Editorial

Since the Boca Beacon began in 1980, the Boca Beacon has had the distinct honor of running obituaries free of charge. This policy has been adhered to without question until recently, when we realized that many of our readers send us obituaries that don’t go through funeral homes. This means that they aren’t being recorded […]

Submitted by the Florida Department of Elections Recently, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued an advisory confirming that Florida is well ahead of the nation on election cybersecurity. The report calls attention to “vulnerabilities” and a voting system version that is neither used nor certified for use in Florida. The report references Dominion […]

As we sit perched on the brink of a Fourth of July three-day weekend, it might be a good time to talk about the 800-pound gorilla in the room. For a small local newspaper, trying to keep things light is a good idea … most of the time … but there comes a time when […]

As to the rides, they take place every day and can have as few as two or three riders in the heat of the summer, to 20 or 30 riders during the season, when many snowbirds migrate south. Riders come from far and wide. Carrie comes from Wyoming each winter, and Rob usually makes it from Jersey – no, not New Jersey but the island in the Channel off England. Others come from all over the U.S., but mainly from the northeastern and midwestern states. The rides are mainly in Rotonda, Gulf Cove, South Gulf Cove, the Meadows, or on any given holiday CHC ventures to Boca Grande. There is an occasional ride from Manasota Key to Casey Key, but mainly the rides stay in the Cape Haze peninsula. Several riders have raced in the past ,and many completed various long-distance trips.

Then, bam! Lynn felt something hit her line. Tim instantly got my rod secured and me out of the way, and then put all his attention on Lynn. She had a tarpon on the line. “You got this,” he assured her. “Reel it in.” “Bow to the king,” “Just hold on, don’t do anything.” The orders were calm, but authoritative. Captain Mark was advising Tim from his higher vantage point and moving the boat as conditions warranted.

 The water bodies of Sarasota Bay are designated as an Outstanding Florida Waters (OFW’s). This designation is intended to provide additional protection to special waters recognized for their ecological significance, by providing the highest degree of protection under the State of Florida’s permitting policies. An OFW designation requires that water quality must not be degraded below the level that existed at the time of the OFW designation. However, significant degradation of Sarasota Bay has occurred since its original designation, as documented through water quality data, red tide blooms, areas of seagrass die-off and manatee mortalities.

Using the most sensitive technology available for detecting harmful algal bloom (HAB) toxins, the Calusa Waterkeeper (CWK) research team started airborne toxin monitoring in July 2021 at eight locations in Lee County, Florida. Samples were collected with the use of a monitoring device designed and optimized from the ground up, incorporating elements of other design […]

The sense of loyalty to our island community in our newsroom is profound. Whether you are a billionaire from the Northeast or a high school baseball player selling cookies to support the team, we are here for you. We want your news – good or bad – to be printed in our newspaper so we can contribute to the history of this amazing place. We hope that someday 100 years from now, someone sorting through their grandmother’s attic will find an old Boca Beacon news article about how she won the Ladies Day Tarpon Tournament raffle. We hope that someone searching for their ancestors online can find a scanned version of an article about their great-great-grandfather that brings them more information in their search. 

Fifteen years ago the Gasparilla Island Water Association monitored the island’s water situation and deemed it to be in a critical state due to the winter drought. Cayo Costa rangers aided seven Cuban refugees who came ashore on Cayo Costa State Park.