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VOL 15 No. 41
August 12, 2015
BP oil spill flotsam on AMI?
Investigation request stalls The commission did not share Robertson’s concerns about an employee’s benefits and another’s supervisory powers. BY JOE HENDRICKS SUN CORRESPONDENT | jhendricks@amisun.com
BRADENTON BEACH – Commissioner Janie Robertson received little support from the commission last week when she requested an investigation of City Clerk Terri Sanclemente’s Robertson adherence to an ordinance that pertains to employee benefits and the clerk’s supervisory authority. When presenting her request, Robertson said “I move to authorize an investigation into violations of Ordinance 398 by the city clerk.” When her motion received no support, Mayor Jack Clarke said, “No second; the motion fails.” Robertson and city resident Tjet Martin recently raised concerns about Deputy Clerk Emily Long being given health insurance benefits before a 90-day introductory period had been completed. After being appointed city clerk on June 4, Sanclemente hired Long to see robertson, page 33
INSIDE NEWS OPINION Sun survey business turtles real estate sports CLASSIFIEDS
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CINDY LANE | SUN
Mysterious flotsam on Holmes Beach is a piece of an oil rig, possibly the Deepwater Horizon. BY CINDY LANE SUN STAFF WRITER | clane@amisun.com
Recent storms have coughed up some strange debris on Anna Maria Island beaches, including what might be pieces of the BP/Deepwater Horizon oil rig that exploded in 2010, causing the biggest Gulf of Mexico oil disaster in history. Looking like a partially-buried stegosaurus, the half-inch thick, fourby-four-foot piece of black plastic near the Angelino’s Sea Lodge tree house in Holmes Beach, and its twin in front
see flotsam, page 27
Person of interest target in ‘turtle terrorist’ inquiry BY CINDY LANE SUN STAFF WRITER | clane@amisun.com
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) has announced that its law enforcement division is investigating an unidentified “person of interest” in the June 27 incident that resulted in the death of three protected bird chicks and damaged five protected sea turtle nests on Anna Maria Island.
old hamburg:
New owners, same great German food, atmosphere. 14
Anna Maria Island, Florida
of Katie Pierola Park in Bradenton Beach, drew the attention of Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and Shorebird Monitoring Director Suzi Fox. She called Blair Witherington, a senior sea turtle biologist at the University of Florida’s Archie Carr Center for Sea Turtle Research, who has been blogging about the objects. On a recent research trip in the Gulf about 45 miles offshore of Mississippi, where the Deepwater Horizon oil spill had its biggest impact, he and his
Witnesses said a white man and white woman in their late 20s aimed at the staked turtle nests while riding a two or three-wheeled vehicle with a single headlight around 10:30 p.m. near the Bradenton Beach/Holmes Beach line. They ran over five federally threatened loggerhead turtle nests and killed three black skimmer chicks, a state species of special concern; two died on the beach and a third died in rehab. Damage to
the turtle nests will not be known until their hatch dates have passed. The animals are protected by the U.S. Endangered Species Act, the U.S. Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Florida Marine Turtle Protection Act; violations range from a first-degree misdemeanor to a third-degree felony. Anyone with information is asked to contact FWC Wildlife Alert by texting or emailing Tip@MyFWC.com see inquiry, page 33
County COMMISSIONERS APPROVE LAKE FLORES DEVELOPMENT. 4 FORECASTERS say fewer named
storms this hurricane season. 5
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