LifeLines: Pack your beach bag

Two weeks ago, I reported that my wife, Chris, and I were traveling to Colorado, occasioned by an invitation from friends. Two weeks in Durango with side trips to Mesa Verde and a vintage train ride to Silverton through the majestic San Juan mountains gave us a...

ANNA MARIA – After a two-week delay due to torrential downpours, the Island’s recreational adult co-ed flag football league playoffs started last Thursday with the eight teams vying for a spot in the semifinals. In the closest game of the night, both teams came off the field drenched...

Remember The Champlain Towers South condominium in Surfside, Florida? Probably haven’t heard that name in a while, but it was the very shocking collapse of the tower with loss of the building and loss of life. The event profoundly impacted the condominium market in the state and...

BRADENTON BEACH – The city’s proposed 2024-25 general fund and Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) budgets are one step from final adoption. During the Sept. 5 budget hearings, the Bradenton Beach City Commission and the CRA board that includes all five city commission members separately approved on first reading...

BRADENTON BEACH – City commissioners approved a request last week to remove one of the requirements for two paid parking lots owned by developer Shawn Kaleta. Sam Negrin, manager of Beach to Bay Investments Inc., a Kaleta-owned entity, spoke to commissioners at a Sept. 5 meeting about a...

HOLMES BEACH – With heavy rainfalls becoming the norm around Anna Maria Island, residents and property owners have concerns about flooding and stormwater infrastructure, and the city’s public works staff recently held a workshop to address those questions. Residents and business owners came to city hall on Sept....

BRADENTON BEACH - City commissioners voted unanimously at the Sept. 5 meeting to modify the makeup of the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) board from a seven-member to a five-member board. The five-member board will consist of commissioners only and act as a governing body. In contrast, the seven-member...

BRADENTON – A Cortez man will be arraigned on Friday, Sept. 13 in connection with a June 6 shooting during which a Cortez woman sustained a gunshot wound to the chest. Kevin Armstrong, 48, was originally charged with aggravated assault with intent to commit a felony. His charge...

CORTEZ – Ending speculation about the identity of the new owner of the Seafood Shack Restaurant and Marina, the Manatee Board of County Commissioners unanimously approved its $13 million purchase at a Sept. 5 land use meeting. Prior to the vote, Manatee County Property Acquistion Division Manager Charles...

Turtle nests laid: 685 (Previous record: 543 in 2019) False crawls: 835 (Previous record: 831 in 2010) Nests hatched: 292 (Record: 453 in 2022) Hatchlings produced: 20,342 (Record: 35,850 in 2022) Hatchling disorientations: 55 Adult disorientations: 36   Source: Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and Shorebird Monitoring

CORTEZ – Manatee County commissioners unanimously denied Cortez Village Marina’s request to expand current operations. The Chicago-based MHC Cortez Village LLC purchased the marina in 2024, one of many Loggerhead Marina properties that the parent company owns and operates throughout the U.S. Matthew Gillespie, of the Kimley-Horn engineering firm,...

ANNA MARIA ISLAND – Water quality concerns persist as the city of Bradenton continues to discharge partially-treated sewage into the Manatee River. During and immediately after Tropical Storm Debby in early August, the city discharged an estimated 25 million gallons of untreated and partially-treated sewage and wastewater into...