Grand opening at Grassy Point

HOLMES BEACH – After 10 years, the city’s environmental preserve along Sarasota Bay is ready to welcome the public.

A grand opening and ribbon cutting is planned for Thursday, Oct. 18, at 9 a.m. at the 32- acre preserve located along the east side of Gulf Drive across from Publix and the Anna Maria Island Center. It is accessed via Avenue C. More...

Huge effort planned to help ease hunger

ANNA MARIA – Last month, the Grand Challenge, Manatee County’s food drive for Food Bank of Manatee, raised more than 21 tons of food and nearly $39,000 to help the bank feed local families.

“There’s still a huge need in Manatee County for food,” said Mary Selby, and Feeding Children Everywhere (FCE), a social charity, hopes to help fill that need by mobilizing 500 volunteers on the Island to package 100,000 meals in one day.

“I e-mailed Don Campbell, the founder of FCE about the food drive for the food bank and within hours, he pledged 50,000 meals and did it three times,” Selby explained. More...

Arbitration sought in beach plan lawsuit

BRADENTON BEACH – Three residents who have filed a complaint in Circuit Court against the city over a joint parking lot and sand dune project on the beach with the BeachHouse restaurant are ready to make a deal.

Jo Ann Meilner, who filed the action with former city commissioner Bill Shearon and his partner, Tjet Martin, spoke at the city commission meeting Thursday night, Oct. 5, and said they would drop their action if the city would agree to have a judge arbiter decide the case.

“That would be binding,” she said. More...

Board recommends new parking and pool rules

HOLMES BEACH – Planning commissioners recommended approval with suggested changes of an ordinance establishing the number of parking spaces per bedroom and swimming pool setback and safety regulations.

The current code requires two off street parking spaces for each dwelling unit. The draft revision would require that for any dwelling unit with more than two bedrooms, one additional parking space must be provided for each additional bedroom. More...

Library reopening set

The Island Branch Library, 5701 Marina Drive, Holmes Beach, is reopening on Wednesday, Oct. 17, with a celebration from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. and tours until 7 p.m., according to Library Division Director Ava Ehde, former librarian at the Island Branch.

Manatee County closed the library May for renovations budgeted at $200,000. The improvements included new interior and exterior paint, new carpeting, new ceilings and improved lighting, especially in the restrooms. More...

Commissioners differ on roundabout study

HOLMES BEACH – Chair David Zaccagnino sought direction on whether to ask the county for money for an engineering study of a roundabout at the intersection of Gulf and Marina drives.

The roundabout is part of a plan presented to commissioners last year by the Holmes Beach Merchants group, which said it could slow traffic and improve pedestrian safety. More...

Kids, shoppers will love Bayfest

ANNA MARIA – Bayfest offers something for everyone on Friday, Oct. 19, from 5 to 10 p.m. and especially on Saturday, Oct. 20, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. You can dance, sample local food, wet your whistle and enjoy the classic wheels on the street and more.

Kids will need a few bucks for the rides at Kidfest, in the large parking lot across from Roser Memorial Community Church. More...

‘Postmortem’ gives homage to Holmes

ANNA MARIA – The doors of the Island Players warn audience members that the cast will be using firearms that make a big bang during the play.

“Postmortem,” by Ken Ludwig and directed by Garreth Gibbs, is a suspenseful mystery that also has laughs and a little romance – a departure from the comedies usually on the billboard. If the slower pace bothered the audience, nobody was protesting. And the occasional gunshot ensured all eyes were on the action. More...

Concerts in the park resume

Come join the fun and ease yourself into the weekend as the Concerts in the Park series resumes on Friday, Oct. 26, from 5 to 10 p.m. at the Holmes Beach field north of city hall, 5801 Marina Drive.

Emcee Chris Grumley keeps the entertainment going, starting with an open jam session with local musicians from 5 to 7 p.m. To sign up, contact Cindy Thompson at 941-536-4257 or e-mail islandfestivals@aol.com. More...

Sarasota Bay Watch cleans seabird rookeries

On Sept. 29, members of Sarasota Bay Watch teamed with Save Our Seabirds, the Sarasota Sailing Squadron, Sarasota Audubon, Sarasota High School’s the Carefree Learner and Audubon Coastal Islands Sanctuaries to conduct a monofilament clean up of bird rookeries in Sarasota Bay. The event was organized to remove fishing line from mangroves during the season when birds are not nesting. The event was a great success with beautiful weather conditions. During the morning, event participants collected yards of line from Roberts Bay to Manatee County. More...

Go with the guy with the deep pockets

If you’re looking for someone to float you some cash, you generally go to a friend with the bucks. If you’re an insurance company looking at the Florida market, the guy with the big bucks is Citizens Insurance and its looking to lend.

During the September meeting of the board of directors of Citizens Property Insurance Corp., some pretty big decisions were made. The first one is to reform the wildly unpopular reinspection program, which conducted 257,000 inspections this year. Three out of four of these inspections resulted in premiums being raised, primarily by removing previous discounts. These homeowners will now have the opportunity to dispute the premium increases by requesting a second inspection. More...

10 years is electrifying for Miller

It’s pretty clear when you meet Ed Gocher that he loves his life. But what’s not to love when you have a thriving business, a great family, a loyal dog and plenty of fish in the Gulf of Mexico between here and Key West.

This month Ed and Sue Gocher are starting their tenth year as owners of Miller Electric. During that time they have expanded their business four times and are now doing over a million dollars annually in business. All of this in spite of the challenges they faced in the wake of a bad economy. They currently employ 17 people, 10 of which are electricians and own a fleet of 12 trucks. More...

Using professional trustees in estate planning

I get a lot of good ideas for topics for these articles from conversations with friends and clients. Thanks to my friend Bill for initiating a conversation recently on the use of administrative trustees for supervision of money held in trust either, while the donor to the trust is still alive, or after his/her death.

Administrative trustees, also known as corporate trustees, can fulfill several key functions in the estate planning process and the transfer of wealth to heirs. For purposes of reducing estate taxes or to ensure that wealth left to children and grandchildren is not mismanaged, many seniors fortunate enough to have accumulated substantial assets place their wealth in one or more trusts of different types. These trusts can range from a simple revocable living trust, the most common type, to more complex irrevocable trusts or life insurance trusts. More...

View hatchlings at Mote

If you haven’t yet seen a sea turtle nest hatch on Anna Maria Island, all is not lost.

Only a handful of nests are expected to hatch before the end of the season on Oct. 31, but hatchlings are on display at Mote Marine Aquarium on City Island, just south of Longboat Key.

A new viewing window at the Ann and Alfred Goldstein Marine Mammal Research and Rehabilitation Center allows you to watch as scientists weigh, measure, examine, treat and feed sea turtle hatchlings. More...

Sato’s soggy soccer win

The Sun Sports game of the week was a wet adult co-ed soccer matchup between the Florida Discount Signs team and the Sato Real Estate team at the Anna Maria Island Community Center.

The game finally started after more than a half-hour delay due to a wicked torrential rainstorm that rolled through the Island. Even in the mud and puddles, both team captains decided to play a shortened game consisting of two, 20-minute, halves. Sato Real Estate wasted little time and jumped out to an early lead when Diego Filipe sent a nice pass to Lexi Braxton who sent it to the back of the net, 1-0. More...

New vegan cookbooks sure to please

It’s Friday, and it is again book tour travel day. High above the Gulf of Mexico once more, I am en route to San Francisco’s VegFest.

Last weekend, I had a complete blast getting to know Miyoko Schinner, the author of a new book, “Artisan Vegan Cheese.” Miyoko. For those who are addicted to cheese, it’s a life changer. Cheese has an enzyme in it called casomorphin, as in morphine. It makes those baby calves want to drink their mama’s milk so they can grow into ginormous animals quickly. More...