VOLUME 30, NO. 6
Happy Holidays
DEC. 1, 2021 Free
the Best news on anna maria island since 1992
Cortez P.O. runs out of time
Astheworldterns. 6
Q&A 120121.
3
state plans gulf Drive safety fixes. 3
By tomas gomez islander reporter
treehouse dispute reaches a decade. 4
Meetings. 4 county, lBK to meet over improvements. 5
RoadWatch. 5 Opinions. 6
10-20 YEARS AGO
looking back. 7 Holiday blooms. 9
Happenings community activities. 10-11
Purple lights shine on the sunshine skyway Bridge against an orange-colored sky. islander courtesy Photos
SHINE ON
save a date. 11-12
Purple lights brighten bridge as mom turns tragedy to benefit others
community center resumes concerts. 13
By nicole Quigley special to the islander
Gathering. 14 Obituaries. 14
GoodDeeds. 15 food pantry seeks donors. 15
get in the game. 16
StreetLife. 17 market going strong. 17 festival of trees benefits Wildlife inc. 18
Housing crunch for tortoises. 19 Holiday shuffles sports. 20
PropertyWatch. 20 cold fronts force bait switch. 21
Isl Biz: arrivals, achievements. 22-23 CLASSIFIEDS. 24-25 a sign of the times. 26
NYT puzzle. 27
islander.org
Cortez is out of time and no one is saying what’s next. Eviction of the Cortez Post Office from the strip mall on Cortez Road at 12112 44th Ave. W. was pushed to Dec. 1 and, as of Nov. 27, no statements were made by either side on the status of negotiations to extend the lease. On July 28, three days before a lease was to expire for the Cortez facility that includes mailboxes for community residents who do not receive home delivery, the U.S. Postal Service received a notice from the property owner, John Banyas, that the arrangement would not be renewed. However, the post office did not vacate and became a hold-over tenant in its storefront despite the expired lease. Banyas on Sept. 21 filed a complaint with the circuit court to evict the USPS and followed up Oct. 6 by filing a notice for removal. For the south side of the village, which lacks home mail delivery, without a post office, locals would need to travel to the post office in Bradenton Beach, a small contract facility in the 7800 block of Cortez Road or to the facility in Northwest Bradenton near 75th Street West and Manatee Avenue West. So Cortezians mobilized to keep the local office and their P.O. boxes open or
One morning in early 2006, Christine Olson parked outside her job at the Rod & Reel pier, where she was a server, wondering how she could make it one more day. She sat in the car and prayed. “God, this is too hard. I’m not going to make it. You have to dry up these tears.” Olson was looking for a sign that her turn to Cortez P.o., Page 2 daughter, Tiffiany, was OK, even though the christine olson takes a ride over the unthinkable had happened. skyway Bridge. Just weeks before, on Dec. 7, Olson’s son, Derek, called her at 11:20 p.m. to a Clearwater restaurant for Wednesday “Mom, she’s been involved in an acci- night “bike night.” Before they reached the dent. Get to Manatee Memorial,” Derek Sunshine Skyway Bridge, at 7:05 p.m., a By ryan Paice said. He had received a call from a friend drunk driver traveling westbound pulled in islander reporter Manatee County legislators are set to that Tiffiany was involved in a motorcycle front of them. crash. Tiffiany died on impact. Her boyfriend head back to Tallahassee after hearing from their constituents. They raced to the Bradenton hospital, died about 30 minutes later. Manatee County Commission Chair where the ER nurses could offer no informaTiffiany’s driver’s license did not have tion, no news of whether Tiffiany had been her current address, so the police had no way Vanessa Baugh presented the county’s priorities Nov. 23 to the area’s legislative delegaair-lifted to another hospital, nothing. to contact her next of kin. So mother and son waited outside by the “I was in panic mode the whole time I tion, state Reps. Tommy Gregory of District door to the ER, waiting for an answer. was waiting. In my heart, I thought she was 73, Michele Rayner of District 70 and Will Finally, a security guard contacted high- hurt and she was crying for her mom. She’s Robinson of District 71. State Sen. Jim Boyd, District 21, was way patrol. At 1:30 a.m., a deputy arrived my baby. And nobody was there to help,” absent. holding an evidence bag containing Tiffi- Olson said. Baugh said most of the county’s prioriany’s lip-gloss, a broken earring and other The loss of Olson’s only daughter, items. compounded by the events of that evening, ties are infrastructure improvements. “We are growing at a rapid pace, with “Sorry, she’s gone,” he said. brought her to her lowest point. traffi c as our No. 1 issue,” Baugh said. “We “Where?” Olson asked. “To another The Olson family held a service for Tifhospital? fiany on the only day the Rod & Reel restau- are requesting funding to widen roads and improve some of our bridges, which will also “No,” he said. “I presume she has gone rant is closed, Christmas. to the medical examiner. They are closed, But Olson, a committed Christian, was help our workforce to work every day.” The county commission’s three top legbut you can call them in the morning.” searching for hope that her daughter was Tiffiany and her boyfriend were driving well, at rest, and that she would see her islative priorities include: northbound on U.S. Highway 19 in Palmetto turn to tiFF, Page 8 turn to Wish List, Page 2
Infrastructure tops county wish list