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Opinion

Apartment boxes grow across Florida, the U.S.A.

January 8, 2026
Next week, Charlotte County will submit an application to the state for help in acquiring two properties in Placida that abut Coral Creek and the Causeway intersection. This discussion is good. We n…

EcoWatch: Barred owl vs the spotted owl: A fight for survival

January 8, 2026
Barred owls are expanding their habitat because the forest in the East has been cut down. That’s called adaptive range expansion. And do you know what? Whether you believe in God or nature, whatever…

SW Florida Fishing: Adventures around every turn…

January 2, 2026
BY CAPT. JOE LECLAIR Fishing in and out of the boat recently has brought us to meet some new friends. Sometimes the fish we catch are only part of the story. The Dalai Lama defines sentient being…

Letters: Nature does nothing uselessly, so let the leaves fall as they may

January 2, 2026
To the Editor: Thank you Molly and Todd Simonds for your recently published letter regarding leaf blowers vs. the RAKE. (See ‘Dear Islanders: Try a blower free Christmas week’ Boca Beacon, Dec. 1…

Kiribati coconut drop; Rejoice Always this A. D. 2026

January 2, 2026
An interesting idea for New Year’s Eve 2026. What if, instead of a ball drop or some other countdown, we de-levitated a Boca Nut from the Boca Beacon at an earlier time, when some other island natio…

OPINION: SUSAN HANAFEE

January 2, 2026
Think of me as 35; Jack Benny was always 39 BY SUSAN HANAFEE The two workmen who showed up to replace the poorly installed blinds in one of the condos we used to own looked like Penn and Telle…

EcoWatch: Make 2026 a New Year of kept promises and action

January 2, 2026
A resolution starts with a goal, A promise made within your soul, To grow, to learn, to start each day, To let old habits fall away. It’s not perfection that we seek, But steady steps, week by week…

Christmas-time birthdays, a ‘December to remember’

December 26, 2025
One can get a pulse on Florida’s mood each year by looking at Publix’s annual Christmas TV commercial. The ads premiere after Thanksgiving annually during sporting events and live on, now seemingly…

Again, be patient, everything is slower when cold

December 26, 2025
Hard to believe it’s another New Year already, but ’26 is here. We enjoyed a cooler early fall this year. Our recent winters have been milder, and cold weather is overdue. We need some mild froze…

History: Boca Grande property people, from Robert E. Lee to condo builders

December 18, 2025
BY JAMES J. BLAHA, DIRECTOR BOCA GRANDE HISTORY CENTER In 1996, Michael Ingram, a Tampa lawyer and the son of Dr. James Ingram who had purchased the historic Journey’s End property in 1963, wrote…