#wearthemask
VOLUME 28, NO. 51
The Best News on Anna Maria Island Since 1992 astheworldterns. 6 City pier crew runs ‘full speed’ to open. 2
Meetings. 4 Stone crab season kicks off. 4 Island cities seeking CAReS Act funds. 5
Opinions. 6 10-20 YEARS AGO
Looking back. 7
Island voter numbers. 8
Vote Notes.
8
FISH flounders, cancels festival
islander.org A crowd fills the food court at a past Cortez Commercial fishing festival on the waterfront in Cortez. Islander file Photo
By Ryan Paice Islander Reporter
Just like a flounder caught in the muck, the organizers of the annual commercial fishing festival in Cortez struggled with whether to host the event in 2021. But in the end, faced with deadlines to organize the February event and financial consequences, the Florida Institute for Saltwater Heritage board members agreed to cancel, leaving people to look past the Cortez waterfront in 2021 for their fix of seafood, music and art. The FISH board unanimously voted Oct. 5 to cancel the 39th annual Cortez Commercial Fishing Festival in February 2021 due to
OCT. 14, 2020 fRee
concerns with the coronavirus pandemic. The annual festival attracts thousands of people to Cortez over two days to celebrate the heritage of the fishing village and its locally produced seafood. The event features an array of local food
and craft vendors, a lineup of musicians performing onstage, as well as family-friendly activities like a marine life touch-tank, educational “dock talks” and rock climbing. Such outdoor attractions traditionally
TURN TO festival, PAGe 3
Storm stalls dredge. 9 HB campaign problems mount. 9
Happenings Announcements, calendar. 10
AmE NEWS 11
Streetlife. Grand theft charge dropped. 12
AMI street map. 14-15
Gathering. 16
Obituaries. 16 Business news. 18 BB moves forward on Bridge Street. 18
Get in the Game. 19
NESTING NOTES: 20 fish farmers get pollution permit. 21 Sports. 21 Autumn pelagics. 21
PropertyWatch. 24 CLASSIFIEDS. 24
ISL BIZ:
26
NYT puzzle.
Renourishment project advances through Bradenton Beach A pair of beachgoers and a bevy of birds flank equipment Oct. 6 behind the Beach House Restaurant in Bradenton Beach. The bulldozers and the large sand separator are part of a $17 million project to add about 250 feet of new beach on its path from the north end of Holmes Beach to the south end of Bradenton Beach at Longboat Pass. Islander Photo: ChrisAnn Allen
Anna Maria pushes state, gains action on derelict sailboat removal By Ryan Paice Islander Reporter
A derelict vessel soon may be removed from the bay in Anna Maria. Mayor Dan Murphy told city commissioners Oct. 8 that the abandoned sailboat — which was grounded south of the new Anna Maria City Pier in December 2019 — could be removed within a week. Murphy said he has tried to work with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the West Coast Inland Navigation District to remove the boat but ran into a wall of bureaucracy. “I have spent hours on the phone asking, “and I’m telling you, you’d think I was asking for the secrets of the Coca-Cola recipe.” “I’ve never seen anything like it,” he
continued. In the meantime, the boat became a “dangerous” hot spot for people who boarded, entered the cabin, climbed the mast or jumped off the side. Finally, Murphy said he asked city lobbyist Chip Case to request a helping hand from Gov. Ron DeSantis and state Rep. Will Robinson, R-Bradenton. Robinson delivered. Robinson made some calls, and the city got a call from the FWC. The mayor was notified via email that Sea Tow would visit the site Oct. 9 to access the vessel for removal. “Take it with a grain of salt,” Murphy said. “I’ve been trying my darnedest to get that boat removed. Maybe now it will happen.”
People pirate a sailboat abandoned in December 2019 in Tampa Bay. One person was observed climbing the mast. Islander Photo: Courtesy Joey Kyd