Historic hatchlings

BRADENTON BEACH - More than 100 people gathered at Coquina Beach last week to watch as a clutch of baby green turtles were released into the warm Gulf waters.

The hatchlings had actually hatched the night before, but they became disoriented by lights from a barge that was anchored just off shore. More...

Nyad to try Cuba swim again

Long-distance swimmer Diana Nyad will make a third attempt to swim from Cuba to Florida, sometime this fall and possibly within the next few weeks, weather permitting. Nyad and her support crew are in Key West this week making final preparations for another try at the 102-mile swim across the Florida Straits. Her previous attempts in 2010 and this past August were halted due to rough seas and physical ailments. Sun contributor Dee Brady is again piloting one of the support boats that will make the journey with Nyad. Her account of the trip can be read on her blog at www.amisun.com. More...

Shootings prompt inquiry

HOLMES BEACH - One man is dead and his wife hospitalized following two shootings Sunday night. According to a press release from Holmes Beach Police Chief Jay Romine, officers responded to a home in the 200 block of 83rd Street about 8:30 p.m., where they found Maya Schon, 66, outside suffering from a gunshot wound to the head. Inside the home police found Joseph Schon, 69, in a bedroom. He was pronounced dead at the scene, apparently from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said. Maya Schon was alert, the release said, and was able to communicate with officers prior to being airlifted to a local hospital. More...

City rejects tree trimming

BRADENTON BEACH – Residents next to Herb Dolan Park, at 26th Street and Avenue A, will have to put up with the Australian pines overgrowing the area or hire their own tree trimmer. The city commission voted last Thursday to not approve a bid for $125 per tree from Casey's Tree Service to trim them, despite appeals that were made to Public Works Director Tom Woodard. More...

Charter trip highlights fishing class

ANNA MARIA –Kids in the Island Community Center's Learn to Fish program ended the summer session in style by catching a trip aboard the Eddy Lee, of Cortez Deep Sea Fishing Charters.

Owners Capt. Gary and Sheila Zink and an anonymous individual donated the trip, while Bob Vita made the arrangements and coordinated the trip, said Terri Milen, who heads the Center's fishing program. Capt. Brian Alcorn and First Mate Tom Boyll took the boat out to the seven-mile reef. More...

Commission adopts new budget

Bradenton Beach taxpayers will pay slightly less for their city property taxes, depending on their property assessments, under a new budget that commissioners approved on first reading last week.

The new millage rate is 2.1359, down from 2.1539. In terms of expense, it will cost $213.59 for each $100,000 of taxable value compared to $215.39 per $100,000 in last year's budget. More...

Cub Scouts recruit students

HOLMES BEACH – A week after Girl Scout leader Julie Krokroskia signed in a bunch of new girls and parents at Anna Maria Elementary School, her counterpart, Cut Scout Pack 7 leader Rob Hicks, did the same.

Although the results are not official, a good number of parents showed up last Thursday to sign up for the Scouts. Hicks was hoping to expand on the 19 Cub Scouts that were active last school year. More...

Preparation begins for Fall Festival

HOLMES BEACH – Halloween wouldn't Halloween without the Anna Maria Elementary School's Fall Festival, featuring a parade from the Anna Maria Island Chamber of Commerce to the school, a costume contest, a carnival-like celebration with games at the school, lunch at the cafeteria and a bake sale with colorful fall-decorated goodies. More...

Bayfest always has something for everyone

Redfish light up local flats

Redfish are one of the area's premier species. They are not as highly prized as snook, but are one of the area's most prolific inshore species, second only to spotted sea trout. Mature redfish spawn in estuaries from mid-August to mid-October where they can be found in large schools. More...

What exactly is a condominium?

When you were a kid were you good at sharing your toys, snacks and parents with your siblings? If not, condominium living could be a serious adjustment, since sharing and playing nice with your neighbors is pretty much mandated. More...

Child's play at Thompson Academy

Remember when playing just for the fun of it was a good thing and it was OK to get messy? Remember when kids would go outside, invent games and build their own play things? Remember when overachieving was a term reserved for adults?

Cindy Thompson remembers all of these things, and as a result has incorporated play based creative learning into the structure of her new private preschool. More...

Dealing with short-term volatility

Investment Corner By Tom Brieter

It's no secret that the financial markets in recent years are more volatile on a daily basis than we were used to before the financial crisis of 2008. A recent study by the New York Times found that since the beginning of 2010, 30 percent of all trading days for the New York Stock Exchange saw daily moves up or down of greater than 1 percent. During the decade of the 1990s, only 20 percent of trading days experienced changes of that magnitude. More...

Spirited start to soccer season

An estimated crowd of more than 500 people gathered at the Community Center on Saturday for the Spirit Day soccer jamboree. Crowds of happy spectators dressed in their team colors, painted their hair, wrapped purple duct tape around their cleats, decorated tents with balloons and creatively showed their team spirit colors anyway they could. Soccer teams started off the fall season with spirit fun games to earn points towards winning a team prize. Notable spirit standouts in team colors were the Autoway Ford monster F650 truck, the West Coast Surf Shop blue surfboard, and the Movable Feast purple boas, butterfly wings and painted hair. More...

Timing is everything

Feasting on Fitness By ellen Jaffe Jones

It has been one of the most amazing months. I really didn't set out to have another career, but when you do your passion, who knows? Getting published in an e-book age is a miracle in itself. What has happened to my book and my life recently is miraculous, I'm told. I know that many Islanders and beyond are hoping to write the next great book. So I decided it is worthy of a column, in my humble opinion. I'll try to maintain the humble part. But I sure could get used to the life of an author. More...