Hatches increase. 22
spring lake stricken. 4
100th birthday bash. 19 Astheworldterns spice up fall season. 6
amitW stats as of Sept. 20: 376 of 540 nests, hatched and about 25,066 hatchlings to the sea.
SEPT. 25, 2019 FREE
VOLUME 27, NO. 48
HB hit with more Bert Harris lawsuits. 4 HB mayor in search of development director. 4
Meetings
on the government calendar. 4 crash repair at new am pier delays opening. 5 BB commissioners eye vending carts. 5
Op-Ed
the islander editorial, reader letters. 6
10-20 YeArs Ago from the archives. 7
itPo, fiSH oppose cortez megabridge. 8
Save the date. 10
Happenings
community announcements, activities. 11-12
take 5:00: 12
Streetlife.
14
guess to win $50+. 17 BB goes to bat against nuisances. 16
Gathering. 18 Obituaries. 18
AmE NEWS 20-21
NESTING NOTES. 22 mapping a way into nature. 23
football champs, soccer semifinals. 24 Baited for linesiders. 25
Isl BIZ chamber forum on offshore drilling. 26
PropertyWatch. 26 CLASSIFIEDS. 28 nYt crossword. 31
The Best News on Anna Maria Island Since 1992
former island resident charged with murder
March for peace Zoie Wade leads the procession of flag carriers and participants in anna maria elementary School’s Sept. 20 Peace day event at the school. for more photos and school news, see pages 20-21. islander Photo: Brook morrison
By Kathy Prucnell islander reporter
The Manatee County Sheriff’s Office arrested a man with Anna Maria IslandLongboat Key ties for the Sept. 17 murder of a 23-year-old Bradenton smoke shop clerk. Amado Zeppi, 20, of Bradenton, the alleged shooter, was arrested after his shift at 10:45 p.m. Sept. 18 in the parking lot where he works, the Shore restaurant, 800 Broadway St., Zeppi Longboat Key, less than 24 hours after the fatal shooting and robbery at the smoke shop. Zeppi, formerly of Bradenton Beach, is charged in connection with the murder of Mohammed Hamed, who was operating the Green Galaxy Smoke and Vape Shop at 3212 First St. W., Bradenton, when Zeppi and the other suspects arrived at the store. Zeppi is shown in store video shouldering an SKS — Soviet semi-automatic carbine — rifle fitted with a bayonet. Two other men were arrested Sept. 20 for the robbery-turned-murder and investigators are looking for a fourth suspect. Sheriff’s deputies arrested James L. Brewer, 19, of Bradenton, and Michael C. Hepner, 21, of Palmetto, Sept. 20 on the same charge as Zeppi.
islander.org
dot puts another island bridge in gear By arthur Brice islander reporter
The Florida Department of Transportation says it expects to hire a consultant for $2.126 million early next year to help determine the fate of the 62-year-old Longboat Pass Bridge. For a drawbridge, such as the Longboat Pass span, a consultant’s project development and environment study typically looks at several options, including repair/no build, midlevel drawbridge and high-level fixed PLeaSe See MurDEr, Page 2 bridge. “The Longboat Pass Bridge PD&E study is scheduled to begin this fiscal year and will evaluate both fixed and movable bridge alternatives,” DOT spokesman Brian R. Rick said in a Sept. 13 email to The Islander. PD&E studies analyze the environmental, economic, social, cultural and physical effects of a new bridge. The DOT has performed recent PD&E studies for the other two drawbridges — the Cortez Bridge and Anna Maria Island Bridge — that link Anna Maria Island to the mainland, and has recommended both be replaced by 65-foot-clearance fixed-span bridges, a two hooded men enter the green galaxy move that has drawn opposition. Smoke Shop in Bradenton where the clerk All three bridges were built in 1957 and was killed Sept. 17. amado Zeppi, left, the DOT considers the Anna Maria Island was arrested Sept. 18 on Longboat Key. and Cortez bridges have outlived their islander Photo: courtesy mcSo 50-year lifespans.
The PD&E study will determine if that’s also the case with the Longboat Pass Bridge, linking Bradenton Beach to Longboat Key on State Road 789. The bridge has undergone four major repairs, totaling $9.77 million, in the past 15 years. The latest, a $5.2 million project, started June 10 and is expected to be finished this fall. Officials say those repairs could add 10-15 years to the life of the structure. About 3.5 million motor vehicles cross the bridge each year, the DOT said. Drawbridge openings for boats totaled 2,335 last year, Rick said. The DOT aims to award the $2.126 million consultant contract in February, Rick said in a Sept. 18 email to The Islander. The agency expects the study will take at least three years, he said. Funding for design, right-of-way acquisition and construction has not been allocated in the DOT’s 5-year work program, indicating construction may be at 10 or more years away. The transportation agency will hold at least one workshop and one public hearing for the PD&E study, Rick said, though the dates and locations will not be made public until a few months before each meeting. A PD&E study for the replacement of the Anna Maria Island Bridge — linking Holmes PLeaSe See briDGE, Page 3