The Islander Newspaper E-Edition: Wednesday, Dec 27, 2017

Page 1

Plunge into 2018. 12 VOLUME 26, NO. 9

AsTheWorldTerns begin a new year. 6

Canine stars on TV. 21

Happy New Year

The Best News on Anna Maria Island Since 1992

Caroling elves. 24 DEC. 27, 2017 FREE

www.islander.org

Holmes Beach planners continue visioning. 3 BB Scenic Waves resumes work. 4

Meetings

On the government calendar. 4 Senate bill could chop local landscape regs. 5

Op-Ed

The Islander editorial, reader letters. 6

10-20 YEARS AGO

From the archives. 7

Happenings

Community announcements, activities. 10-11 Make plans, save a date. 12-13 Street map of AMI. 16-17 Death on bridge ruled suicide. 22

Streetlife. 22

Lobstahs restaurant closed in June at the AMI Plaza in Holmes Beach. Islander Photo: Terry O’Connor

New plaza plans in 2018

By Terry O’Connor Islander Reporter AMI Plaza owner Mike Hynds has been trying for months to sell his shuttered restaurant business, but has had no takers. Hynds said Dec. 23 he has a few interested parties, including the former Bradenton Beach music venue, the Freckled Fin, but in the event that doesn’t come to fruition, PLEASE SEE PLaZa PLaNS PAgE 2

Holmes Beach Commissioner Pat Morton, left, and HB code enforcement officer Nate Brown arrive to check out a sign posted Dec. 20 announcing a new McDonald’s is “coming soon” to the location of the former Bank of America on Manatee Avenue. Islander Photo: Bonner Joy

Ho, ho, ho! Holiday ho ho hoax

By Terry O’Connor Islander Reporter Coming soon: golden arches at Holmes Beach gateway? Three prank signs touting “McDonald’s Coming Soon” posted Dec. 20 at a former bank site weren’t funny to Holmes Beach city officials. The three signs posted at the intersection of East Bay Drive and Manatee Avenue caused a flurry of phone calls to city hall.

Get in the game. 23

Graceful giants — white pelicans — arrive to AMI. 26

Part 1

Fear, pain and loathing. 27 Teams chase perfection on center field. 28 Fishing ’tween cold fronts. 29

Classifieds. 32

Flashback ’17

Year in review

Scenes at AME. 24-25

On the biz schedule, real estate sales. 30-31

“The phone was ringing off the hook,” said code enforcement officer nate Brown, who soon determined the phony signs were posted illegally. The signs all bore three words: “McDonald’s. Coming Soon.” Any excitement — negative or positive — spurred by the purportedly imminent PLEASE SEE Ho Ho Hoax PAgE 3

Holmes Beach Mayor Bob Johnson welcomes guests April 19 to the re-opening of Grassy Point Preserve, located east of the 3200 block of East Bay Drive and fronting Anna Maria Sound. Islander Photo: Jennifer Sheppard

Compiled by Lisa Neff Islander Editor Much of the island news in 2017 was again dominated by conflict over development and growth, with the struggles playing out at island city halls, in the neighborhoods and across the Intracoastal Waterway on Perico Island and for Cortez residents. To protect local restrictions on shortterm vacation rentals in Tallahassee, local officials hired lobbyists and dispatched activists to the state capitol. Meanwhile, enforcement of the vacation rental regulations resulted in a barrage of complaints by property owners in Anna PLEASE SEE FLaSHBaCK PAgE 8


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