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FEMA village by Home Depot in Englewood populated until 2024

Written by Sheila Evans on . Posted in News.

A new housing development has sprung up near SR 776 and Gulfstream Blvd., just west of the Home Depot. It is a temporary solution to continued housing problems for people in the area, due to Hurricane Ian.

The approximately 40 single wide mobile homes have been put in place and people have been moving in over the last two weeks. Only 18 families have been placed there so far, but according to a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) spokesperson, grass is beginning to replace bare dirt, and personal household items are visible on the small porches by the front doorways.

Boca Grande zip beats Nantucket for priciest real estate … but not Fisher Island

Written by Garland Pollard on . Posted in Community, News.

The Boca Grande zip code 33921 is one of the top 50 highest-valued real estate zip codes in the U.S., according to new data from Zillow that measured typical home value, akin to a median value.

At 46th on the list, Boca Grande ranks just ahead of resort towns like Aspen’s 81611 at $2,848549, the Hamptons’ Quogue zip 11959 at $2,765,902 and Apple headquarters zip 95014 in Cupertino, Calif, which is 56th on the list, and had an average house value of $2,616,572.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: John Gaffney

Written by Sheila Evans on . Posted in Profiles.

John Gaffney has never had a job he didn’t love. The one he has now is no exception. John collects tolls at the Boca Grande Swing Bridge.  

“Being a police officer will always be my favorite job,” John admitted, “but this job at the bridge is a job where I get to enjoy it and not worry as much. I can go to work and just have fun. I get to talk to the people and it’s not stressful. The job is great.”

THIS DATE IN THE BOCA BEACON

Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in Columns.

FIVE YEARS AGO Roads in town were being paved, and snook health was a hot topic after a severe red tide bloom in preceding years took its toll on the population. TEN YEARS AGO Gasparilla Island Magazine hit the stands for the first time, a dead Lithuanian man was found on a sailboat in the […]

Environmental and manmade problems plaguing local seagrass leave manatees and other aquatic wildlife in dire straits

Written by Garland Pollard on . Posted in Sports & Outdoors.

After a massive hurricane and a year of drought, the status of seagrass in Charlotte Harbor could perhaps be characterized by experts as “not better, in fact marginally worse.” 
“We have lost massive amounts of seagrass,” said Dr. Richard Whitman, who heads up the nonprofit environmental charity Heal our Harbor. The group looks regularly at the water quality in Charlotte Harbor and its tributaries, enlisting volunteers in monitoring and educating about the importance of our water.
Observations are often anecdotal and micro-observations, and not all seagrass is the same. Whitman likens the question to how the stock market is doing. Are you asking about how it is doing this week, this year or over decades?

Heather Gilligan, on tour in Florida, finds stranded manatee in island waters

Written by Garland Pollard on . Posted in News, Sports & Outdoors.

A beached manatee, later found to be safe, was the highlight of a Boca Grande visit for Columbus, Ohio resident Heather Gilligan on Wednesday, Aug. 9.

“This morning my original plan of going to Key Largo was canceled,” said Gillian. “So I just felt led by God to come out here.” 

She had heard about Gasparilla Island from a friend, Lucy, who had been here in March. 

“She finds the coolest places to go,” said Gilligan. “She just said it was really beautiful, really peaceful, and one of the safest places she had ever been.”

Coastal Living ‘discovers’ a secret island called Gasparilla. Who knew?

Written by Garland Pollard on . Posted in Community, News.

The magazine Coastal Living has “discovered” a new secret island, Gasparilla.

The new fall edition of the magazine put Gasparilla on its front cover with the caption “Florida’s Secret Island. The Old-School Charm of Gasparilla.” Boca Grande, however, did not make the actual cover photo; that honor was reserved for the Reethi Rah resort in the Maldives. 

Writer Tracey Minkin cited the “affinity for blue-blood Northeasterners” as an island that grew with a “sporting forward generation” that discovered “wily, hard-fighting tarpon.” Dressing is described as where “Salt Life criss-crosses with dressing for dinner.”

Feds help island with north end iguanas

Written by Garland Pollard on . Posted in News.

If you’ve been seeing a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) truck out on the Boca Grande Causeway lately, it’s because it’s prime season for iguana hunting.

While the Lee County portion of the island uses trapper George Cera, who has been on the job for about 16 years, the Municipal Service Benefit Unit (MSBU) takes care of the iguana issue in the Charlotte County part of the island. They hired the USDA about 10 years ago.

July real estate stats slightly lag behind state, but cash deals dominate

Written by Garland Pollard on . Posted in Community.

As cash deals continue, the Lee and Charlotte County regions slightly lag the rest of the state in July real estate statistics, according to information released this week from the Florida Board of Realtors and local boards.
Statewide, existing single-family houses sales were down 6.4 percent year-over-year, to 22,198, while existing condo-townhouse sales were down 9.4 percent, to 8,463.
For Lee County and the Cape Coral Fort Myers area, closed sales were down 5.3 percent to 1,106, comparing July to July. Closed sales in the county so far for all of 2023 were down 14.6 percent, to 8,431. The median sales price in that metro area was $434,980, down just 1.1 percent for the year so far.

Rotary Club youth campground renovated after Ian

Written by Sheila Evans on . Posted in Community.

There is a hidden gem in Sarasota County that is shining a bit brighter this week. This gem is the Rotary Club of Englewood’s Youth Foundation Campground, on S. Moon Drive in Venice. The campground was damaged significantly by Hurricane Ian and was been unusable for nearly a year.