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Hook, line and model. 24
spring forward. 27 MARCH 6, 2019 FREE
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AM parking officers lacked certification to do job. 2 HB tightens restrictions on golf carts. 4
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Celebrating the Best News on Anna Maria Island Since 1992
www.islander.org
Meetings
On the government calendar. 4
Op-Ed
The Islander editorial, reader letters. 6
10-20 Years ago
Looking back. 7
DOT details Longboat bridge project. 8 Missing dock hurts BB business. 8
Happenings
Community announcements, activities. 10-11 Make plans, save a date. 12-13 HB, AM charter reviews continue. 16-17
street MaP
Getting around AMI. 18-19
Gathering. 20 Obituaries. 21 Heritage day, fun day. 22 Looking back at AME. 23
Streetlife. 25 Area delegation backs red tide institute. 26
Sunny days, nights. 27 Island pitchers defend home turf. 28 Anglers count down to spring. 29
isl BiZ
Tour brings walkable feast to Anna Maria. 31
PropertyWatch. 32 CLASSIFIEDS. 32 NYT crossword. 35
PIER PROGRESS
Seventy pilings for the T-end of the new Anna Maria City Pier pierce the surface of Tampa Bay March 1, while a work barge makes its way back from Hillsborough County loaded with 60 piles for the pier walkway. Islander Photo: Jack Elka
work on aM pier walkway to begin Boat captain takes
By ryan paice islander reporter there’s progress being made on the water. pile-driving for the new anna maria city pier walkway began march 4. anna maria mayor dan murphy said the i+iconSoutHeaSt work barge returned march 2 loaded with 60 12-inch diameter concrete pilings for the walkway. icon took the barge to a shipyard in Hillsborough county to load more pilings after workers finished driving 70 T-end piles feb. 21. murphy said the contractor discovered obstructions in the bay for five T-end pilings — broken, buried wood piles that remained from the old pier blocked the new piles as they were being driven. So new t-end piles were repositioned and driven, according to the mayor. He said the repositioned pilings would be addressed in the plans during placement of the concrete
Clam diggers
Ed Chiles, left, and Larry Stults, carry clams from a truck at Coquina Beach to a waiting boat that deposited the clams in Sarasota Bay next to the Historic Bridge Street Pier. More, page 3. Islander Courtesy Photo
top deck on the t-end. the 776-foot dock walkway will be supported by 136 pilings, more than two-thirds of the 206 pilings planned for the structure. Work driving walkway pilings began at the shore and will move east toward the T-end. When pile-driving is finished, Icon will install a concrete deck topped with ipe decking at the t-end and wood bents on the walkway. the bents will shoulder the load of the ipe walkway. the city’s contract with icon requires the contractor to complete the walkway and t-end by aug. 26 or pay a $975 penalty for every workday after. murphy said icon remained on schedule to finish pile-driving this month, with the contractor driving seven-eight piles a day in tampa Bay. the city does not yet have a request for proposals to construct the restaurant and bait shop at the t-end.
deal in sharkdragging case
By Sandy ambrogi islander reporter a crime that sparked an outcry from animal rights activists ended with a whimper for one defendant, who took a plea deal in a bay-area courtroom. michael Wenzel, 22, of palmetto, pleaded guilty feb. 28 in Hillsborough county circuit court to a misdemeanor charge of animal cruelty and using Wenzel an illegal method to catch a shark. Wenzel was the boat captain who, along with three friends, caught the attention of environmentalists and animal rights advocates around the world in July 2017, after a video of the them laughing and dragging a shark behind a speeding boat went viral. Wenzel and robert Lee Benac, 29, of Bradenton, were charged with two felony counts each of aggravated animal cruelty, as well as a misdemeanor violation of florida fish and Wildlife conservation commission rules. in the plea deal taken by Wenzel, one of the felony charges was reduced to a firstdegree misdemeanor and the second felony was dropped. Benac declined to take the state’s deal. He will stand trial June 24 and could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted on all counts. Wenzel will serve 10 days in jail on weekends beginning march 8. pLeaSe See Shark, page 3