Written by Anna Ridilla on . Posted in Breaking News, Community, News.
Above, Chamber director Gary Cross addresses the board. Photo by Matt The Gasparilla Island parking ordinance passed unanimously at Tuesday’s Lee County Commissioners meeting with several amendments, including increasing a downtown two-hour parking limit to three hours. Commissioners Kevin Ruane and Brian Hamman motioned and seconded the ordinance before hearing public […]
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in Breaking News, Community, News, Sports & Outdoors.
$4.2 million example BY MARCY SHORTUSE A proposed parking plan for Gasparilla Island will affect the island’s future beach renourishment funding and could include a tax for renourishment, according to an internal Lee County memo. A July 2 email obtained this week by the Beacon was sent to commissioners and county staff from the Natural […]
Written by Arlene Hall on . Posted in Columns, Sports & Outdoors.
BY ARLENE HALL, BGSTA SECRETARY Last week, shortly after the start of one of our morning patrols, BGSTA volunteers received an urgent text message stating, “All, Denise has a major disorientation with turtles going into the road. She needs help asap. See if the senior walker can do without the help this morning and (come) […]
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in Community History, News, Real Estate.
The Boca Grande Historic Preservation Board meeting will be held on August 13, at 10 a.m., at St. Andrew’s Chapter House. The agenda includes items by the public, two Special Certificate of Appropriateness cases and an item by the staff. In the first item on the agenda, SCA2025-00017, the applicant is seeking approval to deconstruct […]
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in Community, News.
BY MARCY SHORTUSE Lee County Commissioners are scheduled to vote August 5 on a parking amendment for Boca Grande that, if passed, would make monumental changes to the landscape of the island. With that thought in mind, it seemed like this would be a good time to get some answers from the ordinance’s backer and […]
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in Breaking News, News, Police & Fire.
Saturday, July 26 around 9:30 a.m., a coordinated Marine Emergency Response Team (MERT) activation was launched for a vessel fire in Turtle Bay, an estuary at the south end of Cape Haze near the Island Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Charlotte County Marine 1 arrived to find a 20- to 24-foot recreational fishing vessel fully engulfed […]
Written by Anna Ridilla on . Posted in Featured News, News, Police & Fire.
On Friday, July 25, Lee County Sheriff’s Department arrested two people for burglary and grand theft of approximately $5,000 of fishing equipment from a boat. The previous Sunday, July 20, the equipment was reported missing from Miller’s Marina. Lee County Sherriff’s office obtained a video depicting two people with shirts over their faces around 2:15 […]
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in Community, Featured News, News.
Above, newspaper and magazine awards from last year’s convention. Boca Beacon archives The Boca Beacon and Gasparilla Island Magazine received word that has been nominated for 39 awards at the annual Florida Magazine Association and Florida Press Association contests. The Beacon is a finalist for 18 awards, including a The Jon A. Roosenraad First Amendment […]
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in News, Sports & Outdoors.
The Gasparilla Island State Park at Port Boca Grande is closed due to a planned state renourishment project. It had been scheduled for earlier but has had delays due to weather. The Port Boca Grande Lighthouse & Museum is also closed; other state beach areas are open on island. […]
Written by Boca Beacon Reader on . Posted in Community, Letters to the Editor.
To the Editor: Guess what is not being shared with the public but the Lee County Board is discussing internally? Approving the Boca Grande parking proposal triggers an immediate and expensive FY25 ($4.2M+) price tag, and by federal law, tens of millions of dollars of already approved future federal funds must also be withheld. The […]