Columns
Swimming with the yellow flag
September 18, 2026
BY ERNIE VANDERWALT
Three days without salt. That’s a long stretch for a man who counts water as oxygen, and I felt every hour of it. A tropical storm had stirred the Gulf into a wild mess, and m…
Mackerel are nice if you ice them, and eat them fresh
September 18, 2026
I’m about to complete another circle around the sun.
Our days are getting shorter and my body says I’m getting older. I’m excited about our upcoming season change and looking forward to getting o…
EcoWatch: Remember after 9/11 …
September 18, 2026
We will never forget the passengers of Flight 93 who courageously confronted the terrorists, defeating another planned attack on America. They are the heroes for our times.
Bob Taft American pol…
History: Community: ‘The Good Old Days,’ then and now
September 10, 2026
BY JAMES J. BLAHA BOCA GRANDE HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Pictured Above, Joe Spadaro. BGHS Archives
“Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.”
– H…
Time to autocorrect: Outsourcing your worth to the opinion of others, or otters
September 10, 2026
BY ERNIE VANDERWALT
A friend of mine texted me from Portugal the other day, where she and her husband have been living for a stretch now. We got to talking about freedom. Real freedom, not the ki…
EcoWatch: Battle lines are drawn again … 2026 bear hunt
September 10, 2026
“I am sort of anti-hunting. I don’t put down what anyone wants to do, but it seems to me that killing a creature for fun is not a progressive idea.”
Clint Eastwood, actor, director
This year t…
Turtle Report: Nest numbers up slightly on island; transport to Mote
September 3, 2026
So many factors in nature
Above, the “washback” covered in algae that was transported to Mote
As September begins, we near the end of sea turtle nesting season. For several weeks now, there…
Snook: Born male, turned female
September 3, 2026
BY BARRIER ISLAND PARKS SOCIETY
Editor’s Note: This installment is the last of a six-week series on local wildlife provided by the Barrier Island Parks Society. These articles aim to foster comm…
Dreams that actually come true, not the one about the classes I skipped
September 3, 2026
BY SUSAN HANAFEE
At my annual physical a couple of weeks ago, the doctor asked if I wake up in the morning feeling refreshed. I remembered the question from last year’s checkup, and just like I d…
SW Florida Fishing: Making my forever memories …
September 3, 2026
BY LUKE ALLEN
I was fishing deep in the water and boom a very white snook bit my bait – it was so hard my line broke off right after it got in the boat. Later that day I caught 14 more fish. It w…









