Part dog park, part baseball, Tebbett's Field to be split

HOLMES BEACH – The city commission has decided to split Birdie Tebbetts Field in two, creating a smaller ball field and a dedicated dog park.
The fenced-in field was built as a baseball field, where the city has allowed dogs to run off leash if no one is playing ball. No dogs are permitted during ball playing activities, as noted on a sign posted on the fence. More...

Island heritage on display

ANNA MARIA – Once again, perfect weather brought out a huge crowd to enjoy the AMI Historical Society's annual Heritage Day Festival at the museum complex on Pine Avenue Saturday.

Many left their vehicles and took advantage of the trolley, which regularly stops in front of the museum. They shopped at booths manned by local merchants as well as vendors offering artwork, jewelry, crafts, woodcarvings, antiques and T-shirts that filled the parking lot and the park behind Belle Haven Cottage. More...

To park or not to park

ANNA MARIA – Mayor Mike Selby recently received two communications regarding parking.

One was a letter from Roger Roark, chair of the congregation of Roser Memorial Community Church, seeking relief from unauthorized parking by people visiting, shopping and sightseeing on Pine Avenue. More...

Pier might lose its T-end

BRADENTON BEACH – The city is gearing up to refurbish the Bridge Street Pier from just east of Rotten Ralph's to the end of the structure, but the pier might lose some length for a while if they don't have the money to do it all.

The Pier Team, composed of city department heads and the owners of Rotten Ralph's, has been meeting monthly since the last refurbishment, which started after storm damage in 2004 prompted an inspection of the structure that forced the city to close it. More...

If it's unique, find it at the boutique

ANNA MARIA – The 19th Annual Anna Maria Island Tour of Homes offers an opportunity to view six unique Island homes in Holmes Beach from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, March 17.

The tour include the homes of Diana McManaway, 205A 66th Street; Dan and Jan Hazewski, 212 68th Street; Susan Gress, 534 70th Street; Debi Wohlers and Lori Waggoner, 508 72nd Street; Marty and Laurie Hicks, 615 Key Royale Drive; and Ron and Barb Harrold, 619 Ivanhoe Lane. More...

Moratorium debated in Holmes Beach

HOLMES BEACH – During a strident city commission meeting fueled by an accusatory e-mail and peppered with heckling, Commission Chair David Zaccagnino made a plea for civility.

"This is a small Island. Hurtful and false things travel quickly, and they do more damage than can be imagined," he told a nearly-packed commission chamber of city residents Tuesday night. Commissioners ran for office "…to give back to our community and try to keep a slice of Heaven alive, not for money or power, but for our neighbors and children, to try to come up with solutions and make people happy with a safe city." More...

Committees explore rental issues

HOLMES BEACH – City committees are working on ways to manage vacation rental problems that have filled commission chambers in recent weeks with residents frustrated with noise, trash, parking and overcrowding in their neighborhoods.

Holmes Beach commissioners decided last week to set a goal of wrapping up committee reports by the end of April. More...

Students learn pitfalls of abusive substances

HOLMES BEACH – "What time is it?"

"DARE time!"

That question and thunderous response signaled the start of a DARE class two weeks ago in Mrs. Nyberg's fifth-grade class at Anna Maria Elementary School. More...

Springfest this weekend

The Anna Maria Island Art League's 24th Annual Springfest Fine Arts and Crafts Festival will be held on Saturday and Sunday, March 10 and 11, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Holmes Beach City Hall field.

This annual event attracts artists from all over Florida as well as 18 states. Almost 100 artists have been accepted and will offer original work ranging from oils and acrylics to fine glass art and hand crafted jewelry. More...

Push poles: flat out essential

Push poles are as essential as rods and reels to anglers who stalk the flats. They have evolved from wooden poling oars hewn from solid timber to technological wonders of carbon fiber, Kevlar and graphite. In the early years of flats fishing, short poles were all that were needed as anglers hunted fish in shallow waters poling from the deck of their boats. More...

Who benefits from bank mortgage settlement?

The purpose of a headline, whether it's a newspaper article, magazine or even a television teaser, is to briefly and quickly draw attention to the story that follows. But what if there is no real story, only the headline? Is there still a story?

There were headlines all over the place three weeks ago when the announcement was made by the president that the federal government and five major banks reached a $25 billion settlement over alleged foreclosure abuses. The five banks involved in the settlement were Ally Financial, Inc., Bank of America Corp., Citigroup, Inc., J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., and Wells Fargo & Co. Every state in the union participated in the settlement with the exception of Oklahoma for reasons that are too convoluted for me to understand or explain. More...

Creating style at Bridge Street Interiors

Style is a subjective concept. What is stylish to one person is totally gauche to another. When it comes to decorating our homes, this fact becomes essential to our comfort and happiness and getting professional advice may be the key to becoming confident in our decisions. More...

Manage your portfolio like you would run a business

Investment Corner By Tom Brieter

The financial markets have been a much friendlier place for investors in the last few months compared to the extremely volatile times we went through last summer and fall. But rest assured, there will be trying times in our future at some point, just as we have experienced in the past.

For individual investors, it is how we react during these times of stress that goes a long way to determining our long-term results. Of course, predicting trouble in advance is never an exact science, so the choices are to: More...

Upsets dominate flag football playoffs

An unprecedented week of upsets began the playoffs for the Anna Maria Island Community Center's Flag Football program. Out of 12 playoff games last week, there were six upsets.

The adult co-ed division kicked off the playoffs on Thursday night, March 1. In spectacular fashion, all four games were determined in the last seconds. The fourth place Feast Falcons defense held off the fifth place Galati Yacht Sales Chargers from scoring at the end of the game to win 35 to 31 in the AFC. Beach to Bay Construction Texans defense stopped a last second extra-point by Sato Real Estate Browns to hold onto victory 20 to 19 in the NFC. More...

California, here I come

Feasting on Fitness By ellen Jaffe Jones

I'm somewhere above South Carolina on my way to New York to be one of the main speakers at the New York Vegetarian Festival. My dad, in his final years, liked to say, "It's all a dream." I've been feeling that a lot lately. What a week it has been, and it's not over yet. At some point, Mike, the publisher of the Sun said to me, "Ellen, you've become the story." What better way to write about it than in first person. More...