Vol. 10 No. 34 - May 26, 2010

news

Fishing tourneys suspended

Sensitive estuaries rate higher on the Coast Guard's list of areas to be protected.

ANNA MARIA – Two Memorial Day weekend fishing tournaments based at Anna Maria’s Galati Yacht Sales have been indefinitely postponed due to oil from the Deepwater Horizon.

Organizers made the decision as oil, still gushing from the April 20 accident at the offshore rig, entered the Gulf of Mexico loop current, the fishing grounds for the tournaments.

NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service has closed 19 percent, 45,728 square miles, of federal Gulf waters to fishing because of spreading oil, the latest section on May 18. More...

Anna Maria Island Sun News StoryOil spill demonstrators: 'Plug up that hole'

HOLMES BEACH – It was a statement that many older readers have heard before.

“Our generation will have to change things,” said 14-year-old Mia Stryczny, a Manatee High School ninth-grader who was holding a sign in front of Kingfish Boat Ramp Saturday morning.

They were demonstrating to show their displeasure over the oil gushing from the bottom of the Gulf caused by an accident at a BP oil drilling platform nearly a month ago. More...

Judge certifies recall petition

ANNA MARIA — Embattled City Commissioner Harry Stoltzfus has taken the fight against the committee working to recall him to the circuit court.

Attorney Richard Harrison, who represents Stoltzfus, filed a lawsuit in circuit court asking that the petition be declared invalid. More...

Anna Maria Island Sun News StoryLocal fishermen weigh oil litigation

CORTEZ – Commercial fishermen plan to meet with law firms this week to discuss possible litigation against BP over the oil spill resulting from the April 20 accident at the Deepwater Horizon oil rig.

They also are considering BP’s claims process as an alternative to litigation because law firms would charge one third of any recovery, according to Karen Bell, office manager at A.P. Bell Fish Co. in Cortez.

The meetings are Tuesday, May 25 at 7 p.m. and Thursday, May 27 at 7 p.m., both at the Florida Maritime Museum at Cortez, 4415 119th St. W. More...

Oil disaster still unfolding

ANNA MARIA – As engineers and tourism officials entered the second month of battle against oil gushing from the Deepwater Horizon rig, the spill caused an occasional oily odor on Anna Maria Island beaches and the first local economic casualty of the disaster.

While oil seeped into the loop current last week, NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service closed 19 percent of federal Gulf waters to fishing, causing the postponement of two Memorial Day weekend fishing tournaments based at Anna Maria’s Galati Yacht Sales. More...

County administrator replies to Cafe attorney

Manatee County Administrator Ed Hunzeker has replied to a letter from Stavros Tingirdes, attorney for Café on the Beach, regarding the county’s process in approving United Park Services as the concessionaire for Manatee Public Beach. More...

Larry White retires as tourism chief

Nearly 20 years ago, a younger Larry White took the reins of Manatee County’s tourism bureau from director Terri Kiel, who had been accused of fraud, and a younger Sun reporter, then a Bradenton Herald reporter, noticed a marked contrast.

While Kiel had been bright and chatty, White was calm and deliberate, a Walter Cronkite-type, with the newsman’s radio background and affinity for flight. More...

No progress on ROR parking — again

ANNA MARIA — No one is quite sure how many meetings the city has had on parking over the past eight months. They only know there have been many. Very many.

With precious little progress being made, city officials had yet another meeting recently trying to agree on parking regulations for the residential/office/retail district. More...



feature

Anna Maria Island Sun News StoryArtist leaves his mark on city

BRADENTON BEACH – Having a talented artist on board has been a boost for this city’s public works department. Employee Pat O’Neill has left his mark on public property with murals and signage and now his work is spreading to private property.

O’Neill’s latest work is a mural on a fuel tank at Bradenton Beach Marina and another on the wall of an adjacent building.

“It was my father’s (marina owner Allan Bazzy) idea,” said marina manager Mike Bazzy. “We originally wanted him to do one side of the tank, but we ended up having him do all sides. He did a great job.” More...

reel time

Anna Maria Island Sun News StoryFishing with Captain Randall Fowler

I grew up fishing with Captain Randall Fowler, or, more correctly, he grew up fishing with me. I remember clearly running across Sarasota Bay into a strong northwest chop in (father) Randy Fowler's tri-hull skiff. It was a cold, blustery day with young Randall huddled on one side of the console and his sister Elizabeth on the other. We would fish in the worst weather, and it's amazing that fishing would one day be such a big part of Randall's life. I would like to take some credit for the fish finding abilities that Fowler has developed, but the truth is he's become a better angler than me. More...



real estate

Should you rent or purchase a home?

Conventional wisdom has always been in favor of people owing their own homes. This has been the cornerstone of advice to Americans since at least the end of World War II, when for the first time homeownership became a reality for the middle class. But we’ve had a big game changer during the last couple of years, one that has the potential of changing our conventional way of thinking forever, not to mention our wisdom. More...



business

Anna Maria Island Sun News StoryBridge Street Market ends for the season

BRADENTON BEACH – Saturday, May 15, was the final day for the Bridge Street Market, sponsored by the Bridge Street Merchants Association and held in the empty lot at 107 Bridge Street.

Market organizer Nancy Ambrose said the unusual weather this past winter took its toll on the outdoor event. More...

Anna Maria Island Sun News Story

Expect uncertainty – be a better investor

Investment Corner

As investors, if there is one lesson to take away from the last decade, and probably from any previous decade we wish to examine, it would be that life and investing are uncertain. It will only be a matter of time before some event occurs, which we never considered as a possibility, and rocks our world with market reaction we didn’t consider. This occurs in both the positive as well as negative directions. More...



SPORTS

Competition heats up after third week of hoops

As the Community Center basketball season progressed through the third week of the 2010 season, the division races are close enough for any team to make its mark at this early point in the season. Everyone’s quest for an undefeated season has now vanished, as the lone undefeated team of Walter & Associates picked up its first loss on Friday to Ross Built in Division 2 action. The Sandbar team in Division 3 earned a pair of wins this week to improve itsrecord to 3-3, along with The Gathering Place in the Premier Division picking up two wins to remain in first place. The current division leaders are Connie’s Landscaping, Walter & Associates and The Gathering Place, however, there are still many games left to be played by all and anything can happen. More...



turtles

Anna Maria Island Sun News StoryTurtle season off to slow start

ANNA MARIA – Even taking into account the legendary pace of turtles, it was still a long wait for the first sea turtle nest of the 2010 season on Anna Maria Island.

Nesting season began on May 1, but the first nest was not dug until the night of May 22 near Willow Avenue, following a false crawl the night of May 20. More...

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