Cumber pleads not guilty

William Cumber pleaded not guilty Wednesday to second degree murder charges in the disappearance of Haley’s Motel owner Sabine Musil-Buehler.

Cumber, who was brought to Manatee County by Manatee County Sheriff’s Detectives Ricardo Alvarado and John Kenney, was in prison in Punta Gorda on a parole violation conviction when the charges were filed. More...

Immigration arrests two at Island job sites

HOLMES BEACH – Two men have been arrested and charged with Workers’ Compensation fraud following a series of surprise police actions at properties under construction by Beach to Bay Construction last week.

The arrests followed raids at two addresses on Tuesday, Oct. 16, by the Department of Financial Services’ Division of Insurance Fraud after the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency informed company officials that at least 18 individuals working for the Holmes Beach-based company showed false identification for the purpose of gaining employment. More...

City to start over on cell tower ordinance

BRADENTON BEACH – The Commission will be starting over on a telecommunications ordinance after the consultant who wrote the current one took it back.

Rusty Monroe, of the Center for Municipal Solutions, said his group would be formally requesting that the city repeal the ordinance in its entirety, after sitting through a work session and hearing criticism that the ordinance was repetitive and it placed a financial burden on applicants. He told the commissioners on Tuesday, Oct. 16, that they no longer had permission to use it. More...

Candidates square off in The Sun’s election forum

HOLMES BEACH – A capacity crowd heard five of the city’s candidates tell about themselves and respond to questions posed by readers at last week’s Candidates’ Forum sponsored by The Sun.

Commission candidates are incumbents John Monetti and Sandy Haas-Martens and challengers Judy Titsworth and Marvin Grossman. Monetti was unable to attend the forum, but sent a statement to be read. More...

Board considers options for Pine Ave. sidewalks

ANNA MARIA – Commissioners are considering whether to keep the experimental filter mix sidewalks on Pine Avenue or to replace them with another material.

The issue came up when City Attorney Jim Dye said in an Oct. 10 hearing on the lawsuit by Barbara and William Nally, of Lakeland, against the city, the judge ruled in the city’s favor. More...

Conference focuses on authentic Florida

ANNA MARIA – The Florida dream has changed radically over the past century, and it’s up to Floridians to define the next one, according to former University of South Florida history professor Gary Mormino, author of “Land of Sunshine, State of Dreams: A Social History of Modern Florida.”

Mormino was one of several speakers and participants from around the state who gathered at the Sustainable and Authentic Florida Conference last week on Anna Maria Island. More...

City responds to FEMA

HOLMES BEACH – Public Works Supervisor Joe Duennes has provided the numbers requested by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for four homes suspected of violating the agency’s regulations.

Last week, the agency cited issues raised by citizens about the city’s permitting process and enforcement of its floodplain ordinance concerning substantial improvements. More...

Morris death the topic of two Dr. Phil episodes

BRADENTON BEACH – The death of Sheena Morris in a hotel room on New Year’s Day 2009 will be the subject of two episodes of the Dr. Phil program Thursday and Friday, Oct. 25-26, at 4 p.m. on WTSP 10.

Bradenton Beach police found Morris, 22, hanging from a showerhead at the BridgeWalk resort the day after neighbors reported a disturbance in the room she shared with her Tampa boyfriend, Joseph Genoese, who was not charged in the case. Police determined the death to be a suicide, but according to her mother, Kelly Osborn, she and Morris’ father, Dave Morris, believe she was murdered. More...

A glorious day for Grassy Point

HOLMES BEACH – Neighbors, friends and officials gathered last week on a beautiful sunny day to celebrate the opening of the city’s newest environmental preserve – Grassy Point.

“The beauty, the view, the vision – the landscape is different from anywhere on the Island,” Dr. Jay Leverone, of the Sarasota Bay Estuary Program, declared. More...

Anna Maria Outfitters fills a void

Anna Maria Outfitters recently opened for business on Pine Street in Anna Maria, filling a void that’s been undeveloped for a long time on the Island. Now fly anglers will have a place to find hand tied flies and other quality fly fishing equipment. I first heard about the shop from Captain Scott Moore who, knowing that I’m an devoted fly angler, reported that I should stop by and meet the new proprietors Steve and Yetta Traves. More...

Florida develops real estate price index

What’s the real value of a piece of real estate? There’s market value, replacement value, intrinsic value and emotional value. No wonder that coming up with a fair and consistent method of estimating property value is not only a calculation, it’s also an art form.

To help property owners and realtors make better value determinations, the state of Florida is developing a new method of tracking property sales that could help with future property evaluations. In September, Florida’s State Realtor Association launched its new Residential Price Index reports, which will soon give homeowners, as well as real estate professionals and their clients, a better understanding of home price trends. A similar price index for commercial properties is also planned. More...

O'Shucks – new name, new look, new menu

CORTEZ – O'Shucks has opened quietly where Pelican Pete’s used to be at 12012 Cortez Road West, and early patrons have been seen leaving the restaurant raving about the food.

O'Shucks owners Jimmy and Sandy Galanis reopened the eatery with a new look inside and a plan to make it a restaurant with a bar and outside dining. They are adding windows and have put in French doors to make it easier to go from the front porch tables to the bar or tables inside. Inside, there’s a new wood floor, and it’s lighter inside than in the past. More...

Stock market defies individual investors

I don’t think the market will go anywhere until after the election.” “Stocks can’t go up when there are so many problems around the world.”.

These phrases are typical of what we were hearing from investors starting early this year. Apparently, many have voted with their money as we have been seeing individual investors remove far more money than they deposited in stock mutual funds for over three years in a row now. More...

Excellent year for sea turtles

BRADENTON BEACH – Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and Shorebird Monitoring volunteers celebrated a banner year for sea turtles and looked forward to a better year for birds at their recent end-of-season banquet.

Only two chicks survived a difficult season that included an extreme high tide before Tropical Storm Debby in late June and beach flooding from the four-day storm, volunteer Glenn Wiseman said. More...

Best Buy’s Jackson records first triple-double

The Sun sports game of the week was an Anna Maria Island Community Center’s co-ed adult basketball game between the undefeated Best Buy team and the 3-2 Eat Here squad.

Both teams came out fighting and were deadlocked 20-20 at the end of the first half. Antwaun Jackson led the way for Best Buy in the first and scored seven points. Tyler Bekkerus added two three-pointers for a total of six points. Brandon Kern chipped in with five first half points, and Johnny Smith added two points. More...

Running and racing on a dime

Since I’ve been speaking all over the U.S. this year on how to eat well on a budget, it seems only natural to morph into working out on a budget. I work as a certified personal trainer at a gym, and I know not everyone can afford a gym membership, let alone hiring a personal trainer at upwards of $50 an hour.

Several years ago, before my book came out, I decided to get my Road Runners Club of America coaching certification. At the time, I was volunteer assistant coaching the girls' cross country team at Manatee High in Bradenton. And even though I was trained cooking instructor for The Cancer Project, I felt the additional certifications would add to my knowledge base and credibility. More...