Written by Garland Pollard on . Posted in Breaking News, News.
The Boca Grande Post Office is temporarily closed until officials can assess and clean up any damage from Hurricane Helene. “We will go out there tomorrow (Monday) to see if there is any damage,” said Kellie Harris, acting postmaster of Placida. The Beacon reached her by phone today. She said that all the mail and […]
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in News.
In preparation for the expected arrival of Hurricane Helene, the Boca Grande Fire Department and Chief C.W. Blosser asks residents to monitor, plan and prepare. In an effort to answer the most asked questions this morning, they advise: Follow the Beacon on Twitter and Facebook.
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in News, Police & Fire.
The Boca Grande Fire Control District held a public hearing on Wednesday, Sept. 19 to approve the budget and tax increase. The budget is for Oct. 1, 2024, to Sept. 30, 2025, and expenditures are 16.7 percent more than last year’s total operating expenditures. The proposed tax levy of $7,447,452, and the budget were approved […]
Written by Anna Ridilla on . Posted in Breaking News, Community, News.
At the regular Lee County Board of Commissioners meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 17, Commissioner Cecil Pendergrass raised a Commissioner’s Item about the status of parking decisions in Boca Grande. Board Vice Chairman Kevin Ruane was voted to lead a structured parking initiative back in 2022, and again in June of this year. “I know, […]
Written by Arlene Hall on . Posted in Columns, News, Sports & Outdoors.
BY ARLENE HALL, BGSTA SECRETARY As of September 7, the Boca Grande Sea Turtle Association’s (BGSTA) “completion countdown” is at 25 nests. 21 of those are loggerhead nests and four are green turtle nests. While five nests were cleared off the countdown since my last report, only one of them had hatched last week. During […]
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in News, Police & Fire.
The Boca Grande Fire Department will hold a public hearing to decide on a proposed tax increase and budget at 5:15 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 18 at the fire department. The proposed operating budget expenditures are 16.7 percent more than last year’s expenditures. The actual property tax levy for last year was $6,353,408; the tax […]
Written by Guest Columnist on . Posted in Columns, Community History, Featured News.
BY JAMES J. BLAHA, DIRECTOR, BOCA GRANDE HISTORY CENTER The year was 1949, when NATO was established, West Germany was created, the People’s Republic of China was formally proclaimed and the Soviet Union began testing nuclear weapons. At that time, federal spending was $38.84 billion, unemployment 3.8 percent and the cost of a first-class stamp […]
Written by Sheila Evans on . Posted in Featured News, Profiles, Sports & Outdoors.
F or years, the ecological wellbeing of Boca Grande’s plant life has been one of Rick Joyce’s favorite endeavors. Boca Grande, and all of Gasparilla Island, owes much of its beauty and charm to the talent, expertise and love Rick puts into his work. Rick is a certified arborist, professional horticulturalist and a man who […]
Written by Guest Columnist on . Posted in Columns, Sports & Outdoors.
BY ARLENE HALL, BGSTA SECRETARY As of August 31, the BGSTA turtle patrollers have officially phased out of monitoring the entire length of each of our zones and will now only focus on the remaining incubating nests. This change in our monitoring protocol occurs when no new nests or false crawls have been documented for […]
Written by Guest Columnist on . Posted in Columns, News, Sports & Outdoors.
BY ARLENE HALL, BGSTA SECRETARY With no new crawls this past week, it is almost certain that we have seen the end of the nesting phase of the 2024 season. After a certain number of consecutive days with no new crawls, the BGSTA turtle patrol volunteers will shift their entire focus to those remaining incubating […]