Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in Editorial, Letters to the Editor, News, Opinion.
To the Editor: We are regular visitors to Boca Grande from England and are horrified by what is happening with the red tide this year. It was bad enough when we were there in February/March, but we understand from friends who are part-time residents that it is now far worse! We have seen a couple […]
Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in News.
■ BY MARCY SHORTUSE When Lisa Haney and her husband, Mike, got to the Palm Island ferry landing on Tuesday night, July 31, they weren’t dressed for carrying manatees. That ended up being what happened though, as this particular sea cow was one of many that have been killed or made sick by red tide. […]
Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in News.
■ STAFF REPORT Lee County has hired its debris-removal contractor to supplement efforts currently underway by Parks & Recreation employees to clean county beaches affected by the recent red tide fish kill. Crowder Gulf will begin Thursday morning, concentrating first along county parks and beach accesses on the Sanibel Causeway, Lynn Hall Park to Bowditch […]
Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in News.
■ BY CAPT. VAN HUBBARD Unfortunately, the talk of our town now is red tide and water quality/polluted local waters. For now, our local marine economy is virtually shut down. A few offshore boats are getting out into the Gulf fishing, though. This current outbreak followed our May rains. We’ve had problems with red tide […]
Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in News.
■ STAFF REPORT Florida’s 2018 “Back-to-School” sales tax holiday is set for August 3 to August 5 this year. Parents and students can save sales tax as follows: Clothing, footwear and certain accessories selling for $60 or less per item are exempt. “Clothing” means any article of wearing apparel, including all footwear. Bicycle helmets marketed […]
Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in News.
■ BY SUE ERWIN Despite the effects of red tide, sea turtle nest numbers are continuing to grow, hatchlings are making their way to the water, and excavations are being done by patrol members on a consistent basis. As of July 27, the Boca Grande Sea Turtle Association reported 614 Caretta caretta (loggerhead) turtle nests […]
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in Community History, News.
■ SUBMITTED BY TIMMY SPAIN Editor’s note: Columnist Tim Spain wrote a piece about the Albritton family in May, 2018. This is part two of that series. Aaron Robert Albritton or “Twister,” as many folks came to call him, was born in 1861 in Polk County. (I may well be wrong about the location.) He […]
Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in News.
■ STAFF REPORT Calling all volunteer boaters and snorkelers! Your help is needed for the annual Great Bay Scallop Search. The event is planned to take place from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 18. The purpose of the resource monitoring program is to document the health and status of bay scallops populations […]
Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in News, Profiles.
■ BY SUE ERWIN Jim Scholtz is the co-owner of Kappy Kart golf rentals and sales at the north end of the island, but he’s had several other interesting career paths before venturing into a business partnership in Boca Grande. Born and raised in a little town called Oak Creek, Wisconsin, Jim was drafted the day after he […]
Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in News.
■ BY MARCY SHORTUSE There’s a lot of information flying around social media regarding the potential impact the cyanobacteria (freshwater blue-green algae) pouring from the Caloosahatchee River are having on our red tide bloom. Many are saying this is the worst they have ever seen the K. brevis bloom on our shores, and they are […]