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Weather brings flooding to island … but also brings out best in locals donating to Harvey effort in Texas

■ BY MARCY SHORTUSE Depending on whom you talk to around the island, we received somewhere between 13 and 16 inches of rain over a five-day period last week, with the official reading from the Gasparilla Island Water Association being 13.13 inches. Some homes along the water did have flood damage, and the Amory Chapel […]

Profile Mitch Smith

■ BY SUE ERWIN Mitch Smith recalls spending the summer months of his youth at day camp at the Boca Grande Community Center. His father, Myron, worked for a cleaning business on the island for many years. His mother, Janice, worked as a teacher in Charlotte County for many years and now works for the Department of […]

Never forget that Texas could have been us

■ BY MARCY SHORTUSE This week many of us watched in horror as Hurricane Harvey turned into a nasty houseguest who wouldn’t leave and left thousands of people in Texas and Louisiana homeless, displaced and, in some circumstances, dead. It was an unprecedented storm in the fact it stalled out over land and dropped enough […]

Make Boca Grande quiet again … redux

To the Editor: Thanks for all the verbal support received concerning leafblower noise and health hazards. Remember … if daily and weekly leafblowing were done every other day and week, noise and pollution would be reduced by 50 percent immediately! Speaking of pollution, here are some “fun” facts: All four-stroke engines fire ALL of their […]

A smooth surface: GICIA bike path resurfacing has begun

■ SUBMITTED BY THE GICIA – It has been more than 30 years since the Gasparilla Island Conservation and Improvement Association (GICIA) bike path was constructed and opened to the public. In that time, with the community’s generous support, GICIA has continued to beautify the 35 acres of property that creates the gateway to Boca Grande. […]

The Gasparilla Island Act: Part II Building in Boca, and a war of words over the island’s future

■ BY SUSAN HANAFEE Editor’s Note: This is the second in a series of articles about the forces that have shaped development in Boca Grande and on Gasparilla Island. As the tarpon season is getting underway in 1975, a station wagon backs into a gas pump at Millers Marina, rupturing a 5,000-gallon tank. The resulting […]

PROFILE: Karen Kelly

■ BY SUE ERWIN – Known for her smiling face and pleasant manner, Karen Kelley wears many hats at The Island School, where she has been employed since the school started back in 1999. Karen worked in the office that first school year, eventually leading her to other positions as a paraprofessional, creative arts and drama teacher, as […]

‘La Pirate’ has been found

A 2002 26’ Glacier Bay boat reportedly stolen from Marina Bokeelia on July 21 has been recovered. The boat, which belongs to Capt. Jack who operates “Capt. Jack’s Boat Tours” in Bokeelia, was docked along with other tour boats behind Capt. Con’s Fish House on Main Street when the owner noticed it was gone at 5 p.m. […]