Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in Editorial, Letters to the Editor, News, Opinion.
The Coastal Conservation Association Florida (CCA Florida) is partnering with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) and Mote Marine Laboratory to address the loss to the snook population on the Southwest Coast as a result of the red tide event. The two-year initiative includes raising and releasing 10,000 hatchery-reared juvenile snook along Florida’s […]
Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in News, Obituaries.
Maxine Pearl Futch Bowie, 90, of Rotonda West, went to her heavenly home on September 3rd, 2018. She was born on July 27, 1928 to Ray “Sug” Futch and Pearl Lowe Futch on Gasparilla Island. She was preceded in death by her parents; her loving husband, James Paul Bowie; beloved son, Douglas Wilkinson, Sr.; beloved […]
Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in News.
BY SUE ERWIN – Mote marine scientists were at 7th Street beach in Boca Grande on Wednesday morning to lead an assessment project on the local snook spawning stock, a vital effort needed to determine impacts to this important fishery and to develop more strategic stock enhancement actions to ensure recovery of this population as […]
Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in News, Profiles.
■ BY SUE ERWIN Gasparilla Island State Park Administration has a new leader, and he has plenty of experience to help him adjust to his new role. Rick Argo served in the United States Navy for 20 years before joining the Florida State Parks service in 2005. Originally from Roseburg, Oregon, the former chief petty […]
Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in News.
■ BY SUE ERWIN With a primary election right around the corner, this might actually be a year when people sit up and take notice of one hot topic in particular – clean water. While the Boca Beacon does not endorse candidates for any election, but knowing that people feel very strongly about water quality […]
Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in News.
■ BY MARCY SHORTUSE It was 30 years ago this week when our publisher, Dusty Hopkins and his ex-wife Terry, published their first Boca Beacon … and oh, what a ride it has been. You might ask how a nice couple of people like them got caught up in a maelstrom of 50-gallon barrels of […]
Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in News.
■ STAFF REPORT Friday, Aug. 10 was a busy day for our staff as we took to the road to Orlando for the Florida Press Association Better Weekly Newspaper contest and the Florida Magazine Association Charley Awards. In the Better Weekly contest Art Director Daniel Godwin and Editor Marcy Shortuse took a first place in […]
Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in News.
Despite the recent red tide algae bloom experienced in the area of local Gulf of Mexico waters, our mission readiness remains high if the need for assistance on the waterway is called for. Deputy Christopher Nebel is shown in the photo conducting regular scheduled maintenance on the assigned Lee County Sheriff’s Patrol Vessel kept on […]
Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in News.
■ BY MARCY SHORTUSE Boca Grande native Jefferson Gaines Jr., born May 17, 1935, passed away on Sunday, Aug. 12, 2018. He attended Boca Grande School and graduated from Arcadia High School, then attended University of Florida and graduated from Florida Southern College with a degree in computer science and Accounting. Jeff worked at Tampa […]
Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in News, Obituaries.
Frances Dale Melvold of Maquoketa, Iowa, who spent winters with her husband and family members at Boca Grande for more than 40 years, died November 27, 2017 at Clover Ridge Place Assisted Living in Maquoketa. She was 93. After visits to the island in the early 1970s, she and her husband, Robert, were among the […]