LONGBOAT
NOVEMBER 12, 2015
LONGBOAT
YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
ANNIVERSARY
60th anniversary section INSIDE
“Where else can you walk your dog while looking at peacocks and Sarasota Bay at the same time?”
“I lived on this Key when Gulf of Mexico Drive was a two-lane road with pine trees on all sides.”
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David Miller
Longboat Key pictured in 1945
Bill Carman
VOLUME 38, NO. 15
Welcome Back
60TH
KEY
Observer Longboat Key’s weekly newspaper since 1978
“The people of Longboat Key are what make this island unique because our residents come from all over the globe.”
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2015
’Tis the season on Longboat Key.
Virginia Sanders
YOUR TOWN
Courtesy photo
Win Yerkes
Meet 61-year resident Win Yerkes
Catch up on the news you missed. PAGE 10A
You know you’re a Longboater when ... PAGE 9B
It’s Read Everywhere: And the winner is ... PAGE 1B
Utilities debate: Ready for round two KURT SCHULTHEIS SENIOR EDITOR
Kurt Schultheis
Colony alliance MW Development Group, based on Longboat Key, and Naples-based The Lutgert Cos. have a $195 million vision for the Colony.
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Will residents who bought homes with underground utilities in communities like Bay Isles approve a project that will require them to pay to bury their neighbors’ above-ground utilities? We’ll find out in March. The Longboat Key Town Commission is flipping the switch — again — on a second undergrounding referendum question that will ask voters to pay for a Key neighborhood and side streets project. With the town’s electorate backing a project not to exceed $25.25 million to bury Gulf of Mexico Drive power lines and utilities last week, commissioners are ready to craft a second referendum question that will have
town staff scrambling to make deadlines to get it on the March 15 ballot. Commissioners asked town staff at their regular workshop Monday to devise funding mechanisms for a referendum question that supports a non-ad valorem funding method for the remaining above-ground utilities in neighborhoods and Key side streets. All seven commissioners unanimously supported a plan for the neighborhood project that distributes funding islandwide. A possible referendum commissioners discussed previously that would have put the financial burden solely on residents who have above-ground utilities was met with criticism earlier this year.
In the Oct. 29 Longboat Observer, we asked residents if they could top Cannons Marina owner David Miller’s 60 years on the island. We thought it was impossible, until we found Win Yerkes, who was born on the Key 61 years ago in 1954. He considers himself a lifelong Longbeach Village resident even though he has spent years sailing because the Key has always been his home port. “I’m living 100 feet from the house I grew up in,” Yerkes said. “My children go to the same elementary school I went to.”
Honor our bravest on Veterans Day More than 130 veterans who live, work or worship on Longboat Key will participate in the Rotary Club of Longboat Key’s Veterans Day Parade at 2:30 p.m. Nov. 11, on Bay Isles Road. Following the parade, there will be an honor ceremony at Temple Beth Israel. This year’s grand marshals are World War II Women’s Army Corps veterans Evelyn Fresch, Shirley Beachum and Francey O’Brien. The public is encouraged to attend to cheer on our bravest men and women. EAST COUNTY
Observer
Health HEATH Matters MATTERS NOVEMBER 2015
NEEDLING THE PROBLEM Acupuncture, herbs and essential oils offer alternatives to drugs. PAGES 2-3
Jessica Salmond
SEE PAGE 2A
INSIDE
Aaron Weedo
Pickleball a big hit
No reason to work out all alone.
Can you beat the ‘Murph?’
This sport courts seniors.
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PAGE 10
Group fitness