- Named Best Florida Newspaper In Its Class -
VOL 21 No. 9
December 9, 2020
Island Chamber starts the holiday season KRISTIN SWAIN | SUN
The tree lights up in front of the Anna Maria Island Chamber of Commerce on Dec. 4. See story on Page 11.
Satcher named as defendant in public records action The records requests and court actions pertain to a Nov. 19 county commission discussion about potentially terminating County Administrator Cheri Coryea. BY JOE HENDRICKS SUN CORRESPONDENT | jhendricks@amisun.com
MANATEE COUNTY – County Commissioner James Satcher is named as the sole defendant in a public records complaint filed Monday by paralegal Michael Barfield. Barfield, a Sarasota-based paralegal and Sunshine Law expert, filed
the complaint and an accompanying amended emergency motion this morning in the 12th Judicial Circuit Court in Bradenton seeking “judicial relief to protect the public’s right to transparency and enforcement of Florida’s vaunted Public Records Act.” The filings pertain to a public records request Barfield submitted to Satcher on Friday, Nov. 20. That day, Barfield also submitted similar records requests to county commissioners Vanessa Baugh, George Kruse and Kevin Van Ostenbridge. He later submitted a similar records request to former County Commissioner Steve Jonsson. SEE SUNSHINE, PAGE 27
INSIDE NEWS 4 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 6 REEL TIME 18 CASTLES IN THE SAND 22 REAL ESTATE 22-25 RESTAURANTS 26 CLASSIFIEDS 30-31
MEET ANNA Maria’s new appointed city commissioner. 3
Anna Maria Island, Florida
AMI COVID-19 cases climb to 166 COVID-19 cases on Anna Maria Island increased from 145 to 166 in the past week. BY JOE HENDRICKS SUN CORRESPONDENT | jhendricks@amisun.com
ANNA MARIA ISLAND – COVID-19 has reached a new high on Anna Maria Island – 166 cases have been reported since March, according to the Sunday, Dec. 6 Florida Division of Emergency Management report. Of those, 86 cases were in Holmes Beach, with 50 cases in Bradenton Beach and 30 cases in Anna Maria.
The numbers are up from 145 cases reported on the Island as of Sunday, Nov. 29, when there were 77 cases in Holmes Beach, 42 in Bradenton Beach and 26 in Anna Maria. Numbers are also up in Cortez, SEE COVID, PAGE 25
LIVEABOARD BOATER’S
body found floating near marina. 4 SERVING BEEF for Christmas?
Here’s an easy version. 26
The Island’s award-winning weekly newspaper www.amisun.com