The Islander Newspaper E-Edition: Wednesday, September 19, 2018

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aMe-Pto party. 14 Astheworldterns awakening. 6

constructive move. 15

cherished moment. 26 SEPT. 19, 2018 FREE

VOLUME 26, NO. 47

Government helps businesses dealing with red tide losses. 3 Cortez residents protest shop’s ‘toxic spray.’ 4 Mote continues red tide work under federal grant. 5

Op-Ed

The Islander editorial. 6

10-20 Years ago

Looking back. 7

Meetings

On the government calendar. 8 HB commissioners push for ‘grand tree’ rules. 8 BB approves underground utilities. 9 Make plans. Save a date. 10

Happenings

Community announcements, activities. 11

budget talks 12 Gloria Dei pastor accepts Virginia calling. 18

Obituaries. 18 Streetlife. 20 ‘Bittersweet’ nesting season continues for AMITW. 22 ‘Caution’ wildlife crossing. 23 Adult soccer upsets. 24 Plenty of clean water to find catch. 25 Check the BizCal. 27 CLASSIFIEDS. 28

PropertyWatch. 28 NYT crossword. 32

The Best News on Anna Maria Island Since 1992

www.islander.org

First lady lauded, inducted into state hall of fame By Sandy Ambrogi Rhea Chiles, center, Islander Reporter daughter of the late In an Orlando ballroom Sept. 12, first lady of Florida crowded with the who’s who in the Florida Rhea Chiles, accepts tourism industry, an Anna Maria Islander’s the 2018 Florida legacy came into focus. Tourism Hall of Though she died in 2015, Rhea Chiles’ Fame Award postlife’s work continues, both on Anna Maria humously bestowed Island where she lived out her senior years on her mother. With and around the Sunshine State. Chiles are Ken Visit Florida named Chiles the 2018 Lawson, left, presiinductee into the Florida Tourism Hall dent and CEO of of Fame. She was honored at the Florida Visit Florida, and Governor’s Conference on Tourism at the Lino Maldonado, Omni Orlando Resort ChampionsGate in chair of Visit FlorOrlando. ida. Islander Photo: Chiles was nominated for the honor Karen Riley-Love by another island influencer, Karen RileyLove. Riley-Love was named 2018 Manatee County Tourist Development Council nomination. first state house in Washington, D.C., while Chiles, wife of Gov. Lawton Chiles, accompanying then-U.S. Sen. Chiles. At the Ambassador of the Year. “She’s affected not only our island, but served as first lady of Florida 1991-98 with Florida House, her artwork is still displayed PLEASE SEE FAME PAGE 2 Florida as a whole,” Riley-Love said of the an emphasis on hospitality. She opened the

red tide on the move, on-off, dots aMi coastline

By Sandy Ambrogi Islander Reporter Like the colored balls that mark the density on the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission maps, the red tide bloom continues to bounce on and off the coasts along southwest Florida. In a beach hazard report, first issued by the National Weather Service in Tampa Sept. 11 and then renewed Sept. 13, the NWS warned that the human effects of the hazardous algal bloom had stretched inland from the Manatee County coast. The impacted area extended east past Interstate-75 and Myakka City, with coverage over downtown Bradenton and northward past State Road 62. NWS said a hazard warning was in effect until Sept. 17, including possible respiratory irritation, coughing, difficulty breathing and watery eyes for some people. The HAB also appeared for the first time in the Florida Panhandle the week of Sept. 17. Concentrations of red tide climbed back to high levels — greater than 1,000,000 Karenia brevis cells per liter — but Manatee County did show a slight decrease in the samplings with high readings, according to the FWC weekly red tide statistics.

Peter Vrinos, left, and Mike Buttke, right, rake Coquina Beach Sept. 12 near Longboat Pass. Crews were hand-raking areas that were inaccessible by tractor to clear dead fish from Bean Point on the north end to the southern tip of the island. Islander Photo: Courtesy Manatee County

Aerial surveys, as well as water samples taken by FWC, indicate the red tide bloom extended 10 miles or more offshore in some areas. For the first time in months, levels of red tide fell to background status along the coast of Collier County. Collier has been plagued with the red tide bloom for 11 months. The Mote Marine Beach Report said the morning of Sept. 14, dark water, thick red drift and fish kills were present at the Manatee Public Beach in Holmes Beach. Manatee County parks crews were ready, though one of two tractors used to rake the beach and scoop up dead fish was

being repaired. “We are ready and we will work all weekend,” Carmine DeMilio, manager of the county parks and grounds operations, said Sept. 14 of the raking operations. “Those beneficial east winds have disappeared, and we are getting a push, especially of seaweed.” Work the weekend they did, responding to calls from residents in Anna Maria of dead fish along the north end beach near the Rod & Reel Pier. “It’s not bad out on the end of the pier,” Daphne Ryerson, of the Rod & Reel, reported PLEASE SEE RED TIDE PAGE 2


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