Written by Staff Report on . Posted in Community, News.
Fundraising continues for a new house for a sheriff’s deputy house on Gasparilla Island. This week, over $55,000 came in, with a total of approximately $190,000 raised so far. Last week, $76,000 was raised. “We are making good progress,” said Larry Hannah, one of the members of the Boca Grande Disaster Fund who is working […]
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in Community, Featured News, News, Sports & Outdoors.
BY THE GICIA The Gasparilla Island Conservation and Improvement Association Town Park, located between 3rd and 5th Streets, is buzzing with activity. Restoration began on Monday, April 21. During the first week, the crews focused on site preparation. “On Monday, April 28, our trees began to arrive. It is so exciting to watch these […]
Written by Garland Pollard on . Posted in Community, Featured News, Health & Wellness, News.
The Gasparilla Island Water Association now has its advanced water treatment up and running. “We turned on yesterday,” said GIWA Executive Director Ron Bolton. “We sent the ‘mixed liquor’ over.” The utility started the switch at 10 a.m. Wednesday, when the pipes were switched over. By 6 p.m., the utility was sending high quality reclaimed […]
Written by Anna Ridilla on . Posted in Breaking News, Community History, News, Sports & Outdoors.
The Barrier Island Parks Society (BIPS) will reopen the historic Port Boca Grande Lighthouse and Museum at Gasparilla Island State Park on Monday, May 5 after nearly eight months of closure due to hurricane damage. Nestled at the southern tip of Gasparilla Island, the Port Boca Grande Lighthouse, originally built in 1890, has withstood the […]
Written by Anna Ridilla on . Posted in Breaking News, News, Sports & Outdoors.
Charlotte County environmental specialists have posted a bird nesting area at the north end of Gasparilla Island in front of Island Court, but numbers have been unusually low due to human disruption. Susie Derheimer, coastal environmental specialist for Charlotte County Community Services, has observed one adult least tern on a nest and five other individuals […]
Written by Boca Beacon Reader on . Posted in Letters to the Editor.
To the Editor: It is hard to dispute that the residential roadways of Boca Grande have become overwhelmed with parked cars. The issue has increased steadily, to the point that the streets in our historic district between 1st and 19th Streets have become completely full of cars, and cars have begun filling up not only […]
Written by Garland Pollard on . Posted in Editorial.
This Tuesday, the first rain of the season arrived. It was a real rain, too, precisely at 2:29 p.m., and resulted in some “nostalgic” puddles on the sides of the roads, ably slurped up by the sandy soil. It was also the first week we got word that turtles arrived on cooled-off sand, and nesting […]
Written by Guest Columnist on . Posted in Columns, Sports & Outdoors.
BY CAPT. WILL WATERHOUSE Another great week of fishing here in Boca Grande! We are catching a little bit of everything from snook, redfish, trout to sharks, tarpon, jacks and bluefish! The snook fishing this week has been very good in the early hours of the morning. White bait has been the deal to catch […]
Written by Garland Pollard on . Posted in Breaking News, News, Uncategorized.
Overuse for irrigation this week has resulted in low pressure for water on the island. “We had about 30 percent chance of running out of water,” said Ron Bolton, executive director of Gasparilla Island Water Association, reached this morning. Bolton has made individual calls to larger water clients who use irrigation. Water pressure has been […]
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in Featured News, News.
At the quarterly meeting of the Gasparilla Island Bridge Authority, Executive Director Kathy Banson reported Wednesday, April 23 that traffic was down 8 percent this year, though there was a record day on March 19, when there were 5,635 vehicles in one day. Bridge openings are also down 33 percent, averaging about three a day. […]