the interest of jogging memories and consciences that may hold clues, the Anna Maria Island Sun presents this chronicle of her story from previous editions. More...

Island will miss Van Ostenbridge

Flags at West Manatee Fire Rescue stations will fly at half-staff on Saturday, Nov. 6, in honor of John Van Ostenbridge, who died peacefully on Saturday, Oct. 30.

While the long-time Holmes Beach resident is mourned, many who knew him talk about a man who served as an assistant fire chief, a fire commissioner, a coach at the Community Center and the Rotary Club's 1972 Man of the Year. More...

Aaarrgg!! Privateers turn 40

“Forty years of privateers” is their theme and like everything else they do, their 40th anniversary will be big.

The Anna Maria Island Privateers mark their anniversary next year with festivities during their normal events such as their Thieves’ Markets at Coquina Beach, their mullet smokes at Publix and their Independence Day and Christmas parades. In addition, they are planning a big pirate festival and an additional parade. More...

Put an end to leaving dog waste behind

Waterways in Robinson Preserve were designed and created to connect to the Manatee River, Palma Sola Bay and Perico Bayou to increase tidal flushing and improve water quality.

But another great feature of the 487-acre preserve in northwest Bradenton – the fact that it’s dog-friendly – has caused some water quality problems due to fecal bacteria from dog waste. More...

PAR site plan hearing continued

ANNA MARIA – A site plan hearing that was set for Oct. 28 for a Pine Avenue Restoration project at 308 Pine Avenue has been continued until Nov. 17 at 6 p.m. The plan, which is for two mixed-use buildings in the city’s residential/office/retail district, was turned down earlier this year over safety concerns. The city has been wrestling without resolution over how to regulate the parking in the ROR district. Historically, parking has been allowed on Pine Avenue, and several recent sites have parking on the business property, but traffic crosses sidewalks entering and exiting from the parking areas. More...

Lawsuit filed in drowning death

ANNA MARIA – The family of a Tampa woman who was caught in a rip current last August and drowned put the city on notice that a lawsuit is planned.

Attorneys from Tampa law firm Wagner, Vaughn & McLaughlin sent a letter to the city stating that they represent Alberto J. Pardo whose wife Josefina Pardo drowned off the city beaches on Aug. 12, 2010. More...

New logo for City of Anna Maria

CORTEZ – Like the mangroves that line local shorelines, Manatee County’s historic roots are in the water, and the Florida Maritime Museum at Cortez is bringing two chapters of local history to life, in wood.

Wooden boats were integral in the landing of Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto in 1539 in west Bradenton and in the escape of Confederate Secretary of State Judah P. Benjamin from the Union in 1865 in east Manatee County. More...

Historic buildings going green

ANNA MARIA — Usually, when a building project is taking shape, it rises out of the ground. That’s not the case with the Historic Green Village taking shape on Pine Avenue. There we’re seeing one of the first two buildings lowered to the ground and the second being gutted in place.

The Sears Cottage, which was moved earlier this year from further west on Pine, has been lowered into its permanent position. Both the Rosedale Cottage and the Sears Cottage are being gutted and stripped to the bare studs. More...

ArtsHOP has art, cultural events for everyone

The annual artsHOP weekend Friday through Sunday, Nov. 12 through 14, ushers in the Island cultural season and provides a wide variety of events and activities for the entire family to enjoy.

The weekend begins with a gallery walk, silent auction and play on Friday, continues with an arts and crafts festival, a book signing, the silent auction, a sock hop and the play on Saturday and concludes with the arts and crafts festival, a chorus and orchestra concert and a drum circle on Sunday. More...

Thoughts about the past 10 years

Local legendary shark fisherman Captain Bill Goldschmitt, also known as the Sharkman of Cortez, is now getting global attention for his take on shark preservation and the commercial fishing industry.

Goldschmitt describes himself as a conservationist who believes in sustainable use of the resources of this planet, like sharks, and his opinions and viewpoints on these topics are different than those of many environmentalists and scientists. More...

Colorful murals brighten up Holmes Beach

HOLMES BEACH – A non descript wall on the city’s newest comfort station by the skate park has become an explosion of color thanks to two local artists – Joel Cocciolone and Chad “Cheeta” Ruis.

The pair began their collaboration the morning of Oct. 23 to coincide with the School’s Back Grom Skate Competition, said organizer Mark Boltwood, of Six Third Productions, which promotes art and entertainment in the area. More...

Life inspires loggerhead turtle art

This week’s artists that have contributed turtle-themed art for the annual artsHOP silent auction are Deborah Webster, Paul Arnold and Kay Vontz.

Deborah Webster is originally from Saratoga Springs, N.Y., where she was a high school at teacher for 30 years, and she and her husband ran an art gallery. More...

Catch and release: Investing in a fishing future

Catch and release isn’t a new concept. Even in the early part of the 20th century, far sighted anglers could see the potential for depleted fisheries. Over the last decade, it should have become apparent to all but the comatose angler that there isn’t an inexhaustible well of fish in our waters. We’ve fought battles to limit netting and made a commitment to be better stewards by agreeing to reasonable restrictions on size and bag limits. We’re better educated in the press and at the docks about limiting our catch and being less concerned about catching our limit. As Lefty Kreh says, it’s only common sense, only common sense ain’t so common! More...

Title insurance – a real estate must

Living through the complexities of a real estate transaction can sometimes seem like you’re walking through a fog of paperwork and signing your name to dozens of documents. Actually, this is exactly what you’re doing and by the time you walk away from the closing table, you may not be sure what exactly you’ve purchased. However, one of those pieces of paper represents something that you need to pay attention to and make sure you don’t say no to. More...

Barbecue restaurant coming to Holmes Beach

HOLMES BEACH – Barry Grooms thanked city commissioners last week for approving an ordinance easing up on parking regulations for restaurants and said it would enable him to open a barbecue restaurant. More...

So what’s the talk of QE2 all about?

It sounds like the Federal Reserve Board of Governors is planning a holiday cruise. The financial media has recklessly been throwing around the term QE 2, which before the financial crisis was a widely known abbreviation for the large cruise ship – the Queen Elizabeth II. The context of today for QE 2 is stimulation of the economy through a practice known as quantitative easing. The 2 in the term refers to the fact that this would be the second round of quantitative easing as we have emerged from the 2008-2009 financial crisis. More...

Turtle season winds down

A bench at the Intracoastal Waterway end of 10th Street South in Bradenton Beach is decorated with turtles. The Gulf end of the street is a favorite spot for Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch hatchling releases. See more photos! More...

Mike Norman Realty battles back to 1st place

This week’s Sun sports Game of the week was a battle for first place between Autoway Ford and Mike Norman Realty. These two teams have been battling it out all year. The last time Mike Norman’s team was in first place was back on Oct. 13 when the two teams shared the lead. This week it was time for their team to take the top spot all alone. The Autoway team started the game off strong and took a very early 2-0 lead. Autoway’s first goal was a perfectly executed give-and-go pass from Sydney Cornell to Neil Carper, back to Sydney’s left foot and into the back corner of the net. Two minutes later, Neil Carper got the team’s second goal by a strategically placed long kick to the upper right corner. More...