testing bay, dead birds. 9 Astheworldterns mourn elections. 6
football returns. 15
tracking turtles. 26
get in the game ...
aug. 30 sea turtle stats: 533 nests, 578 false crawls, 296 hatched nests.
SEPT. 4, 2019 FREE
VOLUME 27, NO. 45
Judge sides with owners in Bert Harris skirmish. 2 HB votes down pay raise. 4
The Best News on Anna Maria Island Since 1992
islander.org
appeal filed in Sunshine suit. 4
Meetings
on the government calendar. 4
city elections ’19
3 cities, 1 election. 5
Op-Ed
the Islander editorial. 6
10-20 Years ago from the archives. 7 BB to discuss living shoreline. 8 am foregoes city pier work for dorian. 9
Save the date. 10-11
Happenings announcements. 12 Neighbors oppose land deal in HB. 12 take 5:00: Woman donates ‘little library.’ 13
Streetlife. 14 HBPd honors. 14 Where is tuna Street? 16-17
Gathering. 18 Obituaries. 18 Perico development. 20
AmE NEWS 21 NESTING NOTES. 22 23 Sports enthusiasts play “dodge the rain.” 24 fish take the hook. 25
ISL BIZ: Shore opens on lBK. 26 CLASSIFIEDS. 28 NYt crossword. 31
dorian? a dud for aMi. anna maria Island preps for impacts from Hurricane dorian, as emergency planners relaxed their vigil. others enjoyed labor day weekend between spotty storms and showers. above, gas runs low at Jessie’s Island Store aug. 29. a crew trims trees aug. 30 to protect power lines and Rob Nagle of orlando gives son aedan, 4, a wagon ride to the beach aug. 31. Islander Photos: Sarah Brice
4th anna Maria seat opens as election qualifying ends By Ryan Paice Islander Reporter
A fourth city commission seat opened in Anna Maria, but it won’t be filled in the city election. In fact, there will be no city election. At the 11th hour for candidate qualifying for the Nov. 5 city election ballot, Vice Mayor Brian Seymour resigned his seat on the commission. Seymour had a year remaining on his term and was not up for re-election in November. There already was low interest for the three commission seats with terms ending in November. Only one new candidate qualified to run
by the Aug. 30 deadline, leaving two incumbents unchallenged. Candidate Jonathan Crane, the current chair of the city’s planning and Seymour zoning board, will fill the seat held by Doug Copeland, who declined to run for another term. Commissioners Carol Carter and Dale Woodland automatically retain their seats for another two years. Seymour resigned the morning of Aug. 30. “It is with regret that I tender my resignation as City Commission Chairman/ Vice Mayor effective immediately,” he
wrote in his resignation letter to Mayor Dan Murphy. “I have learned a tremendous amount over the last three years from (Murphy) personally, especially the last year being the chairman of the commission, and I offer my best wishes for its continued success. “It is time for me to return and focus on my private life and private business ventures.” Murphy said Seymour’s seat would be filled through appointment, just as Commissioner Amy Tripp was appointed to complete the remainder of Commissioner Nancy Yetter’s term in February 2018. The mayor said he would address the
trict, with 222 students. The number is not expected to grow. Enrollment has decreased slowly, “as housing costs go up” and fewer featherston families can afford to live on Anna Maria Island and Longboat Key, she said. “I am told enrollment was in the low 400s before the school was rebuilt and we had many more families on the island,” said Featherston. The loss of an AME teacher will be sad for staff and students, but also for such parents as Mauri Zaccagnino, who has third-
and fourth-grade students at AME. “One of the best things about AME are the small class sizes and consistent, excellent teachers,” said Zaccagnino. “I will be sorry to have to say goodbye to one of those teachers who has very likely impacted the lives of my children in a positive way.” AME parent Jeff Canup. whose children are in first- and third-grade, offered a different perspective. “Anna Maria Elementary’s decreased enrollment enhances its advantages as a small school where students develop closeknit relationships and the administration has the bandwidth to address student needs and parent concerns,” he said.
PleaSe See aM eLeCtiON, Page 5
aMe to lose teacher to low student enrollment By Brook morrison Islander Reporter
Due to low enrollment for 2019-20, Anna Maria Elementary will lose a teacher. The teacher with the least seniority will be expected to transfer unless another teacher comes forward to step down. Meetings will be held and a decision will be made by Sept. 5. “For over five years now our enrollment has been in the 200s, with 54% of those students either using school choice or a hardship to be able to attend school here,” principal Jackie Featherston said Aug. 28. She said AME is the smallest elementary school in the Manatee County School Dis-