Written by Anna Ridilla on . Posted in Breaking News, News, Police & Fire.
On Saturday, May 24, during the Boca H2O Festival, a teenage boy was struck by a boat propeller, breaking his leg. The festival is held in the water off the sandbar between Gasparilla Island and Placida. Attendees have estimated on social media that there were around 1,800 boats at the event this year. Around midday, […]
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in News, Sports & Outdoors.
Residents have been heading out to the GICIA Bike Path, and other locations across island, to visit night-blooming cereuses. Resident Ellen Cornwell was out Monday evening and photographed the plant; she knows the time of year that they bloom and caught them in the evening. Rick Joyce, who supervises many of the plants on the […]
Written by Guest Columnist on . Posted in Community, Events, Featured News, Letters to the Editor.
Restrictions on beach parking will affect livelihoods BY BART DESTEFANO,SOUTH BEACH BAR & GRILL I am writing in response to the proposed restricted parking measures in Boca Grande. While I understand the desire for order and safety, these proposals raise deeper concerns that deserve honest discussion. Let’s be clear: the beaches are public. They do […]
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in Community History.
FIVE YEARS AGO Mote Marine Laboratory installed “living docks” in the canals to study the efficiency of filter-feeding organisms. TEN YEARS AGO The United Methodist Church got a new pastor, Rev. Matthew Williams, who came from Valley, Alabama. FIFTEEN YEARS AGO GICIA announced a master landscape plan for bike path. The new planting program would […]
Written by Garland Pollard on . Posted in Editorial.
Here in Boca Grande, during this hurricane cleanup, we have been well served by Lee County and its various departments, from Parks and Recreation to DOT. There had been a past sense, quite right, that taxpayers on the island were paying an enormous amount of money to the county, and had been left out of […]
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in News.
The Charlotte County Economic Development Office, in collaboration with the Florida SBDC at FGCU, will host a free, 90-minute interactive workshop on AI for business. Designed specifically for small business owners and entrepreneurs, this in-person event will be held at 18501 Murdock Circle. For information, contact Maria Vastola at 941-764-4942 or maria.vastola@charlottecountyfl.gov.
Written by Guest Columnist on . Posted in Columns, Community History.
By KAREN GRACE It’s difficult to envision a boulevard in front of the beachfront houses but, as the accompanying 1919 photo shows, that’s how things were in the earliest years of the 20th century. The 1897 plat of the of the island north of what is now 1st Street shows 197 feet of high ground […]
Written by Garland Pollard on . Posted in Breaking News, Community History, News.
Editor’s Note: The flag is up! While the American flag may not be up by Memorial Day, the Boca Grande Veterans Memorial at 5th and Gilchrist is at least landscaped and ready, after help from The Gasparilla Inn. “Once repairs are completed, Parks & Recreation has a new American flag to raise,” said Betsy Clayton, […]
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in News, Police & Fire.
On May 6, Lt. Mike Sawicki of Lee County Sheriff’s Office responded to a criminal mischief complaint involving an altercation with a group of young men and a man driving a Tesla at the bridge on Harbor Drive. The victim was driving his 2023 Tesla Model 3 across the bridge when he passed a group […]
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in News.
Lee County Commissioner Cecil L. Pendergrass, Vice Chairman of the Lee County Board of County Commissioners and proud resident of Southwest Florida’s Congressional District 19, was invited to the White House by President Donald J. Trump to share in the celebration honoring the University of Florida men’s basketball team. The Gators won their third NCAA […]