The Anna Maria Island Sun Newspaper


Vol. 16 No. 42 - August 17, 2016

headlines

Tears and new adventures at AME

Carol Whitmore

TOM VAUGHT | SUN

Kindergarten teacher Kelly Crawford leads the
kids in a song to settle them down.

HOLMES BEACH – One school bus arrived early, and another arrived late, but that didn't stop teachers and staff from getting the children into their classrooms for the first day of the 2016-17 school year at Anna Maria Elementary School.

An ambulance was parked on the side of Gulf Drive north of the school, its emergency lights flashing to remind drivers that school was open and that they needed to exercise caution.

Holmes Beach Police Officer and AME crossing guard Rob Velardi was on duty at the roadside. He'll also administer the DARE anti-substance abuse class to the fifth graders, although officer Josh Fleischer will be training to take over later in the year when Velardi retires.

Students Anthony Nguyen and Jack Proctor were at the flagpole. They had been assigned to raise the colors and were having trouble attaching it to the cable. They figured it out though and got the flag to the top of the pole.

In the auditorium, kindergartners were running up and down the stage runway making a commotion. Kindergarten teacher Kelly Crawford stepped forward and sat them down, leading then in songs, clapping their hands and stomping their feet, to settle down the rambunctious youngsters.

There were other kids in the auditorium spending their last moments with their parents before heading to their classrooms. Beth Croke and her son, Joey, sat quietly. When asked if he was ready to start school, Joey said yes but it was plain he was unsure. The family had just moved to Cortez, but Beth Croke said they were aware of the high quality of education at the school. Mom and son had one final kiss before Joey left in a line of young students marching towards their first day of public education.

As the doors to the classrooms closed, teachers began getting their students into the right seats.

The school's morning show was on the televisions, as it will be every morning. John Sebastian was singing the theme song to "Welcome Back Kotter" – "Welcome back, welcome back welcome back."

Hurricane season: Busy second half expected

As we near the halfway mark of the 2016 hurricane season, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA) is sticking to its prediction of a busier than normal season.

New numbers show an increase of 10 percent that the season will be normal or above normal. In May, that chance was 75 percent, and the latest prediction, released last week, says there is now 85 percent chance. The chance of a near normal season dropped from 25 percent in May to 15 percent. According to the latest report, this season is expected to be the strongest since 2012.

NOAA now predicts between 12 and 17 named storms, including Alex, a freak storm that occurred in January. They also predict between five and eight hurricanes, including Alex, and two to four major hurricanes.

To date, there have been five named storms with two of them hurricanes.

The reasoning behind the hike in storm production has to do with conditions within the main development region (MDR), consisting of the Caribbean and tropical Atlantic Ocean. During the season, the conditions for storm development increase in the Atlantic, where upper atmospheric winds fueled by El Nino winds in the Pacific Ocean tend to make conditions unstable for the development of storms coming off Africa and crossing the Atlantic Ocean. They can also affect the development of storms in the Caribbean.

The problem this year is El Nino is gone, and La Nina conditions are expected to take over, taking away the unstable conditions in the MDR. According to the NOAA prediction, there is considerable uncertainty about when La Nina will develop and how strong it will become.

The report says, "The main competing factors this season are 1) anomalous sinking motion and increased vertical wind shear in the western MDR (which are somewhat related to the active eastern Pacific hurricane season), and 2) less conducive global sea surface temperature patterns.

"Losing El Nino could tip the scales toward a busier Atlantic-fed season."

However, model predictions now call for only a "borderline weak La Nina" to form between now and October.

So Far, storms Alex, Bonnie, Colin, Danielle and Earl have formed with Alex and Earl turning into Hurricanes. Four storms have made landfall, including Bonnie in South Carolina, Connie in western Florida, Danielle in eastern Mexico, and Earl in Belize and Mexico.

The word is, stay prepared because these predictions don't tell where future storms will go.

Crowd attends Cortez Bridge meeting

Anna Maria Island Sun News Story

TOM VAUGHT | SUbmitted

Florida Department of Transportation employees mounted
charts and maps for members of the public peruse at the meeting.

HOLMES BEACH – A crowd of around 100 people attended the Cortez Bridge replacement alternatives meeting at St. Bernard Catholic Church Tuesday, Aug. 9, to gather information and give opinions on what kind of a bridge should replace the aging drawbridge that connects the Island at Bradenton Beach to the mainland.

The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) has plans to repair the 17.5-foot clearance drawbridge or replace it with one of three options: a 21-foot clearance drawbridge; a 35-foot clearance drawbridge: or a 60-foot clearance fixed span bridge.

The no-build (repair) alternative would fix the bridge to last 10 years. It would tentatively begin in 2025. Repairs made in 2015 would last until then. It would require the bridge to be closed for nine weeks while work is done on the structure.

There was also a rehabilitate alternative that would have added 25 years to the bridge's lifespan, but FDOT dropped it as a viable choice. With either the repair or rehabilitate choice, the bridge would retain its cross-section layout of two traffic lanes with walkways on both sides and curbing, but no shoulders.

With the replacement alternatives, the cross-section layout would contain two 12-foot traffic lanes, two 7-foot-wide buffered bicycle lanes, two 10-foot-wide shoulders and two 10-foot-wide sidewalks separated from traffic by barrier walls.

Those attending were encouraged to submit their choices.

Former Bradenton Beach Mayor Jack Clarke said he prefers the 35-foot drawbridge, which FDOT estimates would reduce the amount of bridge openings by one third over the current drawbridge.

Nancy Deal, from the citizen's action group Save Anna Maria (SAM), was wearing and passing out stickers that said "Repair it."

Manatee County Commissioner Betsy Benac said she is aware the bridge is in need of repair or replacement, but she would be concerned for the people of Cortez if the replacement bridge is too high.

Pioneer SAM member James Kissick said he has the solution, a new bridge to link to 53rd Avenue on the mainland and cross the bay at an area where there is less intrusion on the seagrass and landing on south Coquina Park Bayside.

Carl and Deborah McKenzie live in Harbor Landings Estates in Cortez and they want a bridge to handle more traffic.

"For us, traffic has become a nightmare," Deborah McKenzie said.

Carl McKenzie said he prefers a 60-foot fixed span that would not have to open up for boat traffic. He said even if the bridge has to be longer to accommodate the higher span, they might offer a buyout on residences near the bridge.

Doug Zang, from FDOT, said they will still have to complete their Project Development and Environment study before they can proceed to the design phase. He said the budget for the design phase would be in the 2018 fiscal budget.

So far, there is no money in the FDOT budget for the bridge's repair or replacement.

Animals survive Egmont fire

 

 

 

 

EGMONT KEY – Most of the wildlife on Egmont Key survived a wildfire that lasted four days late last month, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

A biological assessment last Thursday revealed that about a dozen of the key's approximately 1,000 box turtles perished in the fire, but the key's gopher tortoises dug safely into their burrows as the fire passed over them, federal wildlife officer Stan Garner said.

"They were out the morning after the fire," he said.

Box turtles are not an imperiled species; gopher tortoises are a state-designated threatened species, one step below the most imperiled category, endangered.

The fire cleared out some old vegetation, which will encourage the growth of native plants and provide tender shoots for gopher tortoises and box turtles to eat, Garner said.

About 40 sea turtle nests on the key also survived the fire, buried in the sand, he said, adding that the fire did not reach the key's seabird colony.

Buildings on the key also were spared, including historic Fort Dade, the 1858 lighthouse and the Tampa Bay harbor pilots' station, which operated on emergency generator power after the fire caused a power outage.

The fire was caused by a lightning strike and burned about 80 acres on the key, a state park and national wildlife refuge north of Anna Maria Island at the mouth of Tampa Bay.

PAT COPELAND | SUN

Holmes Beach Code Enforcement Officer John Thomas presented a raffle prize to Grace Gissendanner, of Bradenton, and is aided by volunteer Riley Hecklinski, from Indiana.

 

Man drowns near bridge

A 51-year-old man drowned in the Intracoastal Waterway near the Anna Maria Island Bridge around noon on Wednesday, Aug. 10.

According to a Manatee County Sheriff's Office report, Andy Lewis Milton, Sr., whose city of residence is unknown, was bicycling across the bridge when his straw hat blew off his head and landed in the water. Milton reportedly rode his bike back to the end of the bridge, removed his clothing and went into the water to retrieve it.

A Florida Wildlife Commission officer was driving over the bridge at the time the incident happened and he saw Milton in the water, clinging to a channel marker. Milton told him he was trying to retrieve his hat. Milton started swimming back to shore but ended up going under the water, where he drowned.

Manatee County Marine Rescue and West Manatee Fire Rescue joined in the search, and when they found him, he was taken to Blake Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.

The Sheriff's Office said Milton was believed to be homeless.

Kaleta arraigned, hearing set

BRADENTON – Island vacation homebuilder Shawn Kaleta, 38, was arraigned Monday, Aug. 8, for an auto accident that occurred July 8, in Bradenton. Police arrested him and charged him with two counts of leaving the scene of an accident with property damage.

District Judge Charles Sniffen set a pre-trial conference for Tuesday, Sept. 6, at 1:30 p.m. in his chambers.

The accident occurred on Manatee Avenue and 64th Street East Court. According to a Florida Highway Patrol report, Kaleta' s Tesla rear-ended a Kia, which was pushed into another Kia. When a state patrolman responded, Kaleta was gone.

An independent witness sitting at a Starbucks observed a black Tesla driving through the parking lot, dragging its front bumper and called the Florida HighwayPatrol. She said the Tesla left the scene after driving through another parking lot. The Highway Patrol officer got an identity of the car's owner, which was Kaleta, and called him, leaving a message. Kaleta called back and said he had no idea he had been in an accident. He was asked to return to the scene of the accident, but he said he could not without recharging his Tesla.

The highway patrol officer called Holmes Beach Police to send a car to Kaleta's house. Two officers arrived and observed Kaleta's damaged car in the driveway. Kaleta told the officers he was driving with his children, and they started screaming because traffic ahead had stopped. He said he slammed on his brakes and thought he had not hit the car in front of him.

After talking with police, Kaleta was advised he was being placed under arrest and taken to jail.

A growing concern

JOE HENDRICKS | SUN

Sgt. Russell Schnering provided Anna Maria City
Commission members with an overview of the
heroin situation in Manatee County as a whole.

 

 

ANNA MARIA ISLAND – No one in the Island's law enforcement community is suggesting there is a heroin epidemic on the Island, but three recent, non-fatal overdoses in Holmes Beach and Bradenton Beach have elevated concerns.

During the Thursday, Aug. 11, City Commission meeting, Sgt. Russell Schnering, from the Manatee County Sheriff's Office, addressed commissioners on this topic. Schnering serves as the city's chief law enforcement officer.

"I wanted to talk about the heroin epidemic we're having in Manatee County. I'm not talking about Anna Maria Island per se, but in Manatee County," he said.

According to Schnering, the Sheriff's Office responded in July to 289 overdoses countywide. This does not include overdoses reported to other law enforcement agencies or instances where friends or family members transported an overdose victim to a medical facility.

Concerning Anna Maria, Schnering said, "We haven't had an OD out here reported to the Sheriff's Office since June of 2015, and we weren't keeping records before that. I know Homes Beach had a couple Saturday night."

He said the two people who overdosed together in Holmes Beach each required multiple doses of Narcan to revive them.

Heroin is an opiate, and Narcan is a brand name version of naloxone, which when injected or administered through a nasal inhaler, offsets the immediate effects of heroin by blocking the brain's opiate receptors. Narcan also is used for OxyContin and Oxycodone overdoses.

EMS vehicles carry Narcan, but the Sheriff's Office does not.

"We don't want the liability or the expense," Schnering said.

CVS pharmacies in Florida recently began selling Narcan and naloxone, an over the counter drug obtained from the pharmacist without a prescription. The CVS in Holmes Beach is part of this program and Walgreen's in Holmes Beach is expected to join soon.

In generic injectable form, a two-dose package of naloxone sells for approximately $45. Depending on the brand, the inhalant sells for $100-$140.

Unintended consequences

"When we closed down those pill mills, people still had the addiction to the opiates. Unfortunately, heroin is even less expensive. It's easily found on the street, and that's what they've turned to. We're having these street-level drug users playing chemists and pharmacists, and they're cutting the heroin with fentanyl. Fentanyl is what's killing these people," Schnering said.

Fentanyl is an opiate used to block pain during the anesthesia process

Recent raids have also revealed the use of carfentanil as an additive.

"That's animal grade fentanyl, 10,000 times more potent than morphine. If that starts going around, I guess we won't have a heroin epidemic for very much longer because many people will die," Schnering said.

He encourages anyone who encounters a child, teenager or adult that appears to be passed out to call 911 immediately.

"It could be a heroin overdose," he said.

Those who experience or report an overdose will not be arrested.

"There's a statute that protects people reporting overdoses. We don't make an arrest; it's all about saving lives. If a drug user right next to them makes the phone call, they don't get arrested."

In closing, Schnering said, "It's a growing epidemic. It's not going away."

Island occurrences

On Saturday Aug. 6, police officers from Bradenton Beach and Holmes Beach responded to a call about two unresponsive females lying in the parking lot of a Holmes Beach bar.

"The caller stated the females were suffering from a heroin overdose. Upon arrival, both females had a pulse but were sweating profusely and unresponsive. EMS administered at least two doses of Narcan. After several minutes, both victims regained consciousness and were transported to Blake Medical Center," the Holmes Beach police report states.

Both women were in their early to mid-30s.

When asked about the presence of heroin, Holmes Beach Police Chief Bill Tokajer said, "We've had two overdoses to my knowledge and we had one arrest involved with heroin in April. That doesn't mean it's not here. We know that what happens on the mainland eventually happens on the Island, and that's evident from the past weekend. We are cognizant of the problem and working with agencies in the county to combat it."

On Saturday, July 30, the Bradenton Beach Police Department and county EMS responded to an overdose at a residence on Church Avenue involving a 31-year-old man from out of town who was visiting a family member.

According to the police report, he was lying on the floor unconscious, not breathing, turning blue and showing little in the way of vital signs. Using Narcan, EMS personnel were able to revive the man and transport him to the hospital.

Det. Sgt. Lenard Diaz said the only previous heroin overdose in Bradenton Beach that he was aware of was a fatal overdose attributed to fentanyl in 2015.

Police Chief Sam Speciale said, "The reality is we're not safe from everything on this little Island. You can't be blind to the fact that there is a heroin problem in Manatee County, and the public needs to be aware that we are doing everything we can to keep it from happening out here."

Another view of the situation

ANNA MARIA ISLAND – Brad Lisk and William Thomas (not his real name) don't work in law enforcement but their chosen professions have provided them with their own unique perspectives on the spike in heroin use taking place in Manatee County.

A bartender's view

Lisk, a former Island resident, has spent the past six years working as a bartender at a Holmes Beach bar that has not had a heroin overdose. He previously spent 13 years coaching baseball to Island youngsters and six years coaching football and soccer.

"As a bartender, I'm seeing them as adults. When I see a kid I know and coached and they're on this stuff, I pull them aside and tell them to look in the mirror and wake up. I grab one of their friends and say get them out of here," he said.

Lisk said he knows several people with ties to the Island who have overdosed and at least five who died.

"I've got a baseball picture with 12 kids in it, and three of them are dead," he said.

Lisk said heroin has become more popular with those who work in bars and restaurants.

"It's thick in that industry. A lot of these kids are not overdosing on the Island, so it's not an incident that occurred on the Island, but the kids are from the Island, work on the Island and hang out on the Island. The official numbers won't show it, but there's a connection," he said.

"It's not some poor kid sitting in an alley shooting up. These are kids from families on the Island, and they're falling victim to it just like everyone else. It's a classless beast," he added.

Lisk encourages users to reach out to friends and family members.

"Don't be afraid to ask for help," he said.

A nurse's view

Thomas, an Island resident, works as an emergency room nurse in Pinellas County. He said he sees an average of two heroin overdoses on a weekend night and about half of that on weeknights.

He said he is seeing more young women overdosing than ever before, which to him signals a growing acceptance of the drug in social circles that would have once been immune to such concerns.

He said a heroin overdose drops a person's respiration rate to nearly zero, and in some cases, they're not breathing at all. He said EMS has about 20 minutes to revive an overdose victim before he/she is dead.

When asked about the heroin overdose antidote Narcan now being sold as an over the counter drug, Thomas said, "Drug users think they can do a little more because they have some Narcan. It's a catch-22."

Given that less than perfect scenario, he added, "The injectable (Narcan)works much better; that's what I would give you. I'd be leery about using an inhaler on someone who's barely breathing."

Aesthetics team to choose a theme

submitted

These three panels offer a look at how the design theme
might look. The Anna Maria Bridge Aesthetics Committee
will discuss the themes at its next meeting on Aug. 24.

 

BRADENTON – The new bridge to the Island will have input from a team of on- and off-Island residents as to what it will look like.

The AMI Bridge Aesthetics Committee will meet once a month to discuss facets of the design and make recommendations to the engineers and designers assigned to the job, but at last month's meeting, they were asked to decide an overriding theme. Designers gave three examples and asked the Island representatives to gather opinions from residents and elected officials, noting the choices were not limited to the three. However, they're going to want to settle on a theme before they get too far, because the theme might guide them on their choices of other aspects of the design as the process progresses.

The themes

The first choice is nautical/rustic, and the example has a picture of the bell tower at the Bridge Street Pier. There is also a lighthouse and a sand sculpture of an egret and a simple white bench. It would likely appeal to those who enjoy the simple charm of living by the shore.

The second theme is the beach getaway, and it includes sand dollars, a sea bird photo, a picture of shore animals and a black wrought iron bench and it might appeal to the beach visitors who would use the bridge to get there.

The final example is Old Florida charm, and it include colorful chairs under palm trees, a wood bench and a sea turtle artwork. It might appeal to visitors who do more than visit the beach when they are on the Island.

The committee will talk about the themes at its next meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 24 and will likely make a decision then or at the September meeting.


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