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Red tide, flesh-eating bacteria and more show up in the Ian aftermath, leaving us to wonder … say, Doc? You think that water is safe?

By Dr. Raymond James, DO, Boca Grande Health Clinic That is a good question after the storm of the century. And when might it be safe? City Water Everyone who was in Boca after the storm remembers how we all incorporated the new routine of the five-gallon bucket shuffle. We brought water from a brown […]

More manatee protection, reef devastation and red tide numbers

It is possible there will soon be another layer of protection for local manatees, as the Lee Board of County Commissioners voted this week to adopt a year-round manatee protection zone ordinance for Gasparilla Island – specifically the Boca Grande Bayou – as well as a quarter-mile area off Captiva Island and Safety Harbor, North […]

THIS WEEK IN THE BOCA BEACON

Boca Beacon backpages FIVE YEARS AGO Final Hurricane Irma debris pickups were complete as anglers were busy tying flies and getting ready for the GIFT tournament. TEN YEARS AGO A manatee in Boca Bay was picked up and transported to Lowry Park Zoo due to exposure to red tide. Amber Mills married Mike McGuiness at […]

Company is coming on Saturday: Welcome to our disaster area!

We’ve got power and internet outages, a cell phone tower lodged in our bakery, piles of debris clogging our side streets and more piles along the main road, beach accesses that are closed and a plethora of workers and trucks roaming all over the island … and the bridge is set to open to the […]

Tips to voting in next week’s election

Hurricane Ian has not been able to stop our democratic processes, but it has blown them around somewhat. Since a number of polling places have been damaged or destroyed, registered voters in Lee and Charlotte counties, as well as a few other places affected by the storm, have some new and temporary guidelines and voting […]

If you lost a dock, a boathouse or structure on the water, read this

As home and business repairs are getting underway in the wake of Hurricane Ian, it is important to remember that docks, boathouses, and other shoreline structures require building permits for construction.  According to the Lee County Community Development’s Building and Permitting office, dock-related structures include boat lifts, boat davits, boathouses, fishing piers, boardwalks and mooring […]

BOCA BEACON TIMELINE

FIVE YEARS AGO While the island was still picking up debris from Hurricane Irma, Hal McCombs was introduced as the new president of the Royal Palm Players. TEN YEARS AGO A short video called “Rich History … Priceless Future: The Tarpon of Boca Grande Pass” was created by Brooks and Sean Paxton, highlighting our fishing […]

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: A lotta debris moved, but a lotta debris is still left

To the Editor: Lee County reached an important milestone during the weekend by collecting 1 million cubic yards of debris from Hurricane Ian. As of Monday morning, 734,136 cubic yards of vegetation and 285,282 cubic yards of construction and demolition debris have been cleaned up. That is roughly equivalent to the size of 1.1 million […]