Written by Boca Grande Health Clinic on . Posted in Health & Wellness, News.
Thanks to the generosity of MaryLee and Jack Hollis, Boca Grande Health Clinic patients now get faster diagnoses without having to leave the island. A gift from the Hollis family provided the means to acquire a Clarius HD3 portable ultrasound machine. Ultrasound imaging, also known as sonography, is a crucial diagnostic tool in modern medicine. […]
Written by Sheila Evans on . Posted in Profiles.
Get ready for fancy and fun drinks coming this season. There is a new bar manager at Scarpa’s Coastal, and he is all about mixing things up.
Mike Teston thinks the term “mixology” is a little pretentious for what he does. However, he loves the chemistry, the imagination, the challenge of finding new ways to tickle people’s tastebuds and open them to new adventures through the drinks he develops. He can’t wait to roll out his new cocktail menu in October.
Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in Community, News.
The flooding the island experienced was bad, but this is worse. We have very little to no beach left from 1st to 5th Street. The ramp that went down to the beach at The Gasparilla Inn Beach Club is gone as well. Down by the Boca Bay Pass Club, the beach has eroded away as […]
Written by Boca Beacon Reader on . Posted in Community, News.
To the Editor: The summer has been an active season at the Boca Grande Community Center and that will continue through the fall. Highlights from the Community Center, 131 First Street West, Boca Grande: Summer Camp Lee County Parks & Recreation staff wrapped up a successful summer camp. Camp was at full capacity of 60 […]
Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in Columns, Community History.
FIVE YEARS AGO Almost two weeks without any major red tide issues was a big deal, after a period of about two years where it was terrible. TEN YEARS AGO A ruling on the side of our resources. One aspect of the bottom-weighted tarpon jig saga was closed, as the FWC voted to adopt new […]
Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in Community, Editorial.
If a hurricane doesn’t leave you dead It will make you strong. Don’t try to explain it, just nod your head, Breathe in, breathe out, move on. Those words went through my head a time or 10 on September 28th of last year. Since then, as well, as we’ve had our lives turned upside down […]
Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in Community, News.
There may or may not have been a bit of scoffing going on a few days ago, as many from this area who went through Ian were looking at a tropical storm more than 100 miles off our coastline. Was this even worth buying water for? Or gas?
As it turned out, effects from Idalia started at about noon on Tuesday, even before the rain began. During that high tide, stormwater drains were already backing up and creating a bit of flooding down by Whidden’s Marina and at 4th Street/Bayou Drive.
Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in News.
Kevin Kelley couldn’t have come at a better time. When he was hired to take over the demolition effort at the old Bakery Building on E. Railroad Avenue, he didn’t waste a moment. Kelley and his crew started on Monday, Aug. 28. He told everyone he hoped to have the second floor of the collapsed building taken down by lunch time … but in fact it was before 11 a.m. when it was down below the roof line of The Barnichol. By the end of the day, it was just about down altogether.
Getting the building down became an urgent priority when the feeder bands of Hurricane Idalia were expected to start hitting the island on Tuesday afternoon. Had the building been left the way it was, who knows what would have happened?
Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in Community, News.
Sue Sligar stood watching the Bakery Building come down on Monday, Aug. 28 with mixed feelings. As the new owner of the building (or the space, we should say) she was grateful it would no longer be a hazard to The Barnichol Hardware Store and the general public. But one of the apartments above the bakery had been her home for several years, and she lost just about everything when the tower collapsed on it during Hurricane Ian.
“I lost everything, materially … all of it,” she said. “But in the face of losing it all, I became fearless. What else did I have to lose?”
Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in Community, News.
The Gasparilla Island Water Association (GIWA) is investigating why wastewater output flowing through the system during Idalia was so excessive that they had to shut down some lift systems to allow the new treatment facility to keep up with the demand. Ron Bolton, GIWA’s executive director, said the normal range is 200 gallons per hour. […]