Opinion
EcoWatch: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it
October 31, 2024
Just as Florida legalizes the killing of bears, now all our wildlife is under threat with Amendment 2. Make no mistake: This amendment was deliberately designed to exploit one of our most cherished…
Bridge Authority engineering chairman thanks the GIBA staff for storm work
October 31, 2024
BY GEORGE MILNE, ENGINEERING CHAIRMAN, GIBA
Now that we are in the recovery phase, it is important to acknowledge the foresight, preparedness, and timely responses of Kathy Banson and the whole t…
Fishing for sustenance, cherishing adventures on the water
October 31, 2024
Lost and shaken
From as far back as I can remember, my life revolved around fishing. If I wasn’t participating, I was dreaming about it. I was consumed with fishing, and many of my first vivid m…
Charlotte County’s closed fishing piers are un-sung assets
October 31, 2024
Last week, the Charlotte County Board of Commissioners, in a post-Hurricane Milton meeting, discussed the status of the Boca Grande Fishing Pier and the Placida Fishing Pier, both currently closed…
A big Milton shift-er-oo for so many island institutions
October 25, 2024
The Beacon continues to receive calls about what is where, what will happen when, and when so-and-so will open. So much is, as they say, up in the air.
Of note:
• The Boca Grande Post Of…
EcoWatch: Hurricane impacts on wildlife and animals
October 25, 2024
“Whenever there’s human devastation, there’s animal devastation. If people can’t get out, animals can’t get out!”
Sierra Club, Environmental Organization
The extreme effects of Hurricanes Hele…
GUEST COLUMNS: KELLENE CARPENTER
October 18, 2024
Reflecting on early childhood education at the preschool
BY KELLENE CARPENTER
Editor’s Note: Kelli Carpenter wrote this essay for the Beacon just before Helene. The school was hurt badly in th…
‘Doomscrolling’ and searching for a ‘timeline cleanse’
October 18, 2024
On the Saturday before Milton, this editor was at Dollar Tree in Englewood, at the Winn-Dixie shopping center. For those who do not know it, Dollar Tree almost always has UHT (ultra-high temperature…
After a storm, hope for the quiet waters of October
October 3, 2024
Editor’s Note: Van Hubbard was up in North Carolina, on vacation, when the flood waters came up to his cabin. He came through the storm, only to find his house flooded here.
The bill came due for…
A stiff upper lip, for an Act of God
October 3, 2024
Everyone thought the storm would pass us by.
Before Helene, there was sandbagging and some boarding up. There was unease, but confidence. The island just finished cleaning up after Ian, and…










