- Named Best Florida Newspaper In Its Class -
VOL 21 No. 14
January 13, 2021
Manatee County launches new vaccine sign-up website Rather than issuing vaccine appointments on a first-come, first-served basis, Manatee County seniors now have to enter their names in a lottery-style system. BY KRISTIN SWAIN SUN STAFF WRITER | kswain@amisun.com
DAN MURPHY | SUBMITTED KRISTIN SWAIN | SUN
The beach at Bean Point, above, was littered with debris from the wreck of the Warrior. A bait well from the stricken boat washes ashore.
Three rescued from wrecked trawler off AMI
The 70-foot shrimp boat ran aground during rough weather and 7-foot seas. BY JOE HENDRICKS SUN CORRESPONDENT | jhendricks@amisun.com
ANNA MARIA ISLAND – The U.S. Coast Guard rescued three commercial fishermen from a 70-foot commercial fishing vessel that took on water and ran aground Friday evening in rough seas two miles west of Anna Maria Island. The fishermen are "all OK," according to boat owner Joe Versaggi, of Tampa-based Versaggi Shrimp Corp. But pieces of the Warrior, along with some diesel fuel, washed up on Anna Maria Island's beaches, floating as far south as Longboat Key. On Saturday morning, the city of Anna Maria, with the county’s help, initiated an extensive cleanup effort that lasted until sunset. That evening, the Coast Guard told Anna Maria Mayor Dan Murphy that the 7,000-gallon fuel tank appeared to be intact and that leaking fuel was possibly from the vessel’s bilge. On Sunday, the ship’s hull remained submerged in
INSIDE NEWS STEVE BORGGREN RESTAURANTS OUTDOORS CASTLES IN THE SAND REAL ESTATE CROSSWORD CLASSIFIEDS
4 6 19 20 22 22-26 29 30
SEE COVID, PAGE 27
DAN MURPHY | SUBMITTED
Debris collected in Anna Maria was placed in large dumpsters and transported to the AMI Historical Museum. about 14 feet of water off Bean Point. Due to rough seas, offshore diesel fuel containment and salvage efforts were postponed until Monday morning. SEE SHIPWRECK, PAGE 28
DON’T LOOK now
but 2021 is set to be the year of the chicken. 16
Anna Maria Island, Florida
MANATEE COUNTY – Everyone over age 65 in Manatee County now has a new way to sign up to receive a COVID-19 vaccine with the launch of the county’s new lottery-style system. The new system was announced during an emergency county commission meeting and was launched on Jan. 7. Rather than seniors scrambling to receive an appointment on a first-come, first-served basis as vaccine doses become available, now they enter their names into a standby pool where recipients are randomly chosen for an appointment as more doses are received by the county. To get in line to receive a vaccine appointment, seniors can sign up one of two ways – by visiting www. mymanatee.org/vaccine at any time or by calling 311 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. To register, seniors must provide their name, contact information, zip code and birth month and year to verify their age. There are no residency requirements to receive a vaccine in Manatee County, however the two vaccines currently being administered, those made by Moderna and Pfizer, require two separate vaccinations administered a few weeks apart. The Moderna vaccine requires 28 days between doses while the Pfizer vaccine requires 21 days between doses. Anyone receiving the first vaccine in Manatee County must also receive the second one in the county.
VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITES IN THE
SUN’S READERS’ CHOICE CONTEST. 17 THE Privateers stage a friendly
invasion of Bradenton Beach. 4
The Island’s award-winning weekly newspaper www.amisun.com