Written by Staff Report on . Posted in Obituaries.
Laurence DeFrance, age 79, passed away peacefully on December 6, 2023. He was born October 3, 1944 in New York, the son of Margaret and Professor Joseph J. DeFrance. Laurence (“Larry”) grew up alongside his extended family and attended Garden City High School, where he made lifelong friends. As a Little League Yankee All-Star, baseball […]
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in News, Sports & Outdoors.
Gasparilla Island State Park is finishing a regrade at the Port Boca Grande Lighthouse. Bulldozers and sand trucks were on hand this week to grade the potholes in the park and in the entrance driveway. This week, crews at the park also blocked off dune areas with a fence to protect them from pedestrians. There […]
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in News, Sports & Outdoors.
By MICHELLE STARR On a morning drive over the Boca Causeway, I get a true bird’s eye view of Little Gasparilla Pass, the sandbar and local water clarity and condition. The high winds over the last several days have made the water very messy, so while coming over the Causeway Sunday morning, I spotted a […]
Written by Garland Pollard on . Posted in News.
Vendor Patrick Kasprik brought a paperback Penguin Classic version of a Greek play by Euripides to the Farmers Market last Friday, Dec. 13. No one knew how the bread sales would go at the first outing of the Boca Grande Farmers Market this season. But sales went well, and the high winds and chillier weather […]
Written by Garland Pollard on . Posted in News, Police & Fire.
A beach cottage at 9686 Privateer Road near the south end of Little Gasparilla Island is a complete loss after a Sunday, Dec. 17 house fire. The smoke from the fire could be seen from across the Cape Haze peninsula Saturday afternoon, as a weekend windstorm wound down. In spite of the winds, and thanks […]
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in Community, News.
For over 50 years, Suncoast Humane Society has helped tens of thousands of animals live happier, safer and healthier lives. On November 9, 2023, among community leaders, Suncoast supporters Peter and Elsa Soderberg made a milestone contribution to the SHS capital campaign and announced the naming of the new SHS campus for the Soderbergs. “This […]
Written by Garland Pollard on . Posted in News, Opinion, Sports & Outdoors.
Last week, a subscriber came into the Beacon office to ask for help with a one-legged ibis. The ibis was stranded by his flock (or in bird lingo, a wedge, or congregation or stand of birds). People do have a habit of calling us and stopping in with their wildlife issues, both human and otherwise. […]
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in Sports & Outdoors, Uncategorized.
BY CAPT. JOE LACLAIR With a couple very cold evenings the water temps have really started to fall. What seems to be different this winter is the amount of rainfall we are still experiencing. This has made the fishing very difficult in the past week. The abundance of wildlife however, that we have seen on […]
Written by Garland Pollard on . Posted in Entertainment, News.
The Hermitage Artist Retreat will preview a new arts program on Friday, Jan. 5 at 5 p.m. on the Hermitage Beach on Manasota Key. This new program will offer a glimpse into the creative process of three Hermitage Fellows in the midst of creating new work. Multidisciplinary visual artist Anne Patterson and composer Patrick Harlin […]
Written by Guest Columnist on . Posted in Columns, Opinion.
By Dr. Raymond A. James What does it mean to be a good physician? What makes a physician great? These are difficult questions, and they can mean different things to different people. Some patients are willing to overlook a poor bedside manner to be treated by someone who is reported to be the expert in […]