Written by Anna Ridilla on . Posted in Breaking News, News, Police & Fire.
On Saturday, May 24, during the Boca H2O Festival, a teenage boy was struck by a boat propeller, breaking his leg. The festival is held in the water off the sandbar between Gasparilla Island and Placida. Attendees have estimated on social media that there were around 1,800 boats at the event this year. Around midday, […]
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in News, Sports & Outdoors.
Residents have been heading out to the GICIA Bike Path, and other locations across island, to visit night-blooming cereuses. Resident Ellen Cornwell was out Monday evening and photographed the plant; she knows the time of year that they bloom and caught them in the evening. Rick Joyce, who supervises many of the plants on the […]
Written by Anna Ridilla on . Posted in Featured News, News, Sports & Outdoors.
Moonshine takes second place Boca Blue took first place at the 11th Annual Red Gill Tarpon Tournament last Sunday, May 25. Red Gill is hosted by William Woodroffe and benefits the Gasparilla Island Maritime Museum. “It was a beautiful day in Boca Grande Pass on Memorial Day weekend,” Woodroffe said. “It was extra special that […]
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in Breaking News, News.
Lee County is currently working on an ordinance revising parking regulations in Boca Grande. While there is a draft version circulating on island, the county was not ready to share a new version at this time. “The Board gave staff direction to present amendments to the parking ordinance during the month of August,” said Betsy […]
Written by Anna Ridilla on . Posted in Breaking News, News, Sports & Outdoors.
On the agenda for the next Lee County Commissioners meeting at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, June 3 is the item to approve the contract to renovate Wheeler Road Community Park. Item Number 19 on the consent agenda approves a contract amendment with Stultz, Inc., to renovate the park’s tennis and pickleball courts for $1,708,472.83. The […]
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in Community, Education.
Sean Sawicki, son of Lt. Mike Sawicki Sean Sawicki graduated from Lemon Bay High School. Sean was raised on Captiva and his family moved there when he was 14 months old. His dad, Mike Sawicki, is the Lieutenant with the LCSO. The Sawicki family has lived in Boca for about a year and a half. […]
Written by Boca Beacon Reader on . Posted in Letters to the Editor, Opinion.
To the Editor: Thank you for allowing a comment here regarding the downtown two-hour suggested parking time. Regrettably I was unable to comment at the May 13 meeting. But I was hoping to ask the commissioners about the year-round full-time residents who actually live on Park Avenue. There are a lot of us. How will […]
Written by Guest Columnist on . Posted in Community, Events, Featured News, Letters to the Editor.
Restrictions on beach parking will affect livelihoods BY BART DESTEFANO,SOUTH BEACH BAR & GRILL I am writing in response to the proposed restricted parking measures in Boca Grande. While I understand the desire for order and safety, these proposals raise deeper concerns that deserve honest discussion. Let’s be clear: the beaches are public. They do […]
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in Community History.
FIVE YEARS AGO Mote Marine Laboratory installed “living docks” in the canals to study the efficiency of filter-feeding organisms. TEN YEARS AGO The United Methodist Church got a new pastor, Rev. Matthew Williams, who came from Valley, Alabama. FIFTEEN YEARS AGO GICIA announced a master landscape plan for bike path. The new planting program would […]
Written by Garland Pollard on . Posted in Editorial.
Here in Boca Grande, during this hurricane cleanup, we have been well served by Lee County and its various departments, from Parks and Recreation to DOT. There had been a past sense, quite right, that taxpayers on the island were paying an enormous amount of money to the county, and had been left out of […]