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Sports & Outdoors


January 2, 2026
Kayaking the Everglades is the first talk in a series of free Calusa Blueway Paddling Trail-related programs set for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 6, at the Wa-Ke Hatchee Recreation Center, 16760 Bass Roa…

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…

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…

December 18, 2025
A reader out working on island sent us this photo of an owl on Banyan Street on Wednesday. Indeed there were two in the trees; he also got a video for our Beacon Facebook page.                     …

December 18, 2025
Liz Eastes is a Marine Environmental Specialist with Charlotte County and will be giving a lecture on the Blueway Trails of Charlotte County, and artificial reefs on Friday, Jan. 9 from 10:30 a.m. t…

December 18, 2025
The South Gulf Cove Lock holiday schedule is as follows:  Christmas Eve – Normal business hours 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Christmas Day, Dec 25, 2025 will be unmanned.

December 18, 2025
The Southwest Florida Water Management District’s Governing Board approved the 2025 Regional Water Supply Plan (RWSP) on Dec. 16. The District’s RWSP provides a framework for future water management…

December 18, 2025
Charlotte County adds plantings along 771 Over the past several weeks, crews from Brightview Landscaping Services, Inc. have been working to install the final landscaping elements in the medi…

December 18, 2025
A night heron took on the view at the Boca Grande Causeway the week before last. Because of the darkness, it is unclear which variety decided to look for passing boats. They are all of the Nycticora…

December 18, 2025
After the completion of renourishment at Gasparilla Island State Park and the rebuilding of a rip-rap wall, the sand is beginning to settle at the south end of the island. The Beacon’s Dusty Hopk…