Pine Avenue RENAISSANCE

ANNA MARIA - Since Pine Avenue Restoration completed its first two buildings in 2009, the street has evolved from a sparse collection of mostly real estate offices into a growing business district offering boutique shopping in a tranquil neighborhood setting.

"It has transformed the experience that people have when they come to Anna Maria," Micheal Coleman, of PAR, explained. "When our most recent set of buildings at 216/218 opened, it expanded the street, and it became a walking district. Now people have interesting things to see and do." More...

Parade, fireworks to highlight Island 4th

The Fourth of July comes on a Monday this year, and there will be two days of celebration including a parade and fireworks on the beach.

The Chiles Group of restaurants provides the fireworks starting with the Mar Vista Dockside restaurant's Boom Boom on the Bay on the northern end of Longboat Key on Saturday, July 2. Come by boat (look for ICW #39) or car (760 Broadway St.). Diners can order off the menu and enjoy full bar offerings. Fireworks start after dark. Reserve a spot for $25 per person by calling 941-383-2391 or e-mail acucci@chilesgroup.com. More...

Shark fishing defended

BRADENTON BEACH – There was tension in the air at the city commission last week as the mayor stared down the police chief over records kept of illegal activities among the boaters docked south of the Bridge Street Pier.

The showdown came as the commission discussed whether to repeal a resolution that would require those boaters to register with the city and pay a $15 fee to cover expenses. More...

Elizabeth Moss passes

ANNA MARIA – Long time resident Elizabeth Pierce Moss, 93, passed away Saturday, June 25, in her home surrounded by family.

"Elizabeth was one of the first Island residents I met when I arrived in 1956," Carolyne Norwood recalled. "Our friendship grew over the years. It was a privilege to call Elizabeth my dearest friend."

"Everyone loved Elizabeth. She enjoyed a good time, dressing in old-fashioned dresses, walking briskly on the beach at sunset." More...

AMI real estate still strong

The Anna Maria Island market continues to be one of those few pockets of positive real estate news around the country, according to Alan Galletto, an agent with Island Real Estate using figures compiled from the Manatee County Multiple Listing Service.

"When I hear the macro real estate news in the media there is a total disconnect from what's happening here on the Island," he wrote in his latest newsletter. More...

County approves Segway use

A rash of auto burglaries overnight in all three Island cities has prompted police to warn people to lock their cars.

"The majority of the cars that thieves break into are unlocked," said Holmes Beach Police Lt. Dale Stephenson. "The best rule to follow is to lock your car whenever you leave it." More...

City options: Tax hike, spending cuts

BRADENTON BEACH – Faced with a continued decline in income, the city commission met last Thursday to discuss how to deal with it. It has two choices at this point, a tax hike or more spending cuts, and to complicate things, it needs to spend some money to take care of some seawalls at bayside street ends that are dilapidated. More...

Commission approves variance for café steps

ANNA MARIA – Commissioners approved a 35-foot variance for adding steps to the Village Café at Rosedale despite Chair Chuck Webb's position that the request violates the code.

According to the code, a non-conforming structure cannot be extended, increased or enlarged. Webb maintained that the steps are part of the structure. More...

Egmont alliance offers commemorative bricks

EGMONT KEY – The Egmont Key Alliance is offering commemorative bricks to support restoration and maintenance of the 153-year-old working lighthouse.

The bricks will be installed on the lighthouse grounds on Egmont Key, an island north of Anna Maria Island in Tampa Bay. More...

Catch and release, carefully

Catch and release used to be a relatively new concept in sport fishing, one that recognized that fish populations are vulnerable and not the endless resource that they were once thought to be. Now the concept is commonplace and has even spawned a sort of a backlash as the "I Kill Fish" sticker on the back of a truck I saw recently attests. Fishermen who fish mostly for fun have been criticized because many see catching and releasing fish as playing with fish. Anglers, unlike hunters can pursue their passion and release their prey. Both hunters and anglers are quite often great champions of their perspective passions and invest their time and money in protecting the habitat and well being of fish and animals. More...

Real estate prognosis – the good and the bad

Being the eternal real estate optimist that I am, I read the national and local May home sales statistics with a fair amount of contentment. The numbers contained some good news, some bad news and a lot of mixed news.

On June 21, the National Association of Realtors released its May report of existing home sales. The report said that nationally sales of existing homes fell 3.8 percent from a year ago in the month of May. Home sale prices also were down by 4.6 percent from May 2010. More...

Summer stock market rally – truth or tall tale

The idea of a "summer rally" for stock price has been around for a long time. Perhaps too long as it turns out. Best as we can tell, the origin of the idea that stocks rally during the summer comes from an unusual period way back in the Great Depression. In the Summer of 1932, the Dow Jones Industrial Average almost tripled in price over the summer season. Of course, that tripling came after the drubbing of a lifetime which saw the index down about 80 percent during the previous three years.

I'll leverage some research from Mark Hulbert, editor of the Hulbert Financial Digest and a writer for MarketWatch, an online investment information service, to share some perspective on the fable of the summer rally. As it turns out, a better label for this concept would be "a rally for all seasons." Let's take a look. More...

Saints thump Steelers, move into first

Tyler's Ice Cream Steelers – 13
MartiniVille Saints – 38
For the Steelers, Chuck McCracken threw for 85 yards and one TD, Jason Garden had 80 yards receiving and a TD plus a rushing TD, Alan Conley had 20 yards receiving and an extra point. For the Saints, Ryan Moss threw for 215 yards and four TDs; ran for 53 yards and scored two TDs, Jonathan Moss had 93 yards receiving and two TDs and an extra point, Nate Talucci had 57 yards receiving and two TDs, and Amy Talucci had an extra point. More...

Dieting on social media

Many people can't afford or don't want to go a gym. They also may not want to buy an expensive weight loss program or hire a personal coach or dietician to help lose weight. In an era of social media like Facebook, Twitter and apps, what's a person to do? The options are as endless as your smart phone. And you don't even need one of those. A good Internet connection can be your trainer, counselor and taskmaster. More...