Written by Boca Beacon on . Posted in News.
BY MIKE VASHER When was the last time you had the opportunity to be invited onboard a fishing vessel to get to meet and speak with one of the world’s most well-known artists, scientists, explorers, and conservationists, Dr. Guy Harvey? With a little perseverance, Capt. Sandy Melvin, owner of Gasparilla Outfitters and a director of […]
Written by Boca Beacon on . Posted in News.
BY MARCY SHORTUSE You’ll want to remember the name Gabriella Vetter. She’s only a teenager now, but give her a few years and she might be playing in the Masters’ Golf Tournament. You actually wouldn’t believe this story if you heard it out on the course or sitting at the clubhouse, but we can guarantee […]
Written by Boca Beacon on . Posted in Letters to the Editor.
To the Editor: If you visit Florida’s beaches, your feedback can help Mote Marine Lab scientists enhance their real-time Beach Conditions Reporting System (BCRS). Florida residents and visitors are invited to take a short survey about what kinds of beach information they want. To see Mote’s BCRS, visit mote.org/beaches. Mote’s BCRS provides twice-daily or daily […]
Written by Boca Beacon on . Posted in Letters to the Editor, News.
To the Editor: Snooty is an extra special Florida manatee who sets records every day for how long we know manatees can live. That fact has now been documented by the Guinness World Records. He has been named Guinness World Records’ “Oldest Manatee in Captivity.” Snooty lives at the South Florida Museum in Bradenton, in […]
Written by Boca Beacon on . Posted in Obituaries.
Mary Louise Bowe, 89, formerly of Boca Grande, died in Port Charlotte on July 5, 2015. Louise was born on September 2, 1925 in Bartow and moved to Boca Grande at age 3, where she resided until age 88.
Written by Boca Beacon on . Posted in Profiles.
BY JACK SHORT Joshua Karl would have had to try pretty hard to end up in a place more different than Boca Grande. When he grew up here on the island, he went by Joshua Johnson, of the “harbor pilot” Johnsons. But as he prepares to turn 40, he does so as a designer in […]
Written by Boca Beacon on . Posted in News.
This year, the 4th of July festivities will begin bright and early at 10 a.m. on Saturday, July 4, as all participants in the 3rd annual 4th of July golf cart and bicycle parade will congregate in the parking lot next to PJ’s Seagrille. Decorate as you will, just keep it festive and 4th of […]
Written by Boca Beacon on . Posted in News.
BY JACK SHORT A proposed minimum-wake zone expansion that began as an effort by a small group of homeowners has passed its first major hurdle. The Charlotte County Marine Advisory Committee heard presentations over the last two months from the public representing homeowners in Boca Grande North and in houses along Gulf Shores Drive, as […]
Written by Boca Beacon on . Posted in Featured News.
BY JACK SHORT An item stricken from the 2015-2016 Florida budget that would have sent $1 million to the Gasparilla Island State Park contained little information about how the money would have been used, other than that it was marked for “the assessment and evaluation” of lands for purchase inside the optimum park boundary. No […]
Written by Boca Beacon on . Posted in News.
BY JACK SHORT Bill Caldwell remembers him as a straight-laced, hard-working fisherman, not as a smuggler and international fugitive. The Tampa Bay Times recently broke a story about a man who died in a traffic accident in Australia, and was revealed to be Ray Stansel, wanted for smuggling marijuana into Florida during the 70s. Stansel […]