IN NATURE’S HANDS

JEWFISH KEY – The restoration of seagrass beds around Jewfish Key remains in the hands of Mother Nature three years after illegal dredging destroyed it.

Despite $85,000 in fines assessed against eight criminal and civil defendants in the dredging, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection has not required any of the wrongdoers to replant destroyed seagrass beds. More...

City faces Pine Ave. decision Thursday

ANNA MARIA – Emotions here have been running high about who should live and do business in the residential/office/retail (ROR) district.

Land regulations for the ROR district, which runs along Pine Avenue from Gulf Drive to Bay Boulevard and including a portion of the north end of Gulf Drive will be the focus of a city commission public hearing Thursday, Feb. 12. More...

Bridge testing next week

Tests next week on the Anna Maria Island Bridge will involve opening and closing the span but should not cause traffic jams any more than normal openings would, according to project spokesperson Audrey Clarke.

Meanwhile, the sidewalk on the south side of the bridge remains closed, but the north sidewalk is open to pedestrians and bicyclists. The speed limit over the bridge is 35 miles per hour and if you are caught speeding, the fine is double if it happens while construction workers are on the bridge.

New band playing at Friday Fest

The Human Condition, an all-original acoustic/rock band from the Tampa Bay area, makes its first appearance on Anna Maria Island during the Anna Maria Island Chamber of Commerce Island Musical Festival, Friday Fest, Feb. 13, on Pine Avenue in Anna Maria from 3 to 10 p.m.

The Human Condition has been compared to Wilco, Toad the Wet Sprocket and Live, as well as Ben Harper, Damien Rice and Jack Johnson Its influences range from Lyle Lovett to Led Zeppelin, the Mars Volta to Miles Davis. It will play between 6 and 7:30 p.m., after the opening act, Firedoor, which starts at 5 p.m. The Michael Mac Band will finish the evening starting at 7:30 p.m. More...

Coleman: Project will enhance Pine Ave.

This week, Commissioners will meet to vote on the "ROR Ordinance". This was drafted in order to bring our Land Development Regulations in compliance with the Comprehensive Plan pursuant to unanimous consensus between the city commission and the Planning and Zoning board in it’s joint session on August 21. More...

Cortez Park open house draws interest

CORTEZ – It’s been nine months since the residents of Cortez Park came out of retirement to protest the mobile home community’s sale to a developer, and saved their homes by buying it instead.

But with 20 of the 79 homes still for sale, they have hired a real estate broker to manage sales and the park’s operations, so they can get back to the sunset socials, shuffleboard and card games they enjoyed before the crisis. More...

Taking out the trash from Sister Keys

SISTER KEYS – Restoration work on the Sister Keys may be complete, but the housekeeping is never done.

Volunteers with Sarasota Bay Watch, the Sarasota Bay National Estuary Program, Bay Buddies and Audubon of Florida removed crab traps, plastic chairs and other debris from the largest of the Sister Keys on Saturday. More...

Resident threatens lawsuit over parking

Center teens have blast on Tennessee ski trip

ANNA MARIA – The enthusiasm was contagious as 10 Island Community Center teens gathered to talk about their recent week-long ski trip to the mountains of Tennessee.

"It was a blast," Rania Lardas.

"It was sooo cold," Nicole Botero.

"The snowboarding school was pretty cool, and we got into snowball fights and had fun. The worst was getting snow in your pants," Chris Callahan. More...

Choosing the right polarized sunglasses

Polarized sunglasses are an angler’s best friend. We wear them because they reduce the amount of visible light that passes through the lens and cut the surface glare that lets us see below the water’s surface. This ability is a definite advantage when sight fishing or looking for signs of fish. Many anglers choose their glasses according to style, not realizing that the color of the lenses and other factors determine their real effectiveness. Color is important, but it’s just one of the choices that you will need to make to get the most from your sunglasses. More...

The future is coming to a home near you

It’s probably hard to envision right now that some day your biggest problem may be whether or not your iPhone is communicating with your oven, but chances are it will. When we finally get through our real estate valley of fatigue, there is plenty of new technology just waiting to be installed within the walls of new homes and added to our existing homes.More...

New owners continue Tyler’s tradition

There are many types of sophisticated foods in the world that can be classified as gourmet, but there aren’t too many sophisticated foods that can be classified as both gourmet and fun. If you’re looking for a good time that involves your taste buds, ice cream should be at the top of your list, especially if it’s been around for 25 years.

Tyler’s Gourmet Ice Cream on Cortez Road near 119th Street has been satisfying our taste buds for 25 years at the same location. Although Rob Alderson, Tyler’s new owner, recently moved to Florida, he recognized immediately that Tyler’s is a landmark in the area, and plans on continuing the Tyler’s tradition. More...

Revisiting reverse mortgages

The last time I wrote about reverse mortgages, the real estate market was heating up and prices were escalating toward unsustainable levels. Hindsight has revealed the truths about many things in the last few years. Despite price declines for most real estate in the last couple years, many seniors still have a lot of equity in their home, which does not produce any spendable income. With investment portfolios across the board at low levels and interest rates on "safe" savings vehicles not paying much at all, I thought it might be a good idea to revisit the concept of the reverse mortgage. More...

Division III, Premier too close to call

Two regular season division champions have been decided in the Community Center’s basketball league but two others look like they’re going down to the last few games.

In Division I, Dips Ice Cream clinched the top spot Saturday afternoon with a convincing win over second-place Fronius to post an 8-3 record. After starting the season 1-3, the Dips squad now has won seven games in a row. More...

‘Shoe pits filled despite weather

Wednesday, 4 Feb. we had all pits occupied and four teams standing by, despite the cold. Three teams qualified for the playoffs. Al Norman and partner Mark Kennedy luckily won the bye. Nick Sianato, an 80-year-old visitor from New Jersey and John Johnson lost in the preliminary to Adin Shank and Art Kingstad 25 to 17, and went on to defeat Norman and Kennedy 23 to 19. More...